Betfair Australia has now introduced in-run betting to take place during the Melbourne Cup. A spokesman for Betfair stated that it is believed that in-run betting will most likely dominate gambling in Australia as bettors become more technologically inclined.

Betfair introduced in-run betting last month for selected races on Guineas Day at Caulfield and then extended the betting to all ten races on the Derby card at Flemington. The Chief Executive of Betfair, Andrew Twaits, stated earlier that “this will be the first Melbourne Cup where Australians will have the chance to bet online while the race is being run.”

The in-run volume at Betfair has risen since its beginning last month. During the Guineas Day it was A$48,800, then went to A$58,800 during Caulfield Cup and then up to A$143,500 on Derby Day. Betfair makes a 3.5% commission average on the net result which is substantially smaller than the 15% taken by most TABs.

Twaits also commented on the Melbourne Cup: “Anything over one percent of total volume on the Melbourne Cup will be a good result. Online in-running betting represents a generational change in the way punters can bet on races.”


- 2008-11-03