Bizwatch

Reining in Net Gamblers
Online gambling, once considered a long-shot business, is raking in the chips. Online betting exchanges, the peer-to-peer punting havens that allow gamblers to match up with one another, take about $5.2 billion in bets annually. But in Britain, traditional bookmakers like William Hill have been griping for years that because the exchanges allow punters to "lay" bets — bet on a horse, team or competitor to lose, rather like investors who sell stock short — they encourage corruption.

No chance, say the exchanges, who insist that picking a loser is...

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