You Bet: The Betfair Story [Hardcover]

Colin Cameron (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 4, 2009

The fascinating story of a huge international business success story, and how one company has created legions of new gamblers and changed the worlds of gambling and sport forever. A betting exchange is an internet company which provides gamblers with an online marketplace in which they can bet with each other. Betting exchanges now account for a third of all betting in Britain. Betfair is the world's preeminent betting exchange, with 90% of the global market. Betfair oversees five million bets each day—10 times greater than the volume of the London Stock Exchange trades.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Colin Cameron is the author of seven books, a BBC broadcaster, and a regular contributor to the Financial Times and The New York Times.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins UK (May 4, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0007277016
• ISBN-13: 978-0007277018
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,637,369 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, October 8, 2009

By 

Mark Blackwell (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: You Bet: The Betfair Story (Hardcover)

I had high hopes, but have been disappointed. I had expected the book to tell the tale of the development and growth of an interesting new company, as you might be. I have read numerous books in that genre and have enjoyed most. I've read about half the book (and am unlikely to read the rest) and so far I have learnt not much more about Betfair than the names of the two founders. Instead, there is excessive scene-setting... Why do people gamble? The development of spread-betting (not what Betfair does), and how the existing gaming industry reacted. An embarrassingly goggle-eyed preface about the wonders of Betfair, which eliminated any hope I might have had for an impartial, arms-length story.

Book is halfway gone and I am still none-the-wiser about Betfair, or even betting exchanges. Much less why or how it beat out Flutter, its early competition.