This looks kinda interesting. No time to play with it today, but I'm keen to get any first impressions.

Pixie

I can't open mine.

I believe the download only works with IE.

And nine only worked after repeatedly closing the IE window then reclicking the link from the Betfair email.

Since those a-holes in the WA government have decided to have us banned it won't do me much good.

Had a quick look over lunch. Looks just the thing I could use, and at last one of the Betfair tools works with the Australian markets. Having the comparative odds is nice. I do something similar with a tabbed browser.

where do you get the betfair advantage tool

http://bat.betfair.com.au/

My first impression is that it is telling you nothing new, it's just the three main totes, you see exactly the same on Sky channel. Sure they are trying to push you towards their product by saying the advantage over the totes is a certain factor, but everyone knows the commissions are far less than what the totes take out.

I guess the fact they have all the data on the one screen saves watching Sky and having Betfair open on your computer, and I guess you can switch and have a bet without opening a second browser instance. The radio is a nice in-built touch also.

When you think you are going to get an advantage you will be mistaken, there is no real advantage, they are not disclosing anything that the rest of the world does not already have. Is putting it all on one screen and advantage at the end of the day?

A real advantage would be when they disclose non-publicly accessible data that can be used in the evaluation process, afterall we want to pick winners, not see tons of price fluctuations.

Seeing it is a beta at this stage, they may enhance it with subsequent rebuilds, hopefully they will stop treating us like dummies and show us the TAB's price and let us think they have done us a favor.

Tailwag
(woof)

Yes the "Betfair is your friend" side of it is a bit painful. Would like to see other markets available (coming in later versions from all accounts), and the ability to place a bet/lay without having to go to the Betfair tab. Maybe they could combine it with a much better version of that dreadful "auto-Betfair" tool.

It seems to me that there is simply nothing new under the sun, what was in the past is still here only served up differently to make it look new. By this I mean, there are the punters and the various betting entities, with a supposedly clear line down the middle.

The amount of money that the punters has is finite and seemingly ever decreasing, and the betting side have no idea of what to offer the punter, so they do endless comparison after comparison, following each other and we inturn follow them looking for a premium and the whole thing goes round in circles.

Meanwhile the betting entities get fatter, the punters get skinner and not one new thing has been created to increase wealth for over a century in the Industry.

There were more jobs in the game 100 years ago, better more even racing, probably the same or fewer rorts and everyone got a pay day occasionally.

Today, the money is less due to a myriad of reasons, chiefly more opposition, and there are more players attempting to take the smaller industry pool therefore commissions are going to have to go down to the bone, or fold. This in turn will give a poorer quality product because when you are not making a profit you are not going to invest in research and new areas.

So the endless spiral continues with the closure of tracks, when people die they are not replaced. This is nothing to do with horses per se which have improved, technology has improved, communication and transportation have all improved, yet the industry with the exception of a few major carnivals is in dire straights.

Perhaps the message is clear, the game started as a working mans game and ever since it became a pseudo social activity, it has started to tumble. Do the cork popping set provide the blood of the industry - turnover? Is it time to hand the game back to the battler and let it grow to somewhere near where it used to be?

Oop's this has turned into a rant, sorry - nothing better to do today.

Tailwag
(woof)