Does Matchbook drive anyone else crazy?

[llabb]

They often have good lines, but charge 2% commission on wins. This means I have to manually calculate how much to wager every time, and it's not exactly intuitive.

Let's say I see a line I want to take at -107, and I want to win a standard 1 unit. We'll say a unit is 100 bucks to make things easy. To get the correct odds and betting amount, I have to divide the 100 by 98% (your base wager win must cover the commission, calculated by dividing by 100%-2%). This gives you 102.04. Multiplied by the odds at 1.07, this equals 109.18, which is the amount you need to wager.

Yes, I could fudge it and just add 2 cents to the line, but it annoys me that the unit amounts are slightly off if I do that. Is anyone else bothered by this, or is there an easy way to do things on the site that I'm missing?

[ QUOTE ]
They often have good lines, but charge 2% commission on wins. This means I have to manually calculate how much to wager every time, and it's not exactly intuitive.

Let's say I see a line I want to take at -107, and I want to win a standard 1 unit. We'll say a unit is 100 bucks to make things easy. To get the correct odds and betting amount, I have to divide the 100 by 98% (your base wager win must cover the commission, calculated by dividing by 100%-2%). This gives you 102.04. Multiplied by the odds at 1.07, this equals 109.18, which is the amount you need to wager.

Yes, I could fudge it and just add 2 cents to the line, but it annoys me that the unit amounts are slightly off if I do that. Is anyone else bothered by this, or is there an easy way to do things on the site that I'm missing?

[/ QUOTE ]

Do it this way llabb:

To win $25 -- stake to win $25.51
To win $50 -- stake to win $51.02
To win $100 -- stake to win $102.04

...and so on and so forth.

Ed: as far as converting to cent lines, roughly add 2 cents until you get to 125, then add 3 cents up to a certain point, etc. Money lines are obviously a little tricker. I think lots of feedback to their customer care dept. may compel them to add functionality that precludes constant calculation on the part of the trader.

[southgapoker]

Or if it's that bad... bet somewhere else?

[ QUOTE ]
Or if it's that bad... bet somewhere else?

[/ QUOTE ]

It's not bad in the least. It's a fantastic site with great prices.

[llabb]

Yes, I like their lines and will continue to use them. I calculate the exact stakes I need to wager, and it is not difficult, but takes a little time which is bothersome. Even if I simply add 2 cents to the line and multiply, it still takes a couple secs.

My basic question is - does everyone who uses Matchbook manually calculate their wagers, or are you all annoyed with it too?

It shouldn't be too difficult to fix, as most other sites I use have it automated for you to simply enter your base amount to win, not exact stakes wagered. I can try e-mailing them; if you guys want it automated, perhaps we should do it collectively.

[ QUOTE ]
Yes, I like their lines and will continue to use them. I calculate the exact stakes I need to wager, and it is not difficult, but takes a little time which is bothersome. Even if I simply add 2 cents to the line and multiply, it still takes a couple secs.

My basic question is - does everyone who uses Matchbook manually calculate their wagers, or are you all annoyed with it too?

It shouldn't be too difficult to fix, as most other sites I use have it automated for you to simply enter your base amount to win, not exact stakes wagered. I can try e-mailing them; if you guys want it automated, perhaps we should do it collectively.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's in their interest to create a more user-friendly system. Let's email them en masse.