What is the deal with matchbook

stacilu · Dec 8, 2005

I read the rules and the 2% sounds great. Everything I read
sounds advantageous for the player. However, I don't hear
a ton of players ranting and raving about what a great deal
this is. Is there a problem? I would like to know before I
deposit. What is the down side? And why do you like it
or hate it? Thanks.

Journeyman · Dec 9, 2005

Do a search many have given good feedback so far with this exchange.

Doug · Dec 9, 2005

Good out, I plan to use them more in the future, solid WSEX backed ! Downside is getting comfortable with the process of using it. I'm no expert with exchanges, but suggest playing some $5 bets both buying and offering to get used to it. I only played thru the free $50 offered awhile back, but as Arnold said, " I'll be Back" !

I'm more used to Mansion exchange, but both should be strong outs, exchange prices are about the equivelant of a free half point, if not better. For example in NBA a Skybook +6.5 -110 ( with half) is about equal to an exchange +6 -103.

ChuckSims · Dec 9, 2005

I give Matchbook :103631605

thumbs up.

Doug · Dec 9, 2005

Chuck approved is all you need to know ! :howdy: :howdy: :howdy: :howdy:

Best Wishes ! :howdy:

AlwaysKeen · Dec 9, 2005

I have been using matchbook for a couple of months and I really enjoy them...good book/ exchange...

Number_9 · Dec 9, 2005

The thing that keeps me from using them more is the 2.9% they take up front. That 2.9% is gone, immediately and forever, no matter what you wind up winning or losing with that money. That is way too much for the way I bet.

Say you place three bets, one at Mansion, one at Matchbook, and one at Pinnacle. Each book receives $1,000.00, each bet is at +100, and all three win. You withdraw the winnings immediately. Here's what happens:

Mansion

Deposit: $1,000.00
Cut: -$0.00
Bet: $1,000.00
Win: $1,000.00
Commission: -$10.00
New Balance: $1,990.00
Withdrawal Fee: -$0.00
Cash Out With: $1,990.00

Matchbook

Deposit: $1,000.00
Cut: -$29.00
Bet: $971.00
Win: $971.00
Commisson: -$0.00
New Balance: $1,942.00
Withdrawal Fee: -$0.00
Cash Out With : $1,942.00

Pinnacle

Deposit: $1,000.00
Cut: -$0.00
Bet: $1,000.00
Win: $1,000.00
Commission: -$0.00
New Balance: $2,000.00
Withdrawal Fee: -$15.00
Cash Out With: $1,985.00

Matchbook is the clear loser here. Their odds have to be significantly (several cents) better than anywhere else for me to even consider depositing. And even when I do, losing that 2.9% immediately never feels good. Even though it is put toward "Commission Credits", you're still under the best case scenario paying 2% instead of Mansion's 1%.

If you're already posted up there, have some commission credits under your belt, and see a great price, then sure, it can make sense. But if you like to selectively bet and frequently withdraw (like me), it just doesn't work.

GL

Doug · Dec 9, 2005

Maybe you account for all differences , and bet the best line ? I'm not busting balls, learning myself with exchange stuff !

Santo · Dec 9, 2005

Matchbook isn't designed for quick in and outs..

Also with limited volume, promoting the good prices isn't gonna happen, the more people there are, the less good prices there are for those of us there to grab, so I'll leave the promotion to them ;-)

Illini · Dec 9, 2005

Number_9 said:
The thing that keeps me from using them more is the 2.9% they take up front. That 2.9% is gone, immediately and forever, no matter what you wind up winning or losing with that money. That is way too much for the way I bet.

Say you place three bets, one at Mansion, one at Matchbook, and one at Pinnacle. Each book receives $1,000.00, each bet is at +100, and all three win. You withdraw the winnings immediately. Here's what happens:

Mansion

Deposit: $1,000.00
Cut: -$0.00
Bet: $1,000.00
Win: $1,000.00
Commission: -$10.00
New Balance: $1,990.00
Withdrawal Fee: -$0.00
Cash Out With: $1,990.00

Matchbook

Deposit: $1,000.00
Cut: -$29.00
Bet: $971.00
Win: $971.00
Commisson: -$0.00
New Balance: $1,942.00
Withdrawal Fee: -$0.00
Cash Out With : $1,942.00

Pinnacle

Deposit: $1,000.00
Cut: -$0.00
Bet: $1,000.00
Win: $1,000.00
Commission: -$0.00
New Balance: $2,000.00
Withdrawal Fee: -$15.00
Cash Out With: $1,985.00

Matchbook is the clear loser here. Their odds have to be significantly (several cents) better than anywhere else for me to even consider depositing. And even when I do, losing that 2.9% immediately never feels good. Even though it is put toward "Commission Credits", you're still under the best case scenario paying 2% instead of Mansion's 1%.

If you're already posted up there, have some commission credits under your belt, and see a great price, then sure, it can make sense. But if you like to selectively bet and frequently withdraw (like me), it just doesn't work.

GL

The Pinnacle example is wrong, because they don't offer juice-free wagering. You are going to average -105 playing there. With matchbook, if it's a widely available line, you are going to get it juice-free, and pay the 2% commission, which would amount to just a tad over -102. -102 is better than -105. I don't know much about Mansion, so I can't really comment on that. For me, I like to circle certain games, make my own line, and pound the opening number if I feel that it is off. So books with early lines are the most valuable to me, where you can submit the bet, and it is automatically accepted by the book. But like I said, when you are betting a game, and all books have about the same line, wouldn't you rather bet it juice-free, which you would probably be able to at matchbook, and then just pay the 2% commission? That's a better deal than -105 specials, and -107 at Hollywood, IIS, and Sportbet. And it's even better than -105 at Pinnacle. The 2.9% deduction right off the bat means very little, since they credit you back with that amount of commission-free wagers. I think the book offers quite a bit, especially for people that bet a lot of games and grind out a profit. Those people will do very well betting -102 all the time.

