<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Sky Masterson:
I agree generally with what Slots has to say but some of the info in his post is inaccurate. Here is my take:
Betdaq - agreed. If Dermot Desmond who funds this ever stiffs anyone I will be amazed.
BetandWin - your money is good you will just never get a chance to win.
BetDirect - Littlewoods are a public company granted but they do not have a "massive market Cap" At the moment their market cap is around UKP20m up from as low as UKP8m recently. For those that would like to research them their code on the London Stock exchange is SPO and the PLC's name is Sportech. The betting division only had a handle of around UKP53m this year and is losing money at a Net level. Their money is good but there can be no certainty that they won't shut this side of the business at some point in the future.
Betinternet - again I agree that they are public but that means nothing at all. It is only two years since the publicly listed (in UK) Firststake.com went broke and couldn't pay their creditors or customers. Betinternet has recently parted with its ops director and put out profit warnings. If you are going to play there then you simply need to be wary but they appear to have a good business model.
BlueSq - They are 100% and the money behind rank will ensure they never stiff anyone. That said they did reduce my limits on NFL this week after losing UKP13000 with them last weekend in my first weekend betting with them.
Ladbrokes - There is no A- about it. They are A+++++++. They are worth over UKP1bn and have bigger profits than any book I know of. Have over 2000 betting shops in the UK.
Totalbet/UKbetting - publicly listed and solid but not doing huge amounts of business and you could probably compare the amount of business they do with a smaller US book maybe a VIP or something like that (I am guessing a bit here but they are nowhere near the size of an Olympic or Pinnacle). may be profitable soon and seem to have savvy people running things and yesterday acquired http://www.oddschecker.com. They own a lot of sports content sites.
Tote - as solid as Ladbrokes but watch for developments here as they may be privatised soon and then they need to become commercially viable. All of their profits go to fund UK horseracing.
UniBet - I have heard they are looking for investment to grow to the next level. From the figures I have seen they have a mid sized business and have come a long way in a short time.
SkyBet - v.solid but you won't get the chance to win much.
Coral - if Ladbrokes deserve multiple +'s behind their A then Coral can't be far behind and neither can William Hill for that matter.
Victor Chandler - Never slow paid anyone and I doubt they ever will BUT for some reason ENIC (a plc in the UK) backed out of an acquisition after a few years due dilligence. I think they will always pay if only because Victor is such a gentleman but I am not 100% certain their business model is viable anymore and the Hong Kong Jockey clubs entry into the soccer betting market must have hurt what was once their most lucrative market.
Paddy Power and Stanley - Very solid with listings and a huge number of assets behind them in shops.
Didn't mean to be a pedant but I do think describing smaller plc's as solid by virtue of their listing is somwhat misleading.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
You forget StanJames
www.stanjames.com
Bye
[This message was edited by Concorde on November 20, 2003 at 05:06 AM.]
I agree generally with what Slots has to say but some of the info in his post is inaccurate. Here is my take:
Betdaq - agreed. If Dermot Desmond who funds this ever stiffs anyone I will be amazed.
BetandWin - your money is good you will just never get a chance to win.
BetDirect - Littlewoods are a public company granted but they do not have a "massive market Cap" At the moment their market cap is around UKP20m up from as low as UKP8m recently. For those that would like to research them their code on the London Stock exchange is SPO and the PLC's name is Sportech. The betting division only had a handle of around UKP53m this year and is losing money at a Net level. Their money is good but there can be no certainty that they won't shut this side of the business at some point in the future.
Betinternet - again I agree that they are public but that means nothing at all. It is only two years since the publicly listed (in UK) Firststake.com went broke and couldn't pay their creditors or customers. Betinternet has recently parted with its ops director and put out profit warnings. If you are going to play there then you simply need to be wary but they appear to have a good business model.
BlueSq - They are 100% and the money behind rank will ensure they never stiff anyone. That said they did reduce my limits on NFL this week after losing UKP13000 with them last weekend in my first weekend betting with them.
Ladbrokes - There is no A- about it. They are A+++++++. They are worth over UKP1bn and have bigger profits than any book I know of. Have over 2000 betting shops in the UK.
Totalbet/UKbetting - publicly listed and solid but not doing huge amounts of business and you could probably compare the amount of business they do with a smaller US book maybe a VIP or something like that (I am guessing a bit here but they are nowhere near the size of an Olympic or Pinnacle). may be profitable soon and seem to have savvy people running things and yesterday acquired http://www.oddschecker.com. They own a lot of sports content sites.
Tote - as solid as Ladbrokes but watch for developments here as they may be privatised soon and then they need to become commercially viable. All of their profits go to fund UK horseracing.
UniBet - I have heard they are looking for investment to grow to the next level. From the figures I have seen they have a mid sized business and have come a long way in a short time.
SkyBet - v.solid but you won't get the chance to win much.
Coral - if Ladbrokes deserve multiple +'s behind their A then Coral can't be far behind and neither can William Hill for that matter.
Victor Chandler - Never slow paid anyone and I doubt they ever will BUT for some reason ENIC (a plc in the UK) backed out of an acquisition after a few years due dilligence. I think they will always pay if only because Victor is such a gentleman but I am not 100% certain their business model is viable anymore and the Hong Kong Jockey clubs entry into the soccer betting market must have hurt what was once their most lucrative market.
Paddy Power and Stanley - Very solid with listings and a huge number of assets behind them in shops.
Didn't mean to be a pedant but I do think describing smaller plc's as solid by virtue of their listing is somwhat misleading.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
You forget StanJames
www.stanjames.com
Bye
[This message was edited by Concorde on November 20, 2003 at 05:06 AM.]
