The first article is a legal one.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nevada-bill-would-expand-sports-gambling-to-allow-groups-to-form-and-make-big-wagers/2013/04/08/4fc0a882-a090-11e2-bd52-614156372695_story.html

The US has been off limits to us because of two laws – the Wire Act which, prevents people using the internet for betting, and the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which stops people betting on sports outside of Nevada and Delaware (New Jersey is challenging this relative monopoly in the Supreme court right now). There’s plenty of support for opening up the joys of backing your team from the comfort of your couch to the American market, and in a legislative change that sounds like it’s made in heaven for Punt Club, Nevada just passed a law allowing groups to bet together. This was designed for fund managers to be able to trade the sports odds market behalf of investors, but initial advice says it bodes well for us too – and there are thousands of Frat houses and groups of buddies in the States that would love to get stuck into some punters club banter.

The second article touches on the growing movement around socialising sportsbetting, driven in part by a fellow Aussie company called Favourit – ‘the Facebook of betting’. Favourit has already raised $3.6m and it’s growth opportunities have dictated it needs to raise another $5.3m. The Favourit  business is a little further advanced than ours, but they’re good signs given Punt Club is about to open our own seed investment round and recruit some serious industry players to our board. Read more about Favourit here (and by all means open an account – it’s pretty nice).

http://blogs.wsj.com/dealjournalaustralia/2013/04/11/sports-betting-start-up-favourit-seeks-5-3-million/

That’s enough business talk for now. We’ve got sport to watch.

Jason Neave
Founder & CEO

Here’s how it works:

1. Tell a friend or colleague about the joy that is Punt Club

2. They start a punters club and nominate you by name as the source

3. We put $50 in your account AND $50 in their account to say thanks

It doesn’t take Steven Hawking to work out that telling a couple of blokes at the pub each week could net you hundreds. And the mind boggles about the coin you could rack up if you post this stuff on Facebook, FootyTips, SuperCoach or your fave footy forum.

In the immortal words of Kevin Bloody Wilson in the chart topping Living Next Door To Alan, that is literally “dead farking easy”.

The survey actually told us quite a lot. We copped criticism in some areas that we already knew were problems (and are working hard to fix), and we got some great ideas for new features. But most importantly, we learned some of you are talking up what we do to anyone who cares to listen.

So if you’re already helping spread the word – thankyou from the heart of our bottom. You’ll now start racking up $100 between you every time you whisper those sweet nothings in a mate’s ear.

If you’re not yet waxing poetic about us, there’s a new version in the wings plus 100 good reasons to do so.

Thanks for reading. And thanks in advance for joining the Punt Club Ambassador Program.

PUNT CLUB AMBASSADOR TERMS & CONDITIONS

1. When a club is registered with a named referrer, they enter the Ambassador database.

2. The new club must have at least 3 depositing members to qualify for the offer.

3. Punt Club will notify the referrer and the new club captain when they have qualified.

4. Both parties may nominate whether the $50 is to go in their respective personal accounts or their club betting accounts.

5. The first Ambassador to generate three qualifying clubs before 30 September will be offered two places to join the Punt Club crew on our Cox Plate Caper. Passes are valued at approx $600 each. Event tickets are not transferrable or redeemable for cash.

6. Punt Club has the right to alter these terms at any time (though that would be lame).

7. We felt we needed a 7th term as this list was way too short.

8. Punt Club Ambassadors are better blokes.

Man, what a week. On August 26 we woke to the news that our bookmaking partner, Sports Alive, went into liquidation without the funds to cover customer deposits.

Thousands of punters and investors were affected, and the ‘bet some bank some’ approach of punters clubs meant we were hit pretty badly by comparison.

Now here’s the good news. We are pumped to announce that we have concluded a deal with Luxbet to honour current account balances and process our bets. The deal was appropriately finalised while on a punters club trip to the Balaklava Cup last week, and we captured a little of that moment on a special episode of Punt Club TV.

WHAT THIS MEANS TO OUR CUSTOMERS

1. Your money is safe. Once customers have OK’d us pursuing Sports Alive for the missing money, we will immediately credit your account with the current balance and then do the hard yards as an unsecured creditor with the liquidator, the regulator, and the banks.
2. Luxbet isn’t going anywhere. While a relatively new kid on the corporate bookmaker block they are 100% owned by the listed Tabcorp, are licensed (along with Sportingbet and Sportsbet) by the Northern Territory government, and are solid financially.
3. More markets to bet on. Luxbet offers agressive odds and great bonuses on up to 50 markets per event. They still offer old favourites like Best Tote and will be adding exotic betting options in their release next month.
4. Same club dashboard & super-fast changeover. Luxbet uses the same wagering platform we do, so the switch will be fast. Applying Punt Club’s design skin might take a little longer, but (with your permission) we will migrate the accounts over tonight, complete testing on Tuesday, and be ready for the punt by Wednesday in time for this week’s footy finals and spring racing.

