Bet America:

BetAmerica.com is an online race wagering service of Lien Games Racing LLC, in association with Horse Race North Dakota, the licensed operator of North Dakota Horse Park. Licensed, based and regulated in the U.S., it offers Advance Deposit Wagering on pari-mutuel horse racing by means of the internet, from a U.S. licensed and regulated company based in North Dakota. We have a proven track record of processing hundreds of millions of dollars in wagers on horse and dog racing. And now we’re making it even easier to wager with our new internet service.

BetAmerica.com offers Thoroughbred, Quarter Horse and Harness wagering content from racetracks across the globe. We make it easy to sign up and be wagering in minutes. We never impose any fees or charges to join, to wager or to watch racing video.

All BetAmerica.com wagers are securely commingled into host track betting pools. All winning wagers are paid at full track odds. Members will have access to instantaneous wagering and bet verification, live audio race calls, dual, multiple-sized live video screens, and live up to date track odds.

BetAmerica.com also offers a 3% cash reward bonus on every wager made on all of the BetAmerica Bonus Tracks. The BetAmerica Bonus Tracks have allowed BetAmerica to promote their tracks by rewarding players for their play.

We’ll be adding to our website over the coming months and welcome your suggestions for how we can serve you better. So join us, have fun, and good luck at the races!

The BetAmerica.com Team

FAQ:

Who is Bet America?
Bet America is part of Lien Games, a North Dakota land based horse racing company that is licensed and regulated in the United States.

Is it legal to wager in the United States?
Bet America is part of Lien Games, a legal, licensed and regulated company located in the United States. Bet America is in full compliance with all applicable United States and Federal laws.

For a list of state imposed wagering restrictions, please click here.

How do I open an account with Bet America?
Simply go to our SIGN UP NOW page.

What information do I need to provide to open up an account?
You will need to provide your name, social security number, email and residential information.

How long does it take to open an account?
You can be up and wagering within minutes of SIGNING UP.

How much does it cost to become a member of Bet America?
There are no costs to become a member!

Are there any age restrictions to become a member of Bet America?
Yes, only players who are 21 years of age or older may open up an account with Bet America

What tracks are available for wagering on at Bet America?
Most of the top tracks in North America are available for wagering on. Please check our TRACKS page for a complete list of available tracks.

How do I deposit funds into my account?
Once you have signed up, go to our DEPOST page under the ACCOUNT tab and then choose the method of deposit. Bet America offers many convenient ways to deposit funds. Choose your deposit method and then follow the steps in order to fund your account. Please note, all deposits and withdrawls at BetAmerica.com are in US dollars.

How are wagers placed?
Wagers can be placed right up until post time. Wagers are then sent from Bet America into the pari-mutuel wagering pools for the given track. Wagers are then commingled and winners are paid full track odds.

What types of wagers are offered?
Our wagering menu will be virtually identical to the menu provided at the given track.

Are transactions confidential?
Yes, all wagers are confidential.

When will my winnings appear in my account?
Your winning wagers will appear in your account within a few minutes of the official race results being posted at the track.

Is it possible to cancel a wager?
Once a wager is submitted, you may not cancel it.

Can I see a record of my wagers?
Yes, you can see a complete record of your wagers by going to our WAGER HISTORY page.

What happens when a horse that has been scratched is part of my wager?
Depending on the track, your scratched selection may be replaced with the post time favorite or wager refunded. In the event that a track refunds any portion of your wager, it will be immediately reflected in your wagering account.

Are winners paid full track odds?
Yes, winners are paid full track odds on all wagers.

How do I make a withdrawal from my account?
Once you have signed up, to make a withdrawal from your account, go to our WITHDRAW FUNDS page and complete the required steps to withdraw your funds. Please note, all deposits and withdrawls at BetAmerica.com are in US dollars.

If there is a problem with my account, who do I contact?
If you have any problems with your wagering account, please contact our customer support team via our CONTACT page.

What information is Bet America required by law to give to the IRS concerning account activity?
By federal law, any wager which results in proceeds of $600.00 or more must be reported to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), if the amount of such proceeds is at least 300 times as large as the amount wagered. Any wager which results in proceeds of more than $5000.00 is subject to withholding, if the amount of such proceeds is at least 300 times as large as the amount wagered.