Doug · Dec 9, 2005

Illini said:
The Pinnacle example is wrong, because they don't offer juice-free wagering. You are going to average -105 playing there. With matchbook, if it's a widely available line, you are going to get it juice-free, and pay the 2% commission, which would amount to just a tad over -102. -102 is better than -105. I don't know much about Mansion, so I can't really comment on that. For me, I like to circle certain games, make my own line, and pound the opening number if I feel that it is off. So books with early lines are the most valuable to me, where you can submit the bet, and it is automatically accepted by the book. But like I said, when you are betting a game, and all books have about the same line, wouldn't you rather bet it juice-free, which you would probably be able to at matchbook, and then just pay the 2% commission? That's a better deal than -105 specials, and -107 at Hollywood, IIS, and Sportbet. And it's even better than -105 at Pinnacle. The 2.9% deduction right off the bat means very little, since they credit you back with that amount of commission-free wagers. I think the book offers quite a bit, especially for people that bet a lot of games and grind out a profit. Those people will do very well betting -102 all the time.

Illini : Please seperate sentences better for us olderer guys. !

Makes it easierer to read !

A tad of paragraph construction , and spacing makes for easier reading !

or just space it, it's easier to read !

How's poker , in particular hourly earn rate ?

Fishhead · Dec 9, 2005

Chuck Sims said:
I give Matchbook thumbs up.

for me.

Phigment · Dec 9, 2005

I agree that the 2.9% off the top is a tough nut to swallow. You get the corresponding credit but unless you're a consistent winner there you will slowly build a mountain of credit which you can't hope to cut into. I've said before that they should offer you the ability to use commission credits to offest the deposit fee. It would be a zero sum difference to them. According to the Matchbook poster here they do not profit on the deposit fee so logic stands that they do not profit when you win and a credit is applied to the winning commission. I propose that once the credit balance reaches a certain point, instead of taking the 2.9% out of the deposit and giving you the same in commission credit they now take the 2.9% out of the credit balance and whack me for the commission on a win.

Current procedure:
$1000 deposit
$29 deposit fee which is given as a commission credit
$971 balance is placed on a 100 line and wins
$19.42 commission offest by credit (Matchbook does not profit per previous emails)
$1,942 available to wager, $9.58 credit remains

Proposed procedure:
$1000 deposit into account with existing $29 credit
$1000 balance is credited with deposit fee deducted from existing credit
$1000 balance is placed on a 100 line and wins
$20 commission assessed on the win
$1,980 available to wager, $0 credit remains

stacilu · Dec 9, 2005

Thanks guys

Fishhead · Dec 9, 2005

The credit should not be a concern at all if one plans on being with MATCHBOOK for any length of time.

Phigment · Dec 9, 2005

It is also worth noting that Matchbook does accept wire transfers for deposit and there is no charge on their end. Assuming your bank charges $30-45 for an international wire (some even give a few free wires a year/month) you'd be better off wiring any amount over $1550. Since these are considered guaranteed funds Matchbook will let you withdraw via Neteller.

ensign_lee · Dec 9, 2005

I love matchbook. No reduced juice book can really hope to compete.

The only things I don't like about it are that you have to accept whatever line is up there. If you want to buy the hook, you'll have to go to a sportsbook, because the oddsmakers at matchbook decide when a line gets moved, not you.

That being said, I still love matchbook.

SteamDaddy · Dec 9, 2005

Been with them better part of a week now. Won't bother repeating the positives but some negatives are,

- lines are up late.
- not as good for larger player dime and up as many games are not well funded.
- software seems slow during steam moves.

Fishhead · Dec 9, 2005

SteamDaddy said:
Been with them better part of a week now. Won't bother repeating the positives but some negatives are,

- lines are up late.
- not as good for larger player dime and up as many games are not well funded.
- software seems slow during steam moves.

Would agree with all these statements as far as the negatives concerning Matchbook.

Matchbook · Dec 9, 2005

Hello all -- some solid ideas at TheRx, as usual.

Phigment: We like your proposal! Most clients work through their commission credits pretty quickly, but if a customer happens to stockpile them, why not allow him to use these credits to cover future deposit fees? Makes sense.

Supposing you deposit $1,000, lose it, but still have $29 of credits in your account. Under the new system, these credits will be used to offset transaction fees on any future deposits you make. We've submitted this new Cashier logic to our programmers and will let you know once it's been implemented.

Number 9: There are a couple of things you might add to the model. First, if you make a few bets instead of just one, you'll see our "cash out" numbers" fall into line quite rapidly. Second, you are assuming the same odds of +100 are available everywhere. Our contention is that exchanges are uniquely suited to generating tighter odds than any single market-maker or bookmaker would be willing to offer on his own.

SteamDaddy: There is a known bug that makes the user interface a little sticky when the site administrators are replacing markets with stale pointspreads. We hope to have this resolved shortly.

We post NHL markets overnight, NBA markets at about 7am EST, and college hoops at 8 to 9 am EST. Market depth increases gradually until game time, at which point it's usually pretty impressive. Just scanning the markets now, I see Ottawa vs. Vancouver at -137 by +136 for $2K on both sides, the Knicks/Suns game is trading at +108/-110 for $2K, Seattle at Utah is at -111/+105 for approx. $4K, with even greater amounts available as the odds widen out.

College basketball hasn't developed as rapidly as the pro markets, but as the season progresses, we hope to see good things.