BetVictor scraps £500 horseracing MBL
Gibraltar-based operator drops lay-to-lose guarantee due to lack of interest from punters
BetVictor has ditched its £500 lay-to-lose minimum bet liability (MBL) on UK and Irish horseracing due to a lack of interest from bettors.
The Gibraltar-based firm introduced the initiative in 2018 after talks with the Horseracing Bettors Forum (HBF) as it sought to counter complaints over betting restrictions and account closures.
No fanfare at all from @BetVictor about this. Funny, that. They seemed very pleased with themselves when they set it up … https://t.co/wZHA0hnKlY
— Greg Wood (@Greg_Wood_) August 5, 2020
BetVictor became the first major operator to allow punters to back any horse to win a minimum of £500, regardless of the class of race.
But the bookmaker has now pulled the promotion because the total guaranteed bets wagered since January 2019 accounted for less than half a percent of total horseracing activity (0.16%).
BetVictor said in a statement: “After initial interest, the bet numbers have dropped significantly.
“We therefore conclude that there is no desire for the market, nor is there a business justification to support it. As such, we will not be offering guaranteed bets from 25 July 2020.”
In the form it’s required to be run/managed to give firms even half a chance of being profitable, there’s no demand for it. That was 1/10 from the get go. But credit to betvictor for trying it anyway. If it worked they’d got in first, if it didn’t they’d lose little. It didn’t. https://t.co/fmaFeHuz5r
— Nick Goff (@nickgoff79) August 5, 2020