New Betting Site Offers Exchange and Sports Book

During the past two years several betting exchange companies have launched with great fanfare and even some success--companies like Flutter.com, Betfair.com and most recently Betdaq.com. A new crop of betting exchanges could be launching soon, thanks to an innovative new software development company called Paradise Technologies Ltd.

What makes Paradise different from its competitors is that the firm is offering to set up betting exchange platforms, with or without an accompanying sports book, for clients. Usually betting exchange sites have to develop their own platform--a time consuming task, at the very least.

"Basically my company has developed three products--a sports book, standalone, that we license; a sports book and bet exchange integrated; and an exchange on its own," said Scott Satov, who founded the two-year-old firm headquartered in Bermuda.

The Paradise betting product is created to target bettors interested in betting on North American sports, like American football, baseball, basketball, hockey and others. The company won't accept bets from North American punters, Satov said.

"Our expertise," Satov said, "and we're rolling it out slowly, is North American sports. Our plan is to start with North American sports, primarily football to begin with, but add new sports every so often."

Paradise also has a different spin on how and why bettors are attracted to using a bet exchange instead of a sports book. Typically, bet exchange operators see their clients as wanting to propose their own betting odds or wanting to create their own fantasy bets.

Satov, however, feels that a sports book and a bet exchange work optimally as a two-pronged betting option.

"As we continued in (developing) the betting exchange, we realized that you have to have a sports book to have a good bet exchange," he said.

He said there are some sound business reasons that the two betting options can and should be linked.

"A bet exchange needs liquidity in the market," Satov said. "So it needs tremendous volume. So, in order to get the volume you have to have sports bettors using your site, using the traditional means of wagering."

"We feel that with a sports book we'll be able to transition them over to the exchange. Or a bettor will be able to use the exchange as a complement to their existing bet," he added.

In other words, bettors can get the standard betting lines at the sports book, then head to the exchange for any specialty bets that aren't typically offered by the book.

Satov said it's not just sports betting sites that want his software. Instead, more and more gaming sites are looking to provide a full range of gambling activities to their clientele.

"We've been contacted by many casinos about our sports book, then they see our exchange and they want the integrated sports book and exchange," he said. "Basically, they're looking at our sports book and exchange module and saying 'it's the best sports we've ever seen' because it has the exchange, it has that extra sexy technology which is the ability to make unique wagers."

Paradise is also considering offering even more betting options in the future, including financial betting, although Satov is quick to admit that it will be a while before that option becomes a reality.

Plus, Paradise software is set up to allow bettors from multiple nations to bet online using most major currencies from around the world, while Europeans can bet against each other on the bet exchange using the Euro as common currency, if necessary.

"If there's ever a compatibility issue, like its two people from a different country, we'll convert to the Euro," Satov said.

The only thing that Paradise seems to lack right now is a client, although several companies located around the world are obtaining their gaming licenses in preparation to sign with the company, Satov said. Paradise's software is online at www.clubbet.com.