Another nice promo for small bettors

[whipsaw]

Matchbook is running a nice promotion right now, for a few more days. New signups get what they call a "free $50 bet." I talked to support for about 20 minutes to pin down some facts. Essentially, when you sign up they will give you $50 straight into your account to use immediately (it gets there faster if you talk to their live support and ask for it--the support is very good IMHO). You don't have to use all of it in one bet.

To cash out, you have to deposit $100 and wager $150 in total bets before you can cash out the deposit money or any profits from it. You can even wager up to $50 of it before you even put a dime in the book, but must wager at least $100 of it after you deposit $100.

I really like this exchange, and have used it for awhile for baseball betting because I think the lines are particularly juicy at times due to the exchange nature of the site. They don't take vig, but they do charge 2% commissions on your profits from bets. They also do charge 2.9% on deposits from Neteller which I don't like, but they give you the equivalent in commission credits. They don't charge for cash outs, and in my experience they have been lightning fast if you do them during normal business hours.

I am not affiliated with this site, I just thought this was a good deal that everyone should be in on. My wife just got a new Matchbook account. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Whip, how's liquidity on matchbook? Are they close to or far from reaching critical mass?

[whipsaw]

Not sure what you mean there. I'm dumb, gotta remember that. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Basically are there a lot of traders on there? I'm too far immersed in the financial world to stop using "liquidity" without thinking about it. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[whipsaw]

It appears to me that there are a lot of traders, although I don't know for sure. One way I measure that is the quality of the lines, and at least for baseball they're always top notch (often the best line in the market on both sides, and usually no more than 3-4 cents apart--sometimes even one cent apart). Even football lines are often less than 5 cents apart, which tells me that there is tons of competition out there between wagerers.

The only thing I don't like about Matchbook is that they don't offer a ton of props, and the long term futures are not heavily bet. But for standard betting of moneylines, spreads, and totals, it's everything a basic bettor needs.

[ QUOTE ]
It appears to me that there are a lot of traders, although I don't know for sure. One way I measure that is the quality of the lines, and at least for baseball they're always top notch (often the best line in the market on both sides, and usually no more than 3-4 cents apart--sometimes even one cent apart). Even football lines are often less than 5 cents apart, which tells me that there is tons of competition out there between wagerers.

The only thing I don't like about Matchbook is that they don't offer a ton of props, and the long term futures are not heavily bet. But for standard betting of moneylines, spreads, and totals, it's everything a basic bettor needs.

[/ QUOTE ]

I like what I'm hearing. So 2% commission paid on profits, 2.9% Neteller deposit fee (not crazy about that but low bid-ask spreads should make up for that in the LR) If I join and you want a referral bonus (if they do that), PM me.

[ QUOTE ]
It appears to me that there are a lot of traders, although I don't know for sure. One way I measure that is the quality of the lines, and at least for baseball they're always top notch (often the best line in the market on both sides, and usually no more than 3-4 cents apart--sometimes even one cent apart). Even football lines are often less than 5 cents apart, which tells me that there is tons of competition out there between wagerers.

The only thing I don't like about Matchbook is that they don't offer a ton of props, and the long term futures are not heavily bet. But for standard betting of moneylines, spreads, and totals, it's everything a basic bettor needs.

[/ QUOTE ]

From what I've seen so far, it looks like the vast majority of cheap lines offered have been put up by matchbook themselves, not by participants (6 cents appears to be the spread norm for near +100 wager prices). NFL trading on Tradesports tends to be a little slower earlier in the week also but then again the bid-ask disparities are larger over there, necessitating the need for market-makers.

[ThaHero]

So is this a normal sportsbook like Bodog/Pinnacle/Sportsbook where you just bet against them, or is it different? What's this trader stuff you guys are talking about?

No, it is an exchange like TradeSports. You trade against other bettors and Matchbook just takes a commission. Matchbook will put up a "contract" for a particular game (Indy -13.5 for example) and people will put up buy and sell bids on each contract. When you want to put in a wager you can either accept the best price available or you can make your own and hope someone else takes it. Or you can be your own sportsbook if you want. It works out for both sides because we get no juice (almost) and Matchbook doesnt have to deal with the swings that a Sportsbooks experiences.

Another good thing about Matchbook is that once they put up a contract, I dont think they can take it down. So if you are late jumping on a favorite and the line moves against you, you can usually still pick up the old line at a good price on Matchbook. I managed to pick up Indy -13 (instead of 13.5) for +103 right before game time yesterday. Didn't wind up needing the half point but it never hurts.

Thanks for all the tips, gents. I'm not all hot on the bonus stuff. I'm a bargain-seeking, trader type at heart...when you see those "crazy" market-making prices appear on Tradesports on NFL during the week, that's usually me. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] I will probably fill the same niche on matchbook.