Originally Posted by
Dark Horse
First of all, MB is not a book. Important difference.
The main challenge for an exchange is liquidity. Allegedly, MB 'solved' this by allowing large credit players. This changes everything, because now the exchange, which is normally not in risk territory, is involved in the process of betting. Let's just say that MB did not win this bet.
Is your money safe? Sure. As long as players are funding the exchange you will be paid. Are players funds separated from the exchange and kept safe in a bank account created for that purpose, as was the case with Tradesports? No. Basically, if MB is losing money because of its own stupidity, you would be paid with other players money. But you sure get paid fast.
The problem is the quality of the people running the show. You could only run a top book if you knew every in and out of the industry. But you can start an exchange with almost no knowledge of the industry. Add the lack of transparency, and you could have a high risk situation that is covered up by the trust players place in the exchange because they pay fast. And in a sense the players are right. It is about speed. In a worst case scenario -of a run on the bank-, those with the quickest trigger fingers would get paid.
For football season MB should be good to go. Arbitrage players create plenty of liquidity. For pure gamblers this exchange is not nearly as important as some make it out to be.
Financial security is the standard for most top rated books. Does MB have deep pockets? My best guess is that they don't. It would be great to know exactly what is going on behind the scenes, but SBR seems to have largely retired from on-the-scene reporting. I sometimes wonder if the B- SBR assigned is overly positive, because SBR may not want to trigger a run on the bank and hurt players. This book dropped fast from the A books to B-. They know the power of paying fast. Can you imagine how the bottom could drop out if they started paying slow? (they might now even see the C's).