Betfair gets Social in New Betting Game

UK betting giant, Betfair, has joined forces with Swedish online game services provider, Jadestone, to launch the new social betting game, Taikai.

Face to face
Taikai represents a new departure in online betting: tournament betting. The game combines Betfair's successful person-to-person betting with social web functions introduced by sites such as MySpace and Facebook.

Friendlies
The new online game enables friends to engage in competition with each other, allowing them to test their sports knowledge and win cash. Players choose a tournament from a selection of sports and leagues. Each player places virtual bets and pays the buy-in that becomes the prize pot. Players win by accumulating the most virtual profit by the end of the tournament.

Online Interaction
During the tournament, players can customize their avatars, review each others' bets and engage in online banter. Taikai can be played for fun or for money. In addition to playing against friends, players can also compete against other Taikai members in public tournaments.

Sports knowledge
Betfair Directors, Sajeeve Bahl and Roger Ahn, commented:

"[Taikai is] a great product for all people who think that they know a sport, have some like-minded friends, and want to compete with them to prove their opinion and win some money."