Is my personal account information secure?
All personal account information is strictly confidential.

How can I watch the live races?
Click on the VIDEO link at the top of the page and then choose video 1 or video 2 to display the video pop up window. Then select the track you wish to view. You can watch 2 tracks simultaneously.

Yesterday evening, Saturday, I blogged about InTrade’s global warming prediction markets, just opened. Today, Sunday afternoon, I have just found out, thanks to a tip from Ralf Martin, that the InTrade global warming prediction markets were actually set up in collaboration with the London School of Economics’ Centre for Economic Perfomance.

What will happen to global efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions when the current commitment period of the Kyoto protocol ends in 2012? There are hopes that the United Nations (UN) climate change conference that started on 3 December in Bali will outline a road map for a successor agreement that might be reached in late 2009.

To know what is going to happen in 2012 and beyond is not only relevant for future generations but for a wide range of investment decisions today:

• Should you buy that flat in a riverside building?
• Should companies invest in R&D on carbon capture and storage technologies?
• Should governments provide more money to wind farm development or rather improve flood defences and relocate people living close to the coast?
• Should an energy intensive company relocate its production from an industrialised country to a developing country unlikely to be covered by a pollution target?

To make these choices wisely, we need forecasts on the likely outcome and design of any post-Kyoto agreement. There is no shortage of opinions on what is going to happen. But whom should you trust? Opinions will be influenced by wishful thinking and strategic positioning alike as well as being based on different insights into parts of the puzzle. For example, living in the rich world, you might have a good sense of what the typical voter in your country thinks about pollution targets, but what about Indian voters or the Chinese communist party?

If the UNFCC [*] – the UN body in charge of the climate change negotiations – was a publicly listed company whose profits depended on the climate change reduction targets it achieves, a good way of getting an idea on what’s going to happen is to have a look at its share price rather than public statements of its bosses or shareholders. This is obviously not a possibility. But what is possible now might be even better. [...]

[*] There are 3 “C”s actually. For Christ’s sake, be careful. –> UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change). Look at the logo, below.

UPDATE: They have corrected the spelling on their blog.

Third Quarter NETELLER Trading Update Shows Continued Solid Progress

Tuesday, 6 November 2007 – NETELLER Plc (LSE: NLR), the world’s leading independent global online payments business, today announces its trading update for the three months ended 30 September 2007.

Highlights

* Continued progress to be pre-eminent provider of online gaming sector related payments solutions
* Active customers (ex North America) up 14% to 94,925 in Q3 2007 from 83,627 (Q3 2006)
* Total revenue in Q3 2007 was US$ 16.9m – fee revenue ex-interest increased 25% from Q3 2006
* European revenue in Q3 2007 grew 19% to US$ 8.4m and Asia Pacific revenue grew 41% to US$ 3.0m both compared to Q3 2006 figures (ex-interest)
* Gross margin in Q3 2007 was 60%, compared to 55% in H1 2007
* Loss before tax in Q3 2007 was US$ 145.9m due to US forfeiture and related US expenses
* Cash at 30 September 2007 was US$ 149.4m; US$ 40m paid to US authorities on 15 October 2007
* Cash flow from operations positive in Q3 2007

Ron Martin, President & Chief Executive Officer of NETELLER, said “The third quarter has demonstrated the resilience of the NETELLER business and the results from our European and Asia Pacific businesses show that we are regaining the trust of customers and continuing to deliver innovative solutions to our merchants. Geographic diversification remains a key part of our growth strategy although the Board continues to be mindful of regulatory concerns in certain markets.

Our strong presence at EiG in Barcelona reiterated our commitment and focus to the online gaming sector and I believe we are progressing well in one of our core mission objectives, to be the pre-eminent provider of payment solutions for selected markets in the online gaming sector. The launch of the first phase of our global card programme is proceeding as planned and we are on track to offer additional card-related services during the first half of 2008.

The Board remains confident about prospects for the business for the full year and beyond.”

Ariadne Capital is an Investment and Advisory Firm focused on Software and Services, New Media, Communications and Life Services. We are backed by 40 Entrepreneurs who founded the firm in 2000 in order to build the market leading companies of the new Millennium. Headquartered in London, our network of Executives, Investors and Partners extends from Asia to North America to Europe, giving us global reach.

