betfair

Betfair is the world's largest Internet betting exchange. The company is based in the borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in London, England.
Since Betfair was launched in June 2000 it has become the largest online betting company in the UK and the largest bet exchange in the world. Betfair currently has over 1,000,000 clients and a turnover in excess of £50m/week.
A bet exchange allows punters (gamblers) to bet at odds set and requested by other punters rather than by a bookmaker. Both back and lay bets are allowed.
Betfair uses decimal odds, which are easier to calculate with than fractional odds. Its bookmaking model brings together two counterparties with opposing views, and thus removes the need for a bookmaker's markup or overround. As a result, the odds are up to 20% better than bookmakers' odds, according to the site's operators.[citation needed] Betfair punters are able to offer odds based on their own opinion rather than on a set bookmakers' margin. Betfair charges a commission on all winning bets, which is set at 5% of the net winnings for most markets--though it is possible to earn discounts.
The company has attracted much comment in the British and Australian press. Its co-founders, Andrew Black and Edward Wray, won the Ernst and Young Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year award. More recently the company was recognised by the Department of Trade & Industry when it was given a Queen's Award, the most prestigious business award in the UK.
In October 2005 chief executive Stephen Hill announced his resignation when the board decided not to proceed with plans for a stock market flotation, the investors holding out for a higher valuation [1].
In November 2005 the Tasmanian government announced a deal to licence Betfair in the state. The deal will see Tasmania receive AU$5 million up front and is projected to pay Tasmania about $40 million per year. Now that it has been approved by the Tasmanian Parliament, it will be the second licence Betfair has received outside the UK - the first being in Malta. The deal has infuriated the established monopolistic totalisers and bookmakers (due to loss of revenue) and governments (due to loss of taxes) in the other Australian states. Bans on bet exchanges exist or are proposed throughout Australia.
On 28 February 2006 Betfair launched a new interface, including current live scores of in-play soccer matches, jockey silks and horse form, and an 'express view' in which only the currently available back odds are viewable. Within two days the 'Xpress' idea was copied by BETDAQ, due to a suspected leak from within Betfair. The changes were criticised on the Betfair forums by many members who disliked the smaller fonts and the right-aligned columns, which displayed a large amount of whitespace. On March 1 these display issues were addressed, although many users still felt the site had been dumbed down in order to attract new punters to the exchanges. The gambit worked, however, with a significant increase in membership and deposits during the Cheltenham Festival.
Softbank purchased 23% of Betfair in early April 2006 valuing the company at £1.5 billion.