New Jersey Exchange Wagering Is Live

Looks like I may have been just a bit early on exchange wagering coming to the United States!  After almost a five year hiatus from this website, I'm going to begin publishing news, tips, data and tools for exchange wagering.  As of this past Monday, bettors in New Jersey can do exchange wagering on a variety of tracks!

Hal Handel Joins TVG (more info)

Here's the Thoroughbred Times take on TVG's hiring of Hal Handel: http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/national-news/2011/11/25/handel-joins-tvg.aspx. Not really any new information that wasn't in the article I posted yesterday, but since we're aiming to include all information relevant to those interested in the future of exchange wagering in the U.S., I'm including the link.

Hal Handel hired by TVG in preparation for U.S. exchange wagering

There's a new article (http://www.drf.com/news/tvg-hires-hal-handel-help-establish-exchange-betting) up on DRF.com discussing TVG's hire of industry veteran Hal Handel in preparation for the hoped for launch of exchange wagering in the United States in 2012. While the necessary agreement for exchange wagering to start are not all in place yet, the aggressive hiring at TVG and it's parent Betfair seem to indicate that the firm believes that something will be done not too far in the future in New Jersey and California.

More Info on California Exchange Wagering

Plenty of useful info in a recent Sacramento Bee article on exchange wagering, including:
-California is targeting a May 2012 start date for exchange wagering implementation.
-Betfair/TVG has recently hired 70 software engineers to developer their platform for exchange wagering in the U.S.
-Exchange wagering legality in California will expire in 2016 unless further action is taken.

Tom Amoss Favors Exchange Wagering

There haven't been a lot of new developments with regard to exchange wagering in the U.S. during the past few weeks, but I thought this piece of a recent Bloodhorse article was interesting:

Amoss said he would like to see more U.S. racing jurisdictions adopt policies that permit exchange wagering that is so popular in Europe. He cited the growth of Betfair and its progressive wagering systems as an example of an approach the industry could take to be more attractive to bettors.

Click here for the full article. Trainer Tom Amoss is among those who see exchange wagering as a potential 'fix' for the struggles of the thoroughbred racing industry.

Need For Regulation Of Exchange Wagering

Claire Novack wrote a really good article discussing the need for regulation of exchange wagering in the U.S. Essentially, because you can bet on a horse losing a race with exchange wagering, it creates another opportunity for those involved in racing to cheat. The article also gets into some discussion about the very valid concerns about those currently invested in parimutuel betting that some of exchange wagering's growth in the U.S. will come at the expense of their business: http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/62115/rci-exchange-wagering-takes-center-stage.

Exchange Wagering Giant Betfair Not Part of Final Monmouth Park Bidding

I was a bit surprised to see that Betfair wasn't part of the final bidding to operate Monmouth Park under a lease for the upcoming season. They're certainly a lot better informed than I am, so I suppose that this must indicate that they don't believe that being the winning bidder would substantially increase their chances of operating exchange wagering in New Jersey. Here's an article with more information on the final three bidders.