Posted: 06:18, July 9, 2022 | Updated: 08:40, 9 July 2022
Betting major Betfair has suspended the account of a greedy punter after he used a Zoom-connected ‘live stream’ to watch horse racing as he placed in-play bets. Former professional golfer Adam Fraser is considering his legal options, claiming Betfair wrongfully closed the account. Under the platform’s terms and conditions, the company reserves the right to “suspend or terminate” an account “at any time, with or without cause.” Mr Fraser said he was being unfairly penalized for watching widely available vision that other players could access. “The vision that I and other in-play traders were watching that day, and it was ‘free’ vision, is available for any member of the Australian public to watch,” he told the Age. “The reason I was watching it on the Zoom app is because I didn’t have the channel at home and my friend did.” Mr Fraser believes he was spoken to by another person on the Zoom stream with him, who he said was playing a “free to air” channel that would normally be on TV anyway. Adam Fraser had his account closed, he believes, because he was watching horse racing (pictured) on a Zoom stream while placing in-game bets Adam Fraser (pictured) and his brother Marcus have both competed in professional golf. Adam Fraser now bets and runs a golf tipping service He thinks another member of the video call took a screenshot of the members and sent it to Betfair. In a betting exchange like Betfair, players bet against each other, take their own odds and offer them to other players. With in-game exchange betting, a player with the fastest stream can reduce transmission delays between the match and its viewing, gaining an advantage by being a few frames ahead of other players watching on a different channel. Bookmaker, Betfair, facilitates exchange betting which allows users to place and change bets while the horses are running, with punters competing against each other to find the best odds on the potential winner There are no rules specifically banning punters from watching live horse racing under Betfair’s terms and conditions, with many people placing in-race bets from the track Mr Fraser said the feed he was watching had a delay of only half a second to one second compared to a TV broadcast which can be five to seven seconds. Punters on faster streams can see horses lose their starts or break away mid-course quicker than those watching on slower streams and adjust their in-game bets much quicker. There are no rules preventing players from using streams to bet on the game, however there are rules in horse racing that regulate the transmission of footage from the track. Mr Fraser denied that the Zoom stream he was on was broadcast from the track. “If he doesn’t reopen my account, will Betfair close the account of every in-game trader who has ever watched a free-to-air vision?” he said. Daily Mail Australia contacted Betfair to find out why they closed Mr Fraser’s account, but the company has yet to respond. In a statement, Betfair said “integrity and fairness” were its main concerns. “We do not provide racing vision to our customers. The matches are owned, managed and broadcast by third parties, and therefore Betfair has no rules regarding access to match footage.’
