Betfair Moves Ahead in Australia
Date Posted : April 2, 2008

The world biggest betting exchange, Betfair has won their legal battle in Western Australia and now it appears that New South Wales is taking a more positive light. While their poker and casino properties cannot be advertised in Australia their betting exchange looks to have the governments approval.

NSW's revelation follows closely on the heels of last week's High Court ruling that a Western Australian law banning residents from wagering on betting exchanges is unconstitutional.

Racing NSW chief executive Peter V'landys told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that the NSW plan "is exactly what the High Court requested. We have said and we continue to say that we will make sure that competition is even and that everyone pays the same fee. "That is exactly what the court has found - you can't discriminate against someone and you can't be more favourable to someone."

The Tabcorp and Tattersals gambling licenses will most probably lose value as a third big player enters the Australian market. The Australian arm of the UK company is half owned by James Packer's Crown Limited and will be offering both telephone and Internet betting to Australian punters.