WHAT OUR CUSTOMERS NEED TO DO

Login to your account on PuntClub.com, and follow the  prompts that will let you consent to:

1. Assigning your claim against Sports Alive to Punt Club
2. Transferring your personal data to Luxbet so we can setup the account and start the normal ID process.
3. Luxbet’s terms and conditions of use, so you can get on the punt with them (almost) straight away.

All pretty simple really, and a great result. While blindsided like everyone else, we can only apologise for the Sports Alive debacle – having a bookie go tits up after spending everyone’s money is dead set un-Australian and we were bloody mortified to be involved. Many thanks to the Luxbet lads for filling the breach. We would also like to thank you for your patience, and especially thank all those who sent messages of support and encouragement when they could have been forgiven for sending bikies.

So please, jump in and approve your transfer and we’ll get your new account setup pronto. From there we will likely have the site operational and ready for the punt by Wendesday (our customers will be the first to know), along with a new edition of Punt Club TV and a newsletter with all the hot tips you’d expect in the lead up to footy finals and Spring Carnival.

1. A captain sets up a club and organises his mates

2. Everyone agrees how much to contribute each week, how much to bet, and how much if any to save

3. The captain kicks things off, then members take turns to bet each week

4. If you win, you get to bet again next week

5. Lose, and you’re off to the back of the queue

6. Money saved and won goes towards a piss-up, a trip, a dog, or a share in a horse (goals all worthy of Nobel prizes) at the end of the season/year

There are always a few variations. Some clubs want a minimum return before they’ll let you bet again next week (2:1 is common), others will make you stump up extra coin if you lose five bets in a row, and others (like the author’s!) have a heap of penalties for dickheads who bet with no research or care for their fellow members’ money. For example, bets on Dancing with the Stars incur an immediate ban for crimes against blokeship. Let us know any rules you think we’ve missed, or just get cracking and start your own club.

If you’ve got some ideas of your own, hit our Feedback tab on the right of screen and add your pearl of widsom to the mix. Other punters will read it, and vote for it if it’s an idea that will benefit the collective user group. We’ve got our own development list to weave into that plan, and we’ll be announcing a few cool new features over the next couple weeks that will offer more flexibility for captains and clubs, and ultimately make Punt Club an even better place to spend your time.

Let’s face it. Give or take some bedroom olympics with the Danish women’s water polo team, sport is the greatest thing on earth. It’s even better when you’ve got some fun tickets riding on the outcome, and better again when there are a few mates around to take the piss out of along the way. It’s a lifestyle thing, and early indications are it will also be a cool business.

So, thanks again for your feedback and keep it coming. Time to pin the ears back – we’re off!

So Singo isn’t the happiest camper in town at the moment with allegations and rumours buzzing around like flies on a turd. It’ll all be sorted out Monday, Gai will be exonerated, Tom is perfectly within his rights to say a horse doesn’t represent value, and Singo will just be Singo. He’s divorced more wives than there are holes in a crumpet so his break from Gai will be water under the same bridge.

The British Lions squad has been announced for the forthcoming series in June and there are some interesting odds flying around for what will be a highly competitive series. The Wallabies squad will be made up from mainly Brumbies and Reds players, but there is still much to play for with the other Aussie Super XV teams.

We’ve got a 9 leg AFL multi for you, but must also extend apologies for a few gremlins that got under the hood last weekend. We built the site to handle millions of you at the front door, but thousands of results hitting our back door from Luxbet were enough to bring the site and our pants down a couple times last weekend. In the words of Jimmy Hird, it won’t happen again.

Carry On,

The Punt Club Crew

p.s. Don’t forget, get up to $500 as a first deposit bonus in your personal account with Luxbet, or back any Group 1 winner for a matched stake up to $100.

RACING

The TAB took a $10k bet on Hvasstan in the SA derby @ 4.80 and crunched it into $4, but it still looks pretty strong at that number.

Still at Morphettville we like General Peekay in the 6th ($6) and Rangers Boy in a 20 horse field in the 8th, paying $9.

AFL

Moons Mega Magic Multi – Collingwood into Essendon into North into Hawks into  Geelong into Freo into Sydney into Carlton into West Coast.     9 huge legs paying a huge $5.04

NRL

Multi up Newcastle $ 1.35 over Cronulla into
Manly $1.47 over St George

Paying – $2.00

Rugby Union

Boofy’s bet of the week - Crusaders $2.25 over the Brumbies $1.62

Brumbies are strong, but we like the value of the Crusaders outright, or better still winning by 1-12  and paying $3.20.

Wallabies $2.15 over the British and Irish Lions $1.75

$21 for a drawn series – not a stupid bet.