Have a look at http://www.actionfraud.org.uk/node/243.
Jeff
Is market manipulation on Betfair illegal?
I'm not sure such a law or rule applies to betting markets, but there may be a case for it to apply somehow perhaps? I think the difficulty is that bookmakers have deliberately manipulated the markets for years to alter the industry SP or to reduce wider exposure.
Presumably creating false rumours to alter a horse's price is fraud (the Fraud Act 2006 prohibits 'false representation', whether express or implied - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraud_Act_2006).
As for things like spoofing, heavily backing a horse with a view to making its price tumble, etc, a lawyer might argue that they also amount to false representation. But AFAIK, there's no formal legal definition of dishonesty under UK law - whether someone is guilty of deception depends on the jury's interpretation of their behaviour. And I'd like to think that a jury would view that sort of market manipulation in the same way as they would see bluffing in poker, ie as part of the game.
Jeff
As for things like spoofing, heavily backing a horse with a view to making its price tumble, etc, a lawyer might argue that they also amount to false representation. But AFAIK, there's no formal legal definition of dishonesty under UK law - whether someone is guilty of deception depends on the jury's interpretation of their behaviour. And I'd like to think that a jury would view that sort of market manipulation in the same way as they would see bluffing in poker, ie as part of the game.
Jeff
Bet Angel wrote:I'm not sure such a law or rule applies to betting markets, but there may be a case for it to apply somehow perhaps? I think the difficulty is that bookmakers have deliberately manipulated the markets for years to alter the industry SP or to reduce wider exposure.