Where can I gamble on Macworld announcements?

January 8, 2007 10:13 AM

Where (online) can I gamble on what will be announced at MacWorld tomorrow?

I believe bodog previously had odds on the iphone release, but according to this page there currently aren't any Business/Financial betting lines available. Anyone know another site that is currently taking bets?

posted by hihowareyou to technology (11 answers total)

would this even be allowed? as obviously there are a lot of people out there that actually know what will be released.

dont think a bookie would risk it. but if they do ill be laying some money down for sure
posted by moochoo at 10:17 AM on January 8, 2007

you could buy calls or puts on AAPL.
posted by b1tr0t at 10:28 AM on January 8, 2007

As a student of the on-line wagering world who looks for arbitrage opportunities on all kinds of specialty bets, I think the answer is nowhere. Books would avoid this kind of action because there isn't enough interest in the wagering world and the number of people with inside information is far too large.
posted by Lame_username at 10:37 AM on January 8, 2007

moochoo & Lame_username - That's what I kind of figured, was just hoping there might be something out there. For the record, I have no inside information, just wanted to place a few small bets for fun.
posted by hihowareyou at 10:42 AM on January 8, 2007

I've been looking into buying Apple stock ahead of major announcements... What's the easiest way to buy a grand or so of stock online? .. Any good tutorials on how to get started with something like this that anyone can recommend?
posted by mariokrat at 10:59 AM on January 8, 2007

etrade is pretty simple to set up, although - at least to my recollection in recent years - Apple stock typically tanks a bit after MacWorld, so I wouldn't recommend buying a bunch of AAPL today. YMMV, IANA Financial Advisor, etc.
posted by hihowareyou at 11:28 AM on January 8, 2007

Ameritrade and ETrade are both good retail brokers. If you don't know what you are doing, getting into stock speculating by purchasing AAPL right before a major news announcement is a great way to zero your account quickly.
posted by b1tr0t at 11:34 AM on January 8, 2007

BetFair.com used to take bets on pretty much any financial wagering you wanted to undertake.

Because they were simply matching sides of a bet, bookies weren't involved. I can't find a link to the on-line wagering, but I've included the forum.

Lots of folks in The City used to take a flyer on interest rates, cross rates, $ LIBOR and all sorts of esoteric indicies that bookies wouldn't touch; it was made possible simply because it was bettor to bettor. No bookies were involved.

In terms of purchasing shares now, remember the old adage "If it's in the press it's in the price". That includes listed options as well.
posted by Mutant at 11:35 AM on January 8, 2007

the number of people with inside information is far too large

This is, I think, the main reason you don't see it. Fair wagering assumes that both sides have equal access to information. Without a mechanism for weeding out insiders (which is a practical impossibility), there are too many people who could game the system.
posted by mkultra at 11:41 AM on January 8, 2007

Not good for tomorrow, but www.longbets.org is worth a try in the future. They allow you to bet on things a minimum of two years away. Not your question, but I figured it might be of interest anyway if you're into betting on stuff...
posted by richmondparker at 12:20 PM on January 8, 2007

why not take bets on it? set your own odds..
posted by fumbducker at 12:47 PM on January 8, 2007