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Why is it difficult to create a market on pool tournaments? Officially betting firms run miles away from pool tournaments. They may even pile into a tournament but wont lay any prices. It is not that there isn’t information out there.
Like nearly all sports, pool has rankings which have been collected over a number of years and which are freely available. Yet there are plenty of bookmakers who seem almost scared to take bets on pool! Never thought I would see the day when bookmakers turn down the opportunity to make money for nothing, but I have and have seen it repeatedly.
At first I thought it was all about the the image of pool players being a bit ‘Fast Eddie Felson’. In which they would sell their grandma for a couple of quid, but as I heard the same excuse over and over again ie ‘…we dont take money on pool…’ I began to think thatr i had more to do with accountancy rather than shenanigans.
People have complained on numerous occasions that the world of sports betting is run by accountants and not bookmakers. Considering the colloquial name for bookmakers is ‘turf accountants’ it might seem a bit strange attacking bookmakers for being accountants. The reason why I am seeing them as accountants is that they are too restrictive in taking cash. Many a times on numerous betting forums you will read stories of a stand out price being advertised but when you go to take the bet the wager is restricted to a few pounds. This has been said to be due to the amount of money flooding on or because an account has been flagged up as being held by a shrewd gambler. Either way it can be annoying if you’re in that position.
Usually the only place where you can get sizeable money on is with betting shops and usually not at the price advertised on the internet. So clearly the accountants had been making moves into the world of marketing by putting out a stand out price to attract attention. Which brings me back to creating prices for pool tournaments. Sooner or later they will have to do this as it is stupid that a group of people well known to be major bettors cannot place a bet on their game.
If a bookmaker say it is open to corruption then do it as a pool or a tote betting market. Simple! Cricket has a worst reputation for betting than pool and bookmakers still take bets on the game, likewise snooker, rugby and football have had their moments in the lime light for the wrong reasons. And can we forget horse racing which need a army of spies and informants to work with bookmakers.
So come on you bookmakers please take our money which is just as good as any other punters money!