One of the great things about Betfair and laying a horse is that it permits you to become the bookmaker and it is so simple to do with an account on Betfair the betting exchange. betfair works by putting together backers with layers of any event online and the winning part of the bet pays a small comission to Betfair.

As the bookies have pointed out on many an occasion this can lead to fowl play but Betfair have put in place security systems where say if you had a bet with Betfair yesterday, Tom and Mark will know about it. Or they could, if they wanted to. If it was a big bet, laying a horse that ran well below form, they may have looked up your betting history since 2004 too. And the next time that you have a similar bet, they will probably know about that too.

Tom and Mark are the betting analysts in the security department at the British Horseracing Authority, and the breadth and power of the information at their disposal is remarkable.

“It’s a long process and you can’t just issue new rules. There are still some groups in racing who see us an unnecessary hindrance.”

A few feet away, Tom and Mark are still poring over the markets. “Of course, people will do their best to hide,” Mark says, “but even if they are using several accounts, we will be able to link them together. And sooner or later, people always tend to make mistakes.”

Source: Guardian