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SkyBet - A diverse poker betting section?
Rationale: Not many people would argue that the poker industry is experiencing a challenging period while sports betting and other forms of betting such as fantasy sports are faring quite well . It is perhaps then even more important these days for the poker vertical to display innovation and creativity to increase their market share, entice entirely new client bases and remain relevant in a competative market.
While the number of land based betting shops is in decline and expected to decline further due to upcoming mergers, the current UK 'Remote Sector Market Share' (which includes online operators such as Sky) and stands at 29%, should be expected to see significant growth. Maybe one small way to entice a few more of the 20+ million online betting accounts held by the UK populous over to Sky could be to combine small areas of the poker and betting verticals.
The idea: It is not entirely new but generally is overlooked and the idea not considered in enough depth.
How about having a SkyBet section for poker. Now that suggestion is usually made each year when members ask Sky to run a book on Sky team members at the WSOP. I don't think this has ever been done but that suggestion is just the 'tip of the iceberg'.
Betting could be offered on how Sky members do at the WSOP for sure but... Betting could be offered on so many other aspects and could have a multitude of benefits.
There could be books run on the nightly tourneys on Sky, even if it just started out with each night's 'main events' and the 'Sunday major'. It could be expanded further and odds could be offered on certain groups of players doing better than other groups (something akin to the fantasy sports betting maybe?); odds could be offered on the players to win the most nightly 'main events' or 'Sunday Majors' over a month/year, which players would do best in tourneys, SNG's or cash games over the year, etc. The scope is as wide as the imagination.
It wouldn't need to stop there... Similar betting structures could be offered on live events, such as the WSOP, EPT or even the SPT.
The extra benefits: While poker betting would never overtake the likes of Football betting, it would help advertise the poker offerings here and drum up more interest in both the poker and betting verticals. I don't think many/any sites have explored this concept in much depth so there may also be room to steal a march on competitors. There could be room to attract a much more heterogeneous client base to both verticals and create a mini poker boom.
Once established, even if this idea only got a couple few hundred regular people betting each day and did not take off in a huge way, it would still be likely to generate a significantly amount of extra income for Sky. If it did take off then it could give the poker and betting scenes on Sky one hell of a boost. And another benefit is that most of the infrastrucure to implement this is already in place at Sky so there wouldn't be a huge outlay.
While the number of land based betting shops is in decline and expected to decline further due to upcoming mergers, the current UK 'Remote Sector Market Share' (which includes online operators such as Sky) and stands at 29%, should be expected to see significant growth. Maybe one small way to entice a few more of the 20+ million online betting accounts held by the UK populous over to Sky could be to combine small areas of the poker and betting verticals.
The idea: It is not entirely new but generally is overlooked and the idea not considered in enough depth.
How about having a SkyBet section for poker. Now that suggestion is usually made each year when members ask Sky to run a book on Sky team members at the WSOP. I don't think this has ever been done but that suggestion is just the 'tip of the iceberg'.
Betting could be offered on how Sky members do at the WSOP for sure but... Betting could be offered on so many other aspects and could have a multitude of benefits.
There could be books run on the nightly tourneys on Sky, even if it just started out with each night's 'main events' and the 'Sunday major'. It could be expanded further and odds could be offered on certain groups of players doing better than other groups (something akin to the fantasy sports betting maybe?); odds could be offered on the players to win the most nightly 'main events' or 'Sunday Majors' over a month/year, which players would do best in tourneys, SNG's or cash games over the year, etc. The scope is as wide as the imagination.
It wouldn't need to stop there... Similar betting structures could be offered on live events, such as the WSOP, EPT or even the SPT.
The extra benefits: While poker betting would never overtake the likes of Football betting, it would help advertise the poker offerings here and drum up more interest in both the poker and betting verticals. I don't think many/any sites have explored this concept in much depth so there may also be room to steal a march on competitors. There could be room to attract a much more heterogeneous client base to both verticals and create a mini poker boom.
Once established, even if this idea only got a couple few hundred regular people betting each day and did not take off in a huge way, it would still be likely to generate a significantly amount of extra income for Sky. If it did take off then it could give the poker and betting scenes on Sky one hell of a boost. And another benefit is that most of the infrastrucure to implement this is already in place at Sky so there wouldn't be a huge outlay.
Comments
Thanks Phantom
Sky have the betting and poker platforms/verticals (whatever people prefer) already in place and could therefore cross promote them.
