Punters will be the big winners with Racing Victoria (RV) today announcing that it will become the first Principal Racing Authority (PRA) in Australia to trial a Minimum Bet Limit policy (MBL) from the opening of betting markets.
From Monday, 10 May 2021 punters betting on all Victorian thoroughbred races will no longer need to wait until 9am raceday for day meetings and 2pm raceday for night meetings to access the provisions of the MBL.
Wagering Service Providers (WSPs) and licensed Victorian Bookmakers’ Association (VBA) members betting on Victorian thoroughbred racing must now apply the MBL from the time their markets are first published following the declaration of final fields.
For Saturday metropolitan meetings, the first WSPs typically begin publishing their markets on Wednesday afternoon after the final fields are declared. For country race meetings, it is often up to 48 hours prior to the race meeting.
Under RV’s MBL, WSPs must allow punters betting on Victorian thoroughbred racing to win up to $2000 on any one metropolitan win bet and $1000 on any one non-metropolitan win bet.
The trial, which will continue until 31 December 2021, rewards punters betting on Victorian thoroughbred racing and is aimed at stimulating earlier betting activity.
RV Chief Financial & Commercial Officer, Aaron Morrison, said: “This is great news for punters. We know that they’ve warmly embraced minimum bet limits on raceday, and we’re pleased to announce that they’ll be on offer earlier through this important trial.
“From Monday, those punters who like to back their judgement and get on early will do so on Victorian races knowing that they can bet to win a minimum amount from the time markets open on the final fields.
“As well as being a win for punters, we think the application of our MBL policy at the opening of markets will stimulate earlier betting activity on our races which will be in the best interests of all stakeholders.
“We understand this may require a change in the way some WSPs frame and publish their markets for our races, however we’re confident from our consultation that there won’t be material changes in the prices offered and the times that markets are published.
“The trial will serve to determine what impact early minimum bet limits have on all aspects of our wagering ecosystem and ultimately their application beyond 2021.”
Under RV’s MBL framework, approved WSPs are required to accept a fixed odds bet at odds which are publicly displayed by the approved WSP for any Victorian thoroughbred race to the maximum amount specified as follows:
Race Type
|
In any one Win, Win/Place or Each-way bet: to lose
|
In any one Place bet: to lose
|
Metropolitan Victorian Thoroughbred
|
$2000
|
$800
|
Non-metropolitan Victorian Thoroughbred
|
$1000
|
$400
|