Gary Piha, a founding member and long-time CEO of Interbet, has congratulated Turf Talk on ten years of serving South African racing. Interbet is sponsoring our birthday betting voucher giveaway this week, and Piha said the company was proud to celebrate with us.
He commented: “A milestone like this deserves recognition. For a decade, Turf Talk has championed the sport, the people who make it happen and the punters who keep it alive.”
Turf Talk pioneered the daily newsletter offering; Interbet launched its extraordinarily successful business in 2000 and is South Africa’s longest-established online bookmaker.
Piha said: “We were founded as a bookmaker-to-bookmaker betting platform, and the punting public soon noticed that the bookmakers were negotiating wholesale prices online.
“Despite strong resistance, Interbet opened its platform to the public in the mid-2000s. Our belief was simple: punters are the most important part of the racing industry, and they are entitled to the same best odds the trade enjoys. That conviction has guided us ever since.
“Sport and online casinos have grown rapidly, but horseracing remains in our DNA and at the heart of the experience we offer our customers.”
Central to the Interbet philosophy is the protection of the integrity of betting, and Piha commented: “In the Western Cape, punters could only back horses on the exchange. Offering odds like a bookmaker required a valid South African bookmaker’s licence, subject to provincial probity checks and licence conditions.
“Interbet has always considered this a sound principle. It is uncontroversial, and it serves both the racing industry and the integrity of betting.”
Betting exchanges have since been licensed in other provinces. That has brought a host of issues that are still being unravelled, but Piha believes it vindicates the caution shown in the Western Cape.
Interbet also made a deliberate commitment to sustaining the racing Tote by directing its customers’ Tote stakes straight into the official Tote pool, thereby strengthening the pools that support the industry. This was a major reason Phumelela became a 51% B-BBEE shareholder in Interbet in the mid-2010s.
When Phumelela collapsed, Interbet secured new B-BBEE partners in 2021 through a consortium headed by Larry Nestadt and respected businessman Joe Mthimunye. The partnership has helped the business grow significantly over the past five years.
Piha said: “Our commitment to horseracing and the Tote is as strong as ever. It is also costly. Interbet is one of very few operators still standing by this principle, and even some racing operators themselves lay the open bet. Given the current landscape, it is fair to ask how long such a sacrifice can be sustained.”
Piha gave a promise to punters, whatever the future holds:
“Our customers remain the reason we do this. Punters are the lifeblood of racing, and Interbet will keep fighting to give them fair odds, honest dealing and a betting experience that respects their passion for the sport.
“Here’s to the next ten years, Turf Talk!”