The existing Sky customer base who may not use/know of Pokershares would be a semi-captive audience.
I guess also for some of the same reasons that people still stake poker players, rather than just virtually investing in them.
It would add a personal touch to the games on Sky.
In Response to Re: SkyBet - A diverse poker betting section?:
How much of an uptake would obviously depend on the cost of implementing it.
I would have thought that it wouldn't need a massive uptake to be profitable though as the SkyBet and Sky Poker platforms already exist. Obviously Sky have an excellent team devising, implementing and running all manner of promos already so I wouldn't think this would be a big stretch.
In reality I don't see how it would be much more costly than offering odds on any extra events that Sky might do anyway from time to time. Of course with the added benefit that it may encourage more players to the tables and more players to SkyBet.
I mean it is just an idea but it seems to me at least to be one that could be fun, not too hard to implement and has pretty decent potential.
P.S. I am pretty sure a decent odds compiler could throw a book that was profitable to Sky together for a range of different markets in no time. I also imagine Sky have these people in place already on the SkyBet platform/vertical.
Personally I disagree with this.
Firstly the potential flow of poker customers to SkyBet...
I know myself that I hardly ever use SkyBet. If I was able to bet on ;main event winners/final tablers; Sunday Major winners/final tablers; who would win most tourneys in a week/month/year; how Sky Team members would do; WSOP stuff; SPT stuff; how many times Haysies lawyer would sue Sky per week; etc etc... I know it would entice me to use SkyBet more. I am sure there must be similar others.
Sure I could bet on some (not all) of that stuff elsewhere, but I don't tend to bother. If I could do it while I was on Sky, and where I had funds, I would be more likely to do so.
Regarding SkyBet customers being enticed to either play or bet on poker...
Everything isn't black and white. It isn't the case that all poker players do not use SkyBet and that all SkyBet customers don't play poker or know anything about it. I am sure there are thousands of SkyBet customers who won't really play poker much here at the moment but who have played poker before and might take more interest if betting on it is offered.
Even besides that, a lot of people are prepared to bet on the strangest things. So I am sure a few with no prior knowledge would at least be prepared to punt a few quid on stuff related to poker every now and again.
Haysie's lawyer assures me that, despite the vile calumnies perpetrated by a man who goes under many pseudonyms such as "the Nefarious Nonagenarian", his client will only sue as a last resort. This is due to the unpleasant memories of being threatened with legal action with his then musical partner Mr Fantayzee in relation to the purported size and use of a certain Mr Wayne's appendage
I don't bet on Skybet these days, I find other bookmakers sites easier to use and I don't really want my poker bankroll confused with betting bankroll, so the common wallet is a negative for me. But then, I'm a real small ball operator in both poker and betting, so perhaps I'm not one of the target audience anyway.
I know what you mean and it is all just an idea but I guess in the way you were enticed to poker... If a few punters were encouraged to have a flutter on the poker it might capture their interest and they may start playing more themselves.
It just seems odd that you can bet on so many things on SkyBet but you cannot bet very much on poker, especially when they have a poker platform/vertical. Looks like a penalty kick to utilise the betting and poker platforms to support one another.
It could also lead to some brilliant forum betting discussions if people got into the habit of backing their favourite players (or themselves) in the nightly main events/Sunday Majors/SPT/WSOP etc.
P.S. Thanks for the run good wishes for Vegas! Hope you run great yourself mate, preferably not when I am at your table though lol.
Regarding how players would feel... I would say that (a) I imagine the odds would be over on SkyBet and not in glaring view of the regular poker community, i.e. I would presume the odds wouldn't be displayed in the poker lobby if such a thing were ever implemented. (b) There are so many sites that show you exactly how capable or otherwise a player is in existence already anyway. I know you can opt out of them but most people do not.
Regarding possible collusion... This problem can exist in any betting arena. Obviously it would be silly to offer odds on players busting early as they could just make sure they bust early. Sensible precautions could prevent most of the problems you mention IMHO.
The concerns are valid but if Sky liked the idea I doubt any of the problems are insurmountable.
Again it is just an idea and the silence from Sky thus far suggests it might not be something they would be overly keen on. Personally I think with a 'can do' attitude there is actually a lot of potential in the idea, sure there are a few barriers but nothing that couldn't be overcome IMO.