Here’s more from the FAQ:

Ariadne has a hybrid business model of equity and fees which works because it aligns objectives between us and the entrepreneur we are backing.

When we engage with entrepreneurs, we take a small equity stake for the engagement which may vest over time for the overall “Ariadne bearhug” that we deliver in accelerating the momentum of our portfolio companies.

This is complemented with a success fee where there is a clear transaction: secure a partnership, raise capital, sell a business.

We always work on a retained basis, but these fees are never excessive as we think like entrepreneurs ourselves. We do however want to crystallize in the CEOs’ minds of our portfolio companies that there is an opportunity cost to whatever we do, and they are buying access to our network of relationships, our ideas, our time, our funding partners, and our portfolio.

We have great access to capital not only because we are part of the venture capital community in Europe and North America, but because family offices and the private investment vehicles of deep-pocked entrepreneurs select to work with us in both bringing us deals and backing our deals. In addition, we have 42 founding Investor Members who put capital into Ariadne Capital deals; we can syndicate an early stage deal up to £1 m.

They did help Skype and Zopa… and maybe have a kind of link with BetFair (or at least with his co-founder, Bert).

Thomars Friedman’s book, The World Is Flat.

—

This blog entry by innovation blogger Dominic Basulto (about Indian outsourcing giant Infosys touting a new Think Flat website) makes me think of something. We are in an industry that is compartmented into two blocks: North American and Europe/Australia. It’s so true that we are using two different keywords (“prediction markets” in North America, and “betting exchanges” in the U.K.).That’s no good. We have to unite to explain to the world that, because the betting exchanges do output objective probabilistic predictions that are more accurate than their competitors’ ones, this activity has high social utility. That’s a goal that the Midas Oracle events would try to achieve.

Previous: I told You So. (Painting by Ed Miracle)

Consumer Tech and Entertainment
SYMBOL NAME PRICE CHANGE % CHANGE
APPLEPC iPhone Increases Apple’s Computer Market Share 52.00 1.00 1.96
BLUBY09 Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD Format War 73.75 -0.75 -1.01
DRMRIP Major Record Labels Drop DRM 53.25 0.00 0.00
FCELL Fuel-Cell-Powered Laptop 51.00 0.00 0.00
HDVSBLU HD-DVD Sales 51.75 0.00 0.00
IPHACK iPhone Hack in First Two Months 93.50 -1.75 -1.84
IPRECAL iPhone Recall in First Three Months 13.00 -0.75 -5.45
IPSALES iPhone Sales 66.00 0.25 0.38
LCDVSPLAS LCD vs. Plasma 91.25 0.00 0.00
MACVLINUX Linux vs. OS X Market Share 47.75 0.00 0.00
MADDEN Madden Most Popular Game of 2007 58.50 0.00 0.00
NEWIPOD New Touchscreen iPod 58.50 0.00 0.00
PS3WINS PlayStation 3 Wins Console Wars 25.25 1.00 4.12
SPOREQ2 Spore Released Q2 2008 63.25 0.00 0.00
SUBPC Apple Ultraportable 45.75 0.00 0.00
TRANSF Transformers Summer Box Office 6.00 0.75 14.29
ZUNFON Zune Phone in 2007 42.75 -2.25 -5.00

Military, Aviation & Space
SYMBOL NAME PRICE CHANGE % CHANGE
A380FLIES Commercial A380 Flight in 2007 66.50 -0.50 -0.75
INDIAMN India’s Manned Mission to the Moon 62.50 1.25 2.04
ISSDONE ISS Completed by 2010 39.00 0.75 1.96
LANDR X-Prize Lunar Lander Challenge Success 58.50 0.00 0.00
ORION NASA’s Orion Capsule in Use by 2014 50.00 0.00 0.00
ROCKT Rocket Racing League Starting by 2008 21.25 0.25 1.19
SCRAMJET Scramjet Reaches Mach 15 55.50 5.50 11.00
SEGWIN Winner at the Space Elevator Games 50.00 0.00 0.00
SHUTL Four ISS Shuttle Missions in 2007 41.25 0.75 1.85
SKYDV Skydiving Altitude Record Broken 64.75 0.00 0.00
SPACEX SpaceX Falcon 1 Rocket Launch 57.50 0.00 0.00
SPCHOTL Space Hotel by 2012 40.25 0.25 0.63
V22FLY V-22 Osprey in Active Duty 61.50 0.00 0.00
V22SAFE V-22 Osprey Safe 54.00 0.00 0.00
VRGNFLTS Space Tourism Safety 57.25 0.00 0.00
VRGNGAL Virgin Galactic Launch 55.50 -0.25 -0.45

