Euro 2012!
February 2, 2012
No, not that Euro – the currency! After months of work we’re happy to announce that Smarkets customers can now deposit, bet and withdraw in Euros.
Stuck in Seville? You can now bet on your favourite La Liga and Copa del Rey teams. AC Milan fan? Have a punt on the latest Serie A and Serie B matches. Sharapova supporter in Germany? We’ve got all the ATP and WTA matches you could want. American expat in Belgium? Try your luck on our NFL Superbowl market.
With the lowest base commission rate in the industry (just 2%), Smarkets is the place to bet and trade on football, horses, tennis and your other favourite events.
How easy is it to get started? Sign up here: https://smarkets.com/sign-up/ (it takes less than 5 minutes). Then deposit and you’re good to go!
Occupy Smarkets at our January Open House
January 12, 2012
To celebrate our new, lowered commission rate of 2% for all customers, we’re throwing our doors open! You are invited to come by our office to meet the Smarkets team and other like-minded people over drinks and snacks. If there is interest, we might move to a nearby pub afterwards.
This is also an opportunity for you to share with us what you’d like to see happen at Smarkets in 2012. We’ve read your comments and are working towards becoming the leading betting exchange in the industry. So whether it’s tennis, football or horse racing you fancy a flutter on, stop by our office to say hello!
This invite is open to all interested in Smarkets and betting – spread the word and invite your friends!
When: 6:30pm to 8:30pm on Thursday 26th January 2012
Where: Smarkets HQ
2nd Floor, White Bear Yard
144a Clerkenwell Road, London EC1R 5DF
Please RSVP by January 24th to amita.parikh@smarkets.com
Like this:
Australian Open – By The Numbers
January 11, 2012
As qualifying rounds for the first Grand Slam of the year get underway in Melbourne this week, we scoped out some facts and figures:
$25 million
Total prize money awarded (in USD) during the tournament
128
Number of players in the Men’s and Women’s singles draw (104 direct, 16 qualifiers)
16 years, 4 months
Age Martina Hingis was when she won the Australian Open, making her the youngest winner in the tournament’s history
4
Number of Australian Open titles Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have won (the most in the Open Era)
20+
Number of items that attendees are prohibited from bringing into stadium grounds. Among them: beach balls, fireworks, hampers and laser pointers
0
Number of Grand Slams top ranked female Caroline Wozniacki has won
Caroline Wozniacki hopes to win her first slam
$20,000
Amount (in Australian dollars) awarded to players who lose in the first round
6
Number of female players in the top 30 hailing from Russia
12-15
Age range kids must fall in before applying to be Ball Boys and Girls
$2,585
Cost of a ticket (in USD) in the lower seats to the Men’s final, as seen on eseats.com
£1,052
Cost of a round trip plane ticket to Melbourne from London (leaving tomorrow, on British Airways)
7
Number of consecutive years Australian tennis legend Rod Laver was ranked Number 1
2% commission effective today
January 9, 2012
A quick note to let everyone know that we have dropped our commission to a flat rate of just 2%!
A reminder that all bets moving forward will settle at 2%, regardless of when they were placed or matched.
With this new rate, Smarkets has positioned itself as the exchange with the lowest base-commission in the industry.
Happy punting!
Lower Smarkets commission for 2012
December 20, 2011
Happy holidays and happy punting!
The Smarkets Team
Why gambling can be good for you
December 19, 2011
Smarkets CEO Jason Trost was asked to write a piece about online gambling for the inaugural issue of new UK technology magazine The Kernel. Jason’s op-ed piece appears in today’s digital issue – click on over here to read it.
Jason Trost's op-ed appears today in The Kernel
Betting on the Facebook IPO
December 15, 2011
While you can’t bet on Facebook yet, Smarkets is letting you bet about Facebook.
The tech world is caught up with the impending announcement of Facebook going public. As a tech start-up, we’re also curious as to how it will unfold – so today we’re introducing two new markets where you can bet on the Facebook IPO:
1. When will Facebook hold its Initial Public Offering?
Bet on the month during which Facebook will go public. Will it be a Christmas surprise or will they wait until the summer? Think you know? Well, now you can make some money from it.
2. How much is Facebook worth?
How much do you think Facebook is really worth? Bet on the market capitalisation at the end of the first day following their IPO. We’re personally hoping that they’re worth enough to update Mark Zuckerberg’s wardrobe.
Details on how each contract will be settled and the options for betting can be found on their individual pages.
Happy betting!
The Smarkets Team
New Smarkets Arb Tool
December 7, 2011
Christmas comes early at Smarkets headquarters – we’ve got a new Smarkets arb tool for all our lovely customers. The easy to use bookmarklet lets you compare Smarkets’ odds with those across a wide array of other online bookmakers. Here is what the first version offers:
- Prices for any Football market on Smarkets, from any site!
- Inlineodds comparison – See how much better a price you can get on Smarkets.
- Quick Arbitrage Calculator, just enter the price you see and we’ll tell you if you can arb it!
Click on over here for the full details and installation instructions: Smarkets Arbitrage Tool
And if you’re not sure how to arb or want more information, visit the Smarkets Academy, where you can learn about arbitrage, bookmaker bonus arbitrage, and find out how to arbitrage between bookmakers.
We love feedback, so let us know what you think of our new toy!
New commission proposal, feedback wanted
November 23, 2011
Since we last spoke about changing our commission rates, we’ve been hard at work thinking about the best way to structure our commission moving forward.We quietly ruled out a commission structure based solely on trading volume (it was too easy to game) – so we’ve been left working out what would be fairest to everyone involved.
We’re aiming to implement a structure that ensures our customers continue to enjoy some of the best value on the Internet.
So our plan is this: We will assign customers a commission tier according to their average monthly commission contribution. This average will be calculated over a rolling 3 month period, and reassessed at a regular time each week.
| Commission contribution per month | Expected commission rate |
| Up to £3 | 4% |
| £3 – £10 | 3.5% |
| £10 – £30 | 3% |
| £30 – £100 | 2.5% |
| £100 – £300 | 2% |
| £300 – £1,000 | 1.5% |
| £1,000+ | 1% |
We’ve intentionally set the barriers low, so that most of our active users will quickly find themselves on 2 – 3.5%. That is a big saving compared to the 4% that many are on now.
As always, we want your feedback! Let us know what you think by posting in the comments below, or emailing us directly. We’ll take your thoughts into consideration when it comes time to switch to our new structure, which will be happening shortly.
Update: Many of you have got in touch suggesting that we go off implied commission (taking into account losses as well as wins) instead of actual commission. This is something we are open to doing, so if you want to give feedback on that idea as well, please go ahead!
£50 Million Traded
November 21, 2011
Huge news at Smarkets headquarters today as we confirmed we have now traded over £50 million lifetime!
Just ten short months ago we were chuffed to have passed the £3 million mark. In June we toasted to reaching the £20 million mark. To be up to £50 million less than six months later is no easy feat.
We’d like to thank all our users for their continued support and feedback – we couldn’t have achieved this milestone without you. We’re looking forward to soaring past £100 million in the new year!
In other news, you may remember reading about a Wired UK article that featured our founders Jason Trost and Hunter Morris. If you didn’t get a chance to pick up a print copy, you can now read it online.
