To continue our 2015/16 football season investigations, we have spoken with another popular exchange, Matchbook on why so many punters are now using them for their betting.
With a whole host of new football markets added to their site (Including League 1 & 2 in England), increased stability, and some very competitive commission rates and odds, it is easy to see why Matchbook are becoming so popular.
Read on for more details…
New Customer Bonus: Open up a new Matchbook account today and enjoy a 200% bonus on bets up to £150 placed on the Premier League winner.
SBC: First off, can you explain why punters should consider betting with Matchbook?
Matchbook: The advantage of a betting exchange over a sportsbook for the customers is that we want our users to win. The customer is not betting against Matchbook, so we want to ensure that they have the most positive interaction with the site as possible. The content we provide onsite helps bettors to manage their bankrolls and improve their betting strategies, ultimately making money for the punter.
On top of this, we are consistently best price on Soccer, NFL, NBA, NHL and various other sports, as confirmed by Oddschecker. In addition, if you don’t like the price we have on offer, you can always offer your own!
SBC: Similar to other exchanges, you charge a commission to punters using your site – what are your current commission rates?
Matchbook: We charge 1% (1.15% for UK customers) commission on a volume basis. At times we run special commission offers such as 0% on football, tennis, rugby etc.
Editor’s note – Please also see the end of this article for more on the recently adjusted withdrawal fee policy
SBC: Can you outline what new football leagues Matchbook will be covering this season?
Matchbook: We’re constantly adding new leagues to the site; just recently we’ve added leagues from Japan, China, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland and Ireland so our repertoire of leagues/competitions is increasing constantly.
We have recently added the English Leagues 1 and 2 to the site. Here is a full list of what is new:
Japanese J-League
Chinese Super League
Norwegian 1st Division
Swedish Superettan
Irish Premier League
Finnish Veikkausliga
Icelandic Ursvaldeild
With all of our usual markets for the major world leagues returning for the upcoming season, we have the best selection of leagues ever available on Matchbook.
SBC: The amount of money traded or liquidity on any betting exchange is crucial – just how has this improved on Matchbook since we spoke last September?
Matchbook: Liquidity continues to improve on Matchbook every year. Every league and market we introduce adds to our product. The last 2 months of last seasons domestic football season showed a 59% increase in volume from the previous year. We are continually improving our live tennis offering, and soon we will offer live betting on every tennis game. For cricket we have a very strong in-running product for all major tests/ODI’s and T20’s, and for politics our US Presidential market promises to be our biggest political betting event ever.
SBC: Many shrewd punters use odds comparison sites to find the best odds – which sites do Matchbook appear on?
Matchbook: We are operational on a variety of odds comparison sites including Oddschecker, Oddsportal, and Betbrain. You will find we are frequently best priced on a variety of major betting markets, especially soccer, tennis, and the major US sports.
SBC: How about betting on the go – What do you offer in terms of mobile phone and tablet betting?
Matchbook: We offer an app for iOS and Android users. Our iOS app has been redesigned for the new season and the early feedback has been fantastic. It also contains our own proprietary casino integrated into the App.
SBC: Stepping away from football, what new developments are there on Matchbook?
Matchbook: A host of new markets have been added to Matchbook recently with Darts, Snooker, Cycling, Politics, Gaelic Football, and Hurling among our most recent introductions.
Another feature we have been Beta testing in recent times is a group betting, or Syndicate promotion. The Matchbook Syndicates can be described as a group of customers who will form a syndicate and professional sports bettors or selected members will bet on behalf of the group. This project is still in a beta phase, but promises to be a very exciting development as we grow our community.
And of course, Horse Racing will be introduced in 2015/16, so a lot of work is being put into making sure we have the best horse racing product on the market.
These are just a few of the features expected on site in the coming year, not to mention a host of smaller features and functionality that will make it as easy as possible for users to access the liquidity and place their bet.
SBC: The Horse Racing market will attract a lot of interest I am sure, can you tell me anymore at this stage?
Matchbook: Launching an industry leading exchange horse racing product does not come without its challenges. We are very determined to maintain the quality of our product when we add Horse Racing, or any other feature to our platform. So there is a lot of work going into ensuring the quality of our horse racing product measures up to the existing markets and events we cover. We are working to have a horse racing offering in place for early 2016. It’s an exciting time for the company and we’re confident our horse racing product will be a huge success when it arrives.
SBC: I note you have also added new Lounge and Forum areas, can you explain what they offer?
Matchbook: The Matchbook Lounge is a proprietary webspace wherein the Matchbook community can develop and grow. As the content hub of the Matchbook website, the Matchbook Lounge provides us with a space wherein we can provide relevant, topical, thought provoking and interesting betting content to our users, providing customers with a positive user experience every time they visit the site. The interactive aspect of the Matchbook Lounge allows us to leverage the peer-2-peer community of our betting exchange by enabling our customers to discuss and interact with each other.
The Matchbook Forum is a key component of the Lounge. The Forum allows users create their own trading content, from discussion threads to trading strategies and tips. The Forum also enables traders to create polls and provide feedback to Matchbook.com on how to further improve their exchange betting experience.
We’re looking at adding tons more personalisation to the Lounge also, allowing for each customer to receive their own unique Matchbook experience. Customised Twitter feeds, betting previews, and Forum content are some of what each customer can expect.
Matchbook Withdrawal Fees
Please note that since this interview was first compiled, Matchbook have updated their withdrawal policy whereby some accounts may be charged a withdrawal fee. Whether or not you will have to pay a fee depends upon your ‘Payment Rating’ as follows:
- Payment rating of 1.1 or greater – Matchbook absorbs processing fees.
- Payment rating of less than 1.1 – Processing fees passed to Customer.
- Payment processing fees will be charged at 2% on the requested withdrawal amount.
You can read about the maths behind the Payment Rating here, although it is fairly complex so is best obtained by contacting Matchbook support via email or live chat to obtain yours. Matchbook tell me that they are working on making a Payment Rating calculation more easily available to customers – hopefully as part of the ‘Account’ section.
In general, your Payment Rating is greater the more you bet and less you withdrawal. Thus if you intend to withdraw money on a regular, perhaps weekly basis, you may find yourself with a lower rating. Our advice is to contact Matchbook if in any doubt about your Payment Rating and if at lower than 1.1 to follow the steps they will outline on how you can improve it.
———————-
Open a new Matchbook account today
