A lot of exchange punters don't take the Specials category seriously, considering it to be a place where recreational punter place small stakes novelty bets.
They couldn't be more wrong.
Specials Betting has become big business, especially since the advent of Big Brother.
What's more, Specials Betting is a showcase for exchange betting with the mainstream media.
Specials betting needs to be as clean and as above board as betting on Horse racing or any other category and current concerns that this might not be the case are disturbing news for the betting exchange industry.
The betting exchanges still have many enemies, so exchanges must be whiter than white across the board.
The Specials category isn't as big as others, notably horse racing and footbsall, but it is still important.
Wheraes racing as the Jockey Club to regulate it, and football has governing bodies, like the FA, UEFA and FIFA, there is no all-encompassing body for betting exchanges to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with re the Specials category.
That's a shame, as tales of insider trading on the results of eviction nominations and phone votes have caused tangible damage to the image of Specials betting on exchanges in the past year.
Organised and systematic ramping, the spreading of false data about polls and the actual manipulation of such polls are also big concerns.
One person who is leading a crusade against such abuses is ''DJ Sunset'' on the Betfair forum.
''DJ,'' who also pens a column in Inside Edge and has secured a slot on SKY in the near future, has raised his concerns on Betfair's public forums and promised to make revelations in the near future.
His well-informed views are well worth noting.
National Dilemna
The weights for the Grand National were published on 14th February.
For the uninitiated, the Grand National is a handicap, with each horse allotted a weight based on its best form at the time the weights are published.
The weights for most handicaps are framed no more than a week before the race is due to be run, and announced at the five-day entry stage.
But the Grand National is an early closing race, a race which therefore will have a strong ante-post market.
Come the day of the race the Official Handicapper would change the weights the horses would be carrying if he could, and it's worth looking out for progressive horses who improve between now and the day of the race.
Punters traditionally have a few bets when the weights come out, and tipsters come out of the woodwork to put up horses for the race.
But, while gambles do develop on publication day and it can pay to step in quickly, the logic of having a bet the day the weights come out has always been lost on me.
All the horses are pretty much weighted on their best form and, for example, the ante-post favourite Clan Royal looks very short to me at less than 8/1.
48-Hour Declarations
The BHB looks like it's going to accede to the demands of RUK and ATR and introduce 48-hour declarations.
Apparently, getting those runners out there 24 hours earlier than is currently the case will be just what's required to get punters abroad flocking in their hordes to purchase access to pictures of British racing so they can bet on it in their time zones.
The problem, IMO, is that I expect the number of non-runners to double.
If British racing was conducted on uniform tracks, on uniform surfaces and horses were trained at the track, there wouldn't be a problem.
But Britain has 59 racecourses scattered all over the country and training centres scattered all over the country.
Rule 4/Reduction Factor/reserve Runner Hell beckons.
BBC
