With the news of the InTrade meltdown still reverberating around the gambling halls, you would expect that start-ups like Youbetme would be wondering what the hell they have gotten themselves into? Not so according to Kent Bernhard Jr, from the Upstart Business Journal who has been speaking to the co-founder and CEO Jason Neubauer.
Jason Mercier is one of the most successful, and talented, poker players in the world. He is a member of the PokerStars roster of Team Pros and has over $8 million in live multi table tournament earnings. Mercier can also be found at the live cash tables and loves the sports betting action. Mercier is the type of guy who would pass the time of day by betting on a race between to drops of rain heading south on a pane of glass. During a recent interview I had with him I asked him what his one piece of advice would be for wanna be sports bettors:
“I would advise them to find friends that you can bet with. This avoids the need to pay additional juice.” Said Mercier.
Now that’s sound advice and one of the reasons that I believe the Youbetme model is going to be a great success. Youbetme is the first product to be delivered from the womb of Social Bet Inc. An Internet social betting startup that was selected to join the VentureChoice Incubation (VIP) programme, a programme designed for innovative and exciting start up companies that it supports with seed-capital, advice and mentoring.
“Bet on anything and everything: whether it’s taking down your opponents in Beer Pong or todays Over/Under we’ve got you covered. From customer bets to sports lines we legally allow you to bet and interact with your friends 24/7.” Is the promise shown on the website.
Co-founders Jason Neubauer and Justin Jarman have based the core of the model on the good old-fashioned handshake and word of man. They believe that every occasion can be turned into a social bet and they provide the arena and weapons for the chivalry of betting to take place. Neubauer believes that Youbetme will not fall into the grey area that has swallowed InTrade because they will not handle any financial transactions. Instead, their goal is to earn profit through advertising and sponsorships.
The website currently carries the ‘Beta’ tag, but Neubauer confirms that 5,000 people have been testing the product and the ‘Beta’ tag will be placed into the trash can sometime in the next week.
So if you have a circle of gambling friends and want to avoid the juice, or create better lines, then maybe Youbetme can take away all of your administration hassles and leave you free to concentrate on what you do best – winning or losing chunks.
