Questions:
#1 Is Bookie up and running, so anyone signing up can back/lay a bet if we head on over there?
#2 Can Steemians fund their Bookie accounts with Steem currency? (aka, does Bookie provide a Steem-to-bitcoin exchange?)
Reason we ask #2, is bc a lot of people here don't have a great means of getting bitcoins without paying fees which are so large, that Bookie might as well charge 25% vyg on bets.
Lastly, "back" and "lay" are easy concepts, what's hard is that Americans don't understand what they mean wrt to a given market. An american is familiar with "bid" and "ask", but back and lay are like renaming left and right. the main concept is that "bid" is oft confused with what someone can pay to own the stock, when instead it represents the best bid on the market currently. It's counter-intuitive, but "bid" actually means the price at which you can SELL, and "ask" actually means the price at which one can BUY. THAT is why people get confused.
With full knowledge of the concept you're describing, if we went to Bookie or BetFair and looked at masters odds for a golfer to win the whole thing, we'd still have to remind ourselves which one is the odds we're going to actually GET when buying a share in Jordan Spieth (the Lay) and which ones are the odds which are fantasy (the back).
So it's not just back and lay that're confusing Americans, it's also the reverse-intuitiveness of which one is the buy price and which one is the sell price.
Hi @harpooninvestor,
#1 - No, Bookie is not live yet. Bookie Public Beta will be launched and open to all in time for FIFA World Cup 2018 (which starts on June 14).
#2 - Bookie Public Beta will use 'play tokens'. All users of the public beta will be eligible for real Bitcoin prizes through a range of competitions and leaderboards based on their play token betting success.
At full launch (after the WC 2018), Bookie will be enabled for Bitcoin betting. There are plans to enable betting with other cryptocurrencies in the future, but nothing concrete for Steem currency. But the second half of 2018 will see firming up of plans in this area, so stay tuned.
We agree that there is a need for clear education around betting exchanges, tailored to the cultural expectations of the North merican sports bettor. Obviously, this series of articles is a move in that direction, but it takes time to change people's intuitive understanding of market terminology, as you say. Interestingly, there is no consensus on whether backing is buying or selling, even amongst betting exchange users, as per this thread:
http://www.geekstoy.com/forum/showthread.php?7323-What-is-BUY-amp-SELL-on-Betfair-Betdaq
We believe that the best way to educate new exchange users is to make the Bookie in-app betting experience as familiar as possible. We are developing a feature that will allow non-exchange users to compare exchange market displays to (the more familiar) sportsbook displays. Working at this more intuitive level, we hope to make moving from sportsbook to exchange a quick and simple transition.
Really appreciate your thoughtful comments on this issue - We hope it continues! And would definitely love to see you giving us feedback on the Bookie Public Beta.