Extreme Science
SYMBOL NAME PRICE CHANGE % CHANGE
BOSON “God Particle” Discovery in the U.S. 54.00 0.00 0.00
BOTS Androids Beat Humans in Soccer 47.75 0.00 0.00
DIETDRUG OTC Diet Drug Alli Recalled? 45.25 0.00 0.00
NFLHGH NFL Allows Medical Use of HGH 44.75 0.00 0.00
SOLSTRM Solar Storms Cause Massive Blackout 37.00 0.00 0.00
STMCURE Stem Cells Cure Major Disease 86.50 0.00 0.00

Energy and the Environment
SYMBOL NAME PRICE CHANGE % CHANGE
BULBS Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs Gain Market Share 99.25 0.00 0.00
CO2MKT U.S. Carbon Trading Law 70.75 0.00 0.00
DONGTAN Dongtan Inhabited by 2010 52.00 0.00 0.00
DRYWST Water Crisis In U.S. West 51.50 0.00 0.00
ETHNOL Ethanol’s Long-Term Future 55.00 0.00 0.00
GASTRTY China-U.S. Greenhouse-Gas Treaty 47.25 0.00 0.00
H5N1 Bird Flu in North America 49.25 0.00 0.00
HIGAS Gas Prices Hit Record High 64.25 -2.75 -4.10
HURICAN Major U.S. Hurricane in 2007 88.50 0.00 0.00
OLYMPAIR Air Pollution Postpones Olympics 52.25 -0.25 -0.48
USMPG U.S. MPG Standards Upgraded Again 60.00 -0.50 -0.83
VRGEARTH Virgin Earth Challenge 56.50 0.00 0.00

Web Trends
SYMBOL NAME PRICE CHANGE % CHANGE
DIGGRIP Legal Trouble Shuts Down Digg.com 31.25 0.00 0.00
DOWNLD Future of Video DRM 53.25 0.00 0.00
ERADIO Internet Radio’s Survival 46.00 0.50 1.10
FACEBOOK Facebook.com IPO in ’07 40.75 0.00 0.00
FIREFOX Firefox Market Share 61.25 0.00 0.00
GOOGL Google Overtakes Yahoo 99.75 0.00 0.00
GOOGOS Google OS by 2010 67.00 0.00 0.00
YOUSUE Google vs. Viacom 63.25 0.00 0.00

Automotive Tech
SYMBOL NAME PRICE CHANGE % CHANGE
CHVOLT Chevy Plug-In Hybrid Produced 61.50 0.00 0.00
FLYINGCAR Flying Car by 2025 54.75 0.25 0.46
HYBRID Hybrid Cars More Than 40 Percent of Vehicles Sold 70.50 0.00 0.00

The PopSci’s PPX and The Sim Exchange are the two best things that happened to the field of prediction markets since the arrival of Inkling Markets in 2006.

As you have seen, I have published a ranking of the prediction market solution providers to the Fortune-500 firms. It is a ranking based on what I know about their true client list —not what is on their website, which can be either outdated or not yet updated.

#1. HSX Virtual Markets is completely out of the picture. They have only Novartis-Chiron. The HSX software for prediction markets is stodgy and HSX is too expensive.

#2. NewsFutures has probably lost its position of market leader in North America, but is still in a very strong position.

#3. Consensus Point and Inkling Markets are growing very fast and are improving their software.

—

Stay tuned, folks.

North America

#1. NewsFutures

#2. Inkling Markets – growing very fast

#3. HSX Virtual Markets

Europe

#1. NewsFutures

Although I maintain my statement, this blog post is filed in the “humor” post category —and I know that EJSS likes humor. More serious info on this topic soon…

- Accenture and IBM enter the prediction market industry.

- Yahoo!’s Yootopia becomes a success.

- Betting exchanges are legal in North America and Continental Europe.

- Robin Hanson updates his page on idea futures.

- David Perry of Consensus Point finally gets to publish a something on Midas Oracle, as he has promised me repeatedly.