Irish liquidity

[ANGELS15]

is because punters are creatures of habit who believe they know what they are betting on. form experts etc - thank the lord they dont.

That is the irony, if that is the main explanation - because in reality most punters have precisely 0 real knowledge edge over a race taking place 300 miles away in a Scottish track either.

I'm still a little puzzled that punters would think they 'know' about racing at Hamilton when they live in London...

Hamilton being in mainland Britain is under the auspices of the BHA, and british racing is given much greater expose in uk betting shops and their tv ads, the national press, national tv then irish racing (quite rightly) which is under the auspices of racing ireland (including the 3 northern irish tracks).
If you go into a british betting shop (I assume they are still the same) the walls are plastered with the relevant pages from the racing post display the days race cards etc, and the football particularly the premier league. Stuck in a dark corner somewhere you will find the page for irish racing (usually none on Mondays and most Tuesdays a single meeting most days except Saturday), which as less coverage than cricket, darts and greyhound racing.
British punters have a very little exposure to irish racing (both codes). They are bombarded with british racing and being creatures of habit and not very discerning irish racing does not attract large volumes from the british.
Ireland as a very small population compared to Britain, all the punting money gets split with the various bookies and tiny bit on exchanges, there is not enough punters to go round to create decent volumes on all irish races.

Very true. I think another important point is that Betfair users seem to be in an alomost unique situation in the UK. By that I mean we're not really limited. US punters can't use Betfair in the states. Australian punters can't bet in-running and Betfair seem to have pulled out or are pulling out of the EU countries. It stands to reason that the majority of customers/traders will focus on UK racing.

[stueytrader]

Can partly see the coverage issues, even though I still don't think there's that big a difference personally between Ireland and UK in what an average punter is presented with each day. There's less races run overall of course.

I don't think the ruling body has anything much to do with it, as most punters barely notice that IMO.

[to75ne]

Can partly see the coverage issues, even though I still don't think there's that big a difference personally between Ireland and UK in what an average punter is presented with each day. There's less races run overall of course.

I don't think the ruling body has anything much to do with it, as most punters barely notice that IMO.

go and have a look in a betting shop and you will see the difference in coverage.

[stueytrader]

But there's less Irish racing overall, I get that - so obviously a bit less coverage in terms of racing pages on display.

Or did you mean something beyond that in terms of what is 'presented'?

[to75ne]

But there's less Irish racing overall, I get that - so obviously a bit less coverage in terms of racing pages on display.

Or did you mean something beyond that in terms of what is 'presented'?

not a bit less, there are acers of pages on british racing, usually one for irish racing.

[stueytrader]

But there's less Irish racing overall, I get that - so obviously a bit less coverage in terms of racing pages on display.

Or did you mean something beyond that in terms of what is 'presented'?

not a bit less, there are acers of pages on british racing, usually one for irish racing.

So, you'd say it is racing press coverage that makes the biggest difference then?

[to75ne]

yes plus punters tend to be creatures of habit, they stick with what they know.

the british punters mostly mugs will tend to back horses in the uk (barring northern ireland) cause thats where they know - its there own dirt/land epecially if their fav jockery is riding a horse whos saddle cloth number is their birthday, or the owner comes from their own town, or some bloke told them it was gonna win cause he knows someone the yard and so and so on.

the irish punters mostly mugs will tend to back horses in ireland cause thats where they know - its there own dirt/land epecially if their fav jockery is riding a horse whos saddle cloth number is their birthday, or the owner comes from their own town, or some bloke told them it was gonna win cause he knows someone the yard and so and so on.

[Trader Pat]

Speaking as an Irishman I have to say I'm really disappointed in this thread

When I saw the title I thought it was an homage to Guinness

[to75ne]

Speaking as an Irishman I have to say I'm really disappointed in this thread

When I saw the title I thought it was an homage to Guinness

speaking of which nearly time for a couple.

[Trader Pat]

Speaking as an Irishman I have to say I'm really disappointed in this thread

When I saw the title I thought it was an homage to Guinness

speaking of which nearly time for a couple.

Its always Guinness time

[stueytrader]

That's one Irish product that doesn't seem to get neglected by UK punters!

[Euler]

Speaking as an Irishman I have to say I'm really disappointed in this thread

When I saw the title I thought it was an homage to Guinness

[Euler]

I think the lack of liquidity is just due to it being a smaller market.

I used to account manage UK and Irish retailers and they were very different in terms of economic size. So I guess this just transplants to racing as well.

[stueytrader]

I think the lack of liquidity is just due to it being a smaller market.

I used to account manage UK and Irish retailers and they were very different in terms of economic size. So I guess this just transplants to racing as well.

That still sounds slightly tautological though? i.e. 'it's a smaller market, because it's a smaller market..'.

The real puzzle is why exactly is it a smaller market, though I can see the suggested 'familiarity/press' type points to some extent. I agree in part with those explanations, though still not fully (as it's only a guess in any case, we don't know why punters chose to avoid it more often).

I don't think it's the same as retail, as they clearly have limits in their potential market 'reach'. There's not the same limits on market 'reach' on places like Betfair (as in all customers can access them just as much as any other racing market).

As I've had further thoughts, I think it may well be a mix of 'familiarity' points suggested, with some other preconceptions about the type of racing, that makes some sections of the punters avoid using Irish racing on BF.

[wearthefoxhat]

With the Irish racing, it could be more a point of treading carefully, as a lot of the form isn't that easy to translate when dealing with the class of the race. ie: Class 1 to 7 in the UK or handicaps, Class 45-65, 50-80 etc.. in Ireland)

I recall Matt Chapman and the now retired Handicapper Phil Smith discussing how the handicapping is looked at in each country.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_92Muc6sO6Y

Essentially, when the Irish Handicapping was discussed, Phil Smith would dis their efforts and always add to the Irish Handicap Rating when a horse was due to run in the UK. It boiled down to when Gordon Elliot used to raid the big UK handicaps off the Irish mark and the UK handicapper eventually caught on.

So, the point I'm trying to make is, Pre-off, it appears no one wants to get caught out, so may prefer to wait 5 minutes before the off before getting involved.