The punter has been banned by bookies after being caught using a Zoom live stream to give him a significant edge – but has he really done anything wrong?
- Punter claims he has been unfairly punished for using ‘stream’ to his advantage
- Ex-pro golfer Adam Fraser was racing to exchange bets on a Zoom call
- Exchange bets rely on a punter seeing changes in a race before other bettors
- Betfair mysteriously closed its account and is considering legal options
- Betfair has yet to comment on why Mr Fraser’s account was closed
Leading exchange betting company Betfair closed the account of an avid punter after he used a Zoom-linked ‘live stream’ to watch horse racing as he was placing in-play bets.
Former professional golfer Adam Fraser is considering his legal options, claiming that Betfair unfairly closed the account.
The Company reserves the ability to ‘suspend or terminate’ any account at any time, without reason or cause, within the terms and conditions of the Platform.
Mr Fraser said he was being unfairly punished for having a widely available sight, which other punters can also access.
‘The vision that was being seen that day by me and other in-play merchants, and this ‘free-to-air’ vision, is available to every member of the Australian public to see, he said The Age,
‘I was watching it on the zoom app because I didn’t have the channel at home and my friend had.’
Mr Fraser believes he was mocked on a Zoom stream by someone else who, he said, was running a ‘free-to-air’ channel that would normally be on television anyway .
Adam Fraser has closed his account, he believes, for watching horse racing (pictured) on Zoom stream while placing in-play bets
Adam Fraser (pictured) and his brother Marcus have both competed in professional golf. Adam Fraser now punts and runs golf tipping service
He thinks another member of the video call took a screenshot of the members and sent it to Betfair.
On betting exchanges such as Betfair, punters are placing bets against each other, creating their own odds and passing them on to other gamblers.
With in-play exchange betting, a punter with the fastest stream can reduce the broadcast delay between the race and its viewing, benefiting from being a few frames ahead of other punters watching on a different channel.
The betting company, Betfair, offers exchange betting that allows users to place and exchange bets while the horses are racing, with punters competing against each other to find the best odds on a potential winner.
There are no rules that specifically prohibit bookmakers from watching horse racing on live stream in the Betfair Terms and Conditions, many people place in-race bets from trackside
Mr Fraser said the stream he was watching had a delay of only half a second to a second, compared to a television broadcast, which could be five to seven seconds.
Punters on a faster stream can see horses miss their start, or make a mid-track breakaway, faster than those watching a slower stream, and can adjust their in-play bets much faster. Huh.
There are no rules that prevent punters from using streams to place bets in sports, although racecourses do have rules that govern the transmission of footage from the track.
Mr Fraser denied the Zoom stream on which it was broadcast from the racetrack.
‘If they don’t reopen my account, is Betfair going to close the account of every in-play trader who has ever seen a ‘free-to-air’ vision?’ They said.
Daily Mail Australia contacted Betfair to find out why they closed Mr Fraser’s account, but the company has yet to respond.
Betfair said in a statement that “honesty and fairness” were its prime concerns.
‘We do not provide Racing Vision to our customers. Races are owned, managed and broadcast by third parties, and therefore Betfair has no rules regarding access to footage of races.’