To: Fli-by (1786 )
From: ocmayor Saturday, Apr 17 1999 1:57AM ET
Reply # of 2431
The April 7th PR mentioned a nameless English company BETT will be working with. I will almost guarantee our English Soccer and horse racing company is Ladbrokes. Ladbrokes has it's main officesin the Uk and Washington, Pennsylvania. The offices in the UK are for sports wagering. The Ladbroke office in PA is for, you guessed it, off track horse wagering.
I think we have found our mystery company.
Here is a little info on Ladbrokes.....
Research and the process of elimination has brought me to this conclusion. Ladbrokes is largely involved in accepting soccer wagers in the UK. Ladbrokes also has a U.S. headquarters outside of
Ladbrokes (according to what I found) owns several horse tracks including THE MEADOWS HARNESS TRACK in western PA, and Ladbrokes Detroit Race Course in Detroit, MI (better known as "DRC".)
Ladbrokes also offers pari-mutual "off track" wagering accounts to horse players in the U.S. in states where the law permits. ***For those that do not understand the term "off track", it means betting on a horse race without actually being at the track window to place the wager. It can be done at any legal location like a remote horse parlor with TV's to watch the races, at a casino Sportsbook, or even from the home (in states that permit).***
*****How it works*****
Local cable channels broadcast simulcast real time races from horse tracks around the world. The player watching at home can place wagers, via phone call to Ladbrokes, on the races using money in his off track account. In the UK gamblers can do the same. However, in the UK gamblers can also wager on football (soccer to us) legally in the same off track account system.
I would imagine the tests with Ladbrokes will encompass the opening and replenishing of these off track accounts in both countries. The player will use eConnect to do these transactions from his/her home. Thus allowing for him/her to bet on horse races in the US, and horse races and sports in the UK, without having to leave the home.
I hope that I am correct in my projections and assumption because Ladbrokes is the real deal. They alone as a client could propell BETT to a status of being the leading player in the "perfect" wagering industry. Ladbrokes in the UK is a well known and respected legal bookmaker (a house hold name). They are also very well respected in the US horse racing industry. Any affiliation BETT could have with them will set an immediate and concreate credability to BETT and their business, as Ladbrokes would not fool around with this type of technology unless serious consideration was being made on their part to use BETT's product to enhance their own wagering handle. If BETT is able to land Ladbrokes as a client it will be the beginig of snowball effect with other offtrack and off shore gaming operators attempting to sign on with BETT. This will occur as Ladbrokes is argueably the TRUMP of off shore and off track gaming at this time, and is unarguably the industries trend settor in wagering technology.
-GOOD WEEKEND
-MAYOR
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