little story about TB -4.5

[craig r]

WWTS has recently reopened their P2P betting (like tradesports). I guess most people are confused about how it works. Well, I was looking at the SF/TB game and the line still was 4.5. Somebody had posted SF +4.5 "against" -500. Well, I guess they thought that they were taking odds of 5 to 1. I had a little ethical dilemma about this. Because I knew this had to be a mistake. Nobody in their right mind would be willing to take SF +4.5 -500. So, I called WWTS to make sure it was not a mistake and then asked if they would let me e-mail the person to make sure this is what they wanted to do (for some reason i would feel bad doing this to somebody). They told me that they could not reveal the identity of the person and that they would not e-mail them, becuase the person understood what he/she was doing? So, I wanted your guys opinion on this? Did i do the right thing by taking that? It was not for a large amount of money (my liability is $10). Obviously I know it is a good bet, but should I have not taken it?

thanks,

craig r.

[Raken]

1. How does P2P work?

2. What does SF +4.5 "against" -500 mean in English?

Raken

[craig r]

It is basically betting without the bookie. WWTS just gets a commission of it (which is 5%). So, basically I am betting against other players.

The SF +4.5 will be a good example: Lets say you want to bet that SF will cover this spread (this would be "for"). Lets say you did not think they would cover (this would be "against"). It basically works like a small stock market. Somebody might be "selling" SF +4.5 "for" (which means they bet against it) -104. Now you have to put up 1.04 for every 1 you want to win. They might only be selling $30 like this. So that is all that will "match" with them. If you would have put $50 then the additional amount would be put on the "against" side, because the remainder you are trying to sell is that you think that SF will cover the +4.5. Basically the people can set any price. So, one could even do it at even money. But, through WWTS the line does not move throughout the week on their P2P betting (don't think tradesports does either). So, what happened in the example i gave above: Somebody was willing to lay odds of 5:1 that SF would cover 4.5 points. but, they probably meant to take odds of that amount. i know this was not very well written, but you can write me back if you need it explained further. Also, these "shares" can be traded during the game as well.

craig r.

[craig r]

Somebody has an offer at the WWTS exchange "against" TB -4.5, which is selling for +500. He has $100 dollars worth. If i did not already take the other side I would risk the $20 to get it. There site is confusing, because the numbers you see are what the person who offered is laying/taking, not what you would take. So if it says "against +500" you would actually be laying 5 to 1. Maybe that is why so many people make mistakes on these types of sites.

craig r.