Betfair has announced it is shifting its legal online gaming partnerships in New Jersey, following the collapse of its previous partner. Betfair Online now intends on running a betting exchange through the Golden Nugget Casino's online portal. Betfair's previous partner, Trump Plaza, closed its doors on September 16.
The Golden Nugget Casino has been the least active of the Atlantic City casinos in the New Jersey online gaming market, except for Resorts Casino (which has a deal in place with the banned PokerStars). Landry's Inc., a Houston-based gaming and enterainment company, bought the Golden Nugget Casino in 2011 from Trump Entertainment.
Betfair US Press Release
Don Ryan SVP of Gaming for Betfair US, said the betting exchange is happy to have new life in the New Jersey gaming market. Ryan added, "We are very excited to move our operations to Golden Nugget Atlantic City, one of the premier resort destinations in New Jersey. With this relationship, Betfair and the Golden Nugget are well positioned to accelerate growth in 2015 and beyond."
About Golden Nugget and Landry Incorporated
The owners of the Golden Nugget have not released a statement, but the company is finally getting involved in Atlantic City's online gaming industry. Landry's Incorporated owns 500 restaurant, casino, hotel, and entertainment venues spread across in 35 states, as well as the District of Columbia.
The company has over 60,000 employees worldwide. The $2.4 billion company is owned by Tilman J. Fertitta, sometimes called the "World's Richest Restaurateur". Tilman Fertitta is now known relation to the Fertitta Brothers, who own Station Casinos.
What Is a Betting Exchange?
Betfair will power an online casino and sportsbook for the Golden Nugget Casino, but is not involved in sports betting in New Jersey. Readers might be confused about the difference in a betting exchange like Betfair and a traditional sportsbook. A betting exchange makes its money by charging a commission on all bets. The gambler is given the option to make unlimited wagers, while traditional sportsbooks limit the size of wagers by a punter. The only limitation is another better (or betters) must be willing to match the wager with a bet of their own. Because of the transactional fees, the odds on betting exchange wagers tend to be better than they are at traditional sportsbooks.
Comparison to Traditional Sportsbooks
Betting exchanges have their built-in disadvantages. Exchanges like Betfair tend to concentrate wagers in a few propositions, instead of a wide range of betting options. This makes parlays and other exotic multiple bets harder to do, though Betfair does have somewhat similar wagers called "accumulators".
Also, because a betting exchange tends to have a smaller margins than traditional bookmakers, they are less likely to allow gamblers to bet on credit. The ability to wager on credit thus keeps many gamblers going back to the traditional sportsbooks. On the other hand, gamblers who find themselves restricted from betting at sportsbook (usually because they're too good) are able to exploit the betting exchanges, because the exchange itself does not lose money when they succeed.
Sportsbook operators and traditional bookmakers claim betting exchanges are unfair and they lead to corruption in sports. After 14 years of operating in most of the western countries, no verifiable evidence has emerged that exchanges have led to more match-fixing or point-shaving. Most of the jurisdictions in Europe license and regulate betting exchanges.
Betfair Betting Exchange
When Betfair began operations in 2000, its betting exchange was a new way to wager on events. Such businesses were called peer-to-peer betting and open-market betting in the early days, but the media soon dubbed Betfair's new site a "betting exchange".
Betfair offered fixed-odds wagers on horse racing, sporting events, political results, and the outcome of various other pop culture events. The format used was the binary option, in which an investor either collects a fixed amount in winnings or loses everything.
Betfair Operations
Betfair went public on October 22, 2010 with an initial public offering of £13. This valued the company at £1.4 billion, or $2.2. billion American dollars at the time. Betfair launched its fixed-odds betting site in the UK in 2012, while it entered the Italian market in the spring of 2014. Betfair also expanded operations in the United Kingdom in August 2014, with the help of Net Entertainment or NetEnt.
When Betfair entered the New Jersey market, it made bargains with Trump Plaza and Caesars Interactive. The Trump Plaza operation never produced the way it should have, so it was likely a relief to Betfair executives when the company went bankrupt and closed its doors in September 2014.
