[Bill Dozer]

Sportsbook Name	1st Place	2nd Place	3rd Place	Total Points
Pinnacle	20	8	6	150
Matchbook	16	7	12	144
Bet Jamaica	10	11	7	115
Bookmaker / BetCris	8	9	11	109
The Greek	4	11	9	91
WSEX	5	9	5	76
5Dimes	5	3	6	55
Bodog	3	4	3	40
BetFair	3	4	1	34
Carib	5		1	28
CanBet	1	3	1	20
Legendz	2	1	2	20
Bet365	1	2	2	19
Heritage	1	2	1	16
BetOnline		3	1	15
Sportsbook.com	2		1	13
The Pig		3		12
SportsInteraction (SIA)		1	2	10
Ladbrokes	1		1	8
Diamond Sportsbook (DSI)		1	1	7
VIP		1	1	7
BetDon	1			5
BetSOS	1			5
BetGameday	1			5
Wager7	1			5
WagerWeb	1			5
BetPop		1		4
Skybook		1		4
BetBTW		1		4
Mansion		1		4
Jazz		1		4
Bowmans		1		4
BetEd			1	3
HansaBet			1	3
ABC			1	3
PartyBets			1	3
Will Hill			1	3

See How Posters Voted
Scoring: 1st place votes = 5 pts. / 2nd place votes = 4 pts. / 3rd place votes = 3 pts.

SBR Posters Poll I: May 2007 Results

[bigboydan]

Which one of you guys voted for BetBTW in regards to ranking them #2 on your poll, and why?

[Art Vandeleigh]

I think Tradesports gets a bad rap around here.

Betfair takes 5% off winning bets.

I am not affiliated with Tradesports in anyway shape or form, and am not an investor or whatever. Just a player.

I'd just like to see exchanges that are open to US players be stronger and supported by more players.

I think it can be used well with Matchbook (funds can easily and quickly be transferred back and forth with no commission), especially by those players for who it takes some time to wager $10,000. A lot more excellent wagering opportunities at Tradesports, IMO.

[bigboydan]

Hows Tradesports volume in comparison to Matchbook in your opinion Art?

[Art Vandeleigh]

Not familiar with those numbers Dan.

If you go to their site, one of their main market makers, someone who goes by the username Fair Value, he's often times around their trading pit chat site. You can have a chat with hime there, I'm sure he can give you more details than I. But just at random I see at the moment NCAAF Indiana (-2, Matchbook, -1.5 Tradesports) vs Northwestern, availability at Matchbook is $1,134 at -108, at Tradesports $500 at -117 and $3000 at -122, of course you can offer your own price their as well.

There are some things Tradesports offers Matchbook doesn't such as

- 1 1/2 puck lines in hockey
- several more alternate lines on all NFL games
- market makers for golf tournys, especially the ones Tiger plays in
- at the moment I still don't see over/under for NCAA hoops at Matchbook
- Over/unders for soccer matches (if anyone cares)
- and of course, every event at Tradesports is open for trading until the bitter end.


Not trying to bad mouth Matchbook, I think it's in US players interest if they both prosper.

It's just hard for me to imagine that anyone who likes Matchbook, and according to the survey it's number one for U.S. players, that there isn't a place in a players portfolio for some funds and some usefulness at Tradesports, even with the higher take out.

[betplom]

I like Tradesports in general.

I stopped playing there after Neteller was no longer available,payout options are limited for North American players, no Instadebit, Moneybookers, or Fedex cheque only regular mail cheque.

If they offered Instadebit OR Moneybookers I'd start playing with them again.

[Dark Horse]

I used to have five figures in Tradesports. That became useless after liquidity went way south. TS isn't even a blimp on the radar now.

As to the voting result. The only book that got a distribution that looks off is Carib. A post count of 25 isn't that hard to run up, if books take this as serious free advertising.

[Art Vandeleigh]

Originally Posted by Dark Horse

Cashed out at Tradesports after they were downgraded here first to B- and then C+. But I'm taking another look at them. In the new climate financial security is the number one priority. And as far as I know Tradesports is very reliable when it comes to paying.

Matchbook is probably the better exchange, but Tradesports is right up there for featured games (nationally televised). I would rate Matchbook A and Tradesports B+ to A-, which is much higher than the official ratings here. So my question is: does SBR hold exchanges to higher standards? If so, why? It is much easier to make a profit when playing directly against other gamblers than against the house. Not only is the vig lower, but, just as importantly, the player -not the house- benefits from square action!

When I look at my records over the years my profit margin at exchanges definitely exceeds that at regular books. Not even close. I'm sure many others have a similar experience. So, if we all have the best interest of gamblers in mind, why do exchanges such as Matchbook and Tradesports not get two major thumbs up?!

The only problem I have with exchanges is the lack of action. This can be solved through better feedback. The more people play at exchanges, the more action. In the long run greater popularity of exchanges could force books to lower their juice. So unless we all love to play at full juice against some very sharp linesmakers, let's start giving these places their due. Instead of holding them back with overly critical ratings.

Dark Horse, here is something you wrote earlier this year regarding exchanges. I don't understand why you won't support an exchange like Tradesports with some action, especially after the passionate case you made for exchanges, unless you had a problem with someone there. Liquidity has increased since they made their agreements with Pinnacle/Matchbook.

Just what is your version of liquidity anyway? Are you looking to trade every game on the board every night?

[Santo]

Main reason I don't use them is simply that TradeBetX doesn't work with Firefox, and I have no intention to learn the contracts interface.

[vanman]

Glad to see pinny is still number 1 even though US players can`t play there.

[Art Vandeleigh]

Originally Posted by Santo

Main reason I don't use them is simply that TradeBetX doesn't work with Firefox, and I have no intention to learn the contracts interface.

As a European player you have several other exchange options.

[Dark Horse]

Originally Posted by Art Vandeleigh

Dark Horse, here is something you wrote earlier this year regarding exchanges. I don't understand why you won't support an exchange like Tradesports with some action, especially after the passionate case you made for exchanges, unless you had a problem with someone there. Liquidity has increased since they made their agreements with Pinnacle/Matchbook.

Just what is your version of liquidity anyway? Are you looking to trade every game on the board every night?

They're in my books-on-backburner file. There's really not much there that Matchbook doesn't offer. Tradesports is probably best for balances around 2500. A balance of anything more than four figures is basically just sitting there. In other words, it is much easier to double 2500 than 10K.

TS seems a victim of micromanagement. I don't know what the background of those folks is, but it isn't sports betting. They rarely listen to a word of the many good suggestions thrown out by members. You can only run into a wall so many times. And that split between TS and Intrade was an absolute fiasco in terms of liquidity. (not to mention that they didn't tell anybody at the time that transferring funds to Intrade was fine, but the funds couldn't be transferred back. That was the final drop for me).

[LGBoots]

I wish Matchbook would offer a £ Account option. Like many here I have been burned by the $ lately

[SPECULATOR 13]

Originally Posted by Art Vandeleigh

I think Tradesports gets a bad rap around here.
I'd just like to see exchanges that are open to US players be stronger and supported by more players.
I think it can be used well with Matchbook (funds can easily and quickly be transferred back and forth with no commission), especially by those players for who it takes some time to wager $10,000. A lot more excellent wagering opportunities at Tradesports, IMO.

ART I'm with you i don't get it?I have been using both MB & TS,the only thing is that TS as a hard time matching the liquidity of MB.It is to bad that it is those f*ck-ups at BETFAIR (whom won't even post U.S. odds)that seem to carry all the money.Dark House is right about TS's attitude they won't do anything to attract the attention of the American market,they seem to be contented to just lick their crotches