Today sees the launch of Betdaq, a betting exchange owned by Dermot Desmond, one of Ireland's richest men, who has multiple connections in the world of sport, and hosted Tiger Woods before his participation in the recent British Open. Mr Desmond's advisers in setting up Betdaq include J P McManus, a major shareholder in Manchester United, and Michael Tabor, the wealthy racehorse owner and celebrated punter.
Based in Dublin's International Financial Services Centre, the company is backed by Mr Desmond's International Investment and Underwriting (IIU) investment vehicle. Betdaq provides members with access to an international community of individuals who share an interest in sports betting and will offer betting on all of the world's premier sporting events.
Members of the exchange hold individual accounts with it and can bet unlimited amounts directly with each other by placing their 'orders' on the Exchange. Betdaq then actively matches members' orders on a whole or partial basis, depending on the level of demand in the marketplace.
The Exchange stipulates a minimum bet of $500 to set a price and $100 to take one. Clients are anonymous to each other, but deals are otherwise transparent. Members can hedge their bets on-site, and are provided with a wealth of information on-site, claims the Exchange. It says that all financial transactions on Betdaq are handled by Allied Irish Bank Limited, while its accounts are audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Betdaq is a trading name of Global Betting Exchange Limited, a company registered in Ireland at IFSC House, International Financial Services Centre, Customs House Quay, Dublin 1, Ireland. The IFSC offers tax privileges to companies, including a 10% corporation tax rate, although the IFSC regime is being phased out in favour of a universal 12.5% Irish corporation tax rate.
Says the company: 'The arena of exchange betting is growing rapidly and BETDAQ aims to accelerate this by embracing the latest technology in order to cater for medium to high value betting. There is no limit on the size of any individual order, no closure of winning accounts, a fiercely competitive commission rate of one per cent on total returns and strictly enforced controls over membership of the Betting Exchange.'
As part of its launch publicity, Betdaq is sponsoring the Ascot Festival of Racing meeting at the end of September, although not including the prestigious Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, whose name is 'difficult' for an Irish company, says Betdaq.
In recent years the rapid development of technology has opened up all sorts of gambling possibilities and a betting exchange is just one of the latest, but the idea of letting punters offer their own odds and, or, take someone else's offer is not completely new. Companies brokering bets between people and taking a commission like Flutter.com have been in existence for some time, but with limited sized bets. Betdaq though is a deposit-based operation, while many other up-market betting operations are credit-based.
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