Interesting move by TABCORP but is it competition failing?

[Chief Stipe]

TAB's strategic change throws early markets into a frenzy

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SOCIAL media chatter has caught fire in recent days following media giant Tabcorp's decision to realign its approach to the offering of odds for non-metro thoroughbred meetings.

Punters hopeful of securing early market overs have been left in a world of pain following the surprise move, forced to wait until raceday before prices for a range of lower tier meetings now become available.

That pain has extended across the corporate bookmaking network which eagerly awaits for the first set of markets to go live before in some instances being copied, reframed and reproduced.

"It's a race to the bottom and it's getting worse not better," an insider said.

"The TAB has essentially drawn a line in the sand and said to its competitors if you want to go first and earlier on these meetings then go for it.

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"What the move has done is shine a light on some glaring weaknesses with some doing more of the heavy lifting than others."

With the vast majority of Minimum Bet Laws (MBL) kicking in at 9am on raceday, it remains to be seen if the changes will have a material impact on turnover.

The landscape for early markets has changed Picture: Racing Photos via Getty Images

However, logic suggests that reducing a trading window can't be advantageous towards generating interest and in turn wagering.

The move by Tabcorp is similar to that undertaken by Bet365 a few years ago when it elected to cease its practice of going live with harness and greyhound meetings the night before.

The change caused an instant frenzy in the bookmaking ranks and reset the way in which odds were being delivered for the two-codes on a daily basis.

Part of those sweeping changes saw Tabcorp institute algorithm based prices for the three codes which are currently being introduced into the market.

Serving as a starting point with a layer of protection, these prices are then knocked into shaped by professional punters and Gambling bots before MBL's set in and the more aggressive betting begins.

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In response to the recent move, a Tabcorp spokesperson said "TAB prides itself on being market leader for racing" while also dismissing claims the changes were a result of recent staff cuts.

"We're first to market for the majority of thoroughbreds domestic races and that will continue," the spokesperson said.

"Moving forward we have refined our approach to some non-metropolitan meetings whereby markets will be posted the morning of the race."