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FROM SPORTS ACUMEN

Media Release
Posted 3:00 AM, August 14, 2004

 

 

Pittman’s knee the key to Olympic spread

 

How will Jana Pittman perform in Athens? That is the question asked of Sports Acumen as they released their extended range of Olympic betting markets today, including a spread market on how well Jana Pittman will perform at the games.

 

The World Champion 400m hurdler has received an extraordinary amount of press since her unfortunate injury and has become the focal point of Australia’s Olympic campaign.

 

“Will she run? Will she be competitive? Can she make the final? Can she win the gold? These are the questions we have been asking ourselves over the past week in trying to frame this market” Sports Acumen head trader, Matt Fisk said.

 

“From the information we have received we think she will run, but may not be in peak condition so we have set the spread accordingly.”

 

Most betting agencies have reported little support for Pittman to win the gold since the injury. Sports Acumen however, is giving punters the chance to profit from predicting just how far she will progress rather than just winning the gold.

 

The performance index allocates points for how far Jana Pittman’s campaign takes her.  100 points for gold, 75 silver, 60 bronze, 40 for making the final, 20 for a semi and 0 if she fails to make it to the semi’s. The only stipulation is that she has to complete her first heat, otherwise all bets are off. The spread has been set at 25 - 30.

 

“Punters who believe Pittman will perform well can back her at 30 and if she makes the final, they win 10 times their stake and up to 70 times if she brings home the gold,” Fisk added.

 

“The alternative is selling the spread at 25 believing the injury will severely hinder her chances, meaning  if Jana is knocked out at any time before the final those who sell will be the winner.”

 

The other market generating plenty of interest is the Men’s 200m Freestyle Spread where Ian Thorpe is a hot favourite in a race that also features Sydney 2000 winner Pieter Van den Hoogenband, Australia’s Grant Hackett and American whiz Michael Phelps.

 

The 200m Men’s Freestyle spread is based on a points index where gold is worth 50, silver 25, bronze 10 and all other places 0 points.

 

Thorpe, a $1.43 chance to win the gold in fixed odds betting, has a spread of 40 - 43 and so if he wins gold will nett customers 7 times their stake if they buy at the 43. Phelps is at 25 - 28, Van den Hoogenband 9 - 11 and Hackett 6 - 8.

 

Sports Acumen also has spread betting markets on a number of events at the Olympics including the Men’s 100m, total number of medals Thorpe and Phelps wins individually and the number of gold medals Australia will win in the entire games.

 

“We have had some terrific interest in our Olympic markets, and we believe our broader range of spreads will really create some interest from punters.” Sports Acumen general manager Rob Gallagher said.

 

For further information, please contact:

Matt Fisk                                                                      Robert Gallagher

Head Trader                                                   General Manager

Mobile: +61 407 224 508                                   Mobile: +61 418 339 836

Email:mfisk@sportsacumen.com                        email: rob@sportmc.com.au

 

 
BACKGROUND TO SPORTS ACUMEN OLYMPIC SPREAD MARKETS

 

The Olympic Games may well be the ultimate in the career of an elite athlete but they have also become a huge betting medium. Millions – if not billions – of dollars will be waged around the world as global attention is focused on Athens.

 

A number of Australian agencies have a host of markets on the games and Sports Acumen is one of those … but the Canberra based company has a point of difference.

 

The problem for many punters with sports betting is that the prices in many races are heavily favoured towards one competitor, often meaning returns in the vicinity of $1.10, or even less, for your $1 outlay.

 

Not so though with Sports Acumen’s Spread Betting markets. Spread Betting offers punters the chance to back their judgement on a specific outcome for a greater return than a traditional ‘straight out’ bet would have yielded.

 

Much interest in the early part of the Games will centre of the performances of Ian Thorpe and US superfish Michael Phelps in the pool.

 

Sure, we all know they are near certainties to win at least a gold or two each, but Sports Acumen gives you the chance to wager on the exact outcome of their Games’ conquests. Awarding 25 points for a gold, 10 silver and 5 bronze, we have pitted the two head-to-head-against each other. Phelps is a chance to win six golds, meaning a haul of 150 points, whereas Thorpe has three individual and two relays to amass his tally.

 

The market will be set at approximately 55 - 60 (with Phelps expected to score more points). If you are a Phelps fan, you can buy him at 60 points and should he score (for arguments sake) 140 points, to Thorpe’s 60 (margin 80 points), the return would be 20 times (80 minus 60 = 20) the initial bet. This means a $10 bet would nett a return of $200. Conversely, if you think the American will falter under the pressure of emulating countryman Mark Spitz, you can ‘sell’ him at 55 points and if Thorpe (again for argument’s sake) were to get to within 40 points, you would win 15 times the bet size.

 

A bet like this would certainly spice up your Olympic excitement.

 

We are also offering individual markets for both swimmers. Phelps is 133-138 (buy at 138 and any points above that, multiply to calculate return and Thorpe is 75-80. Of course, as with anything with greater reward, the risk is also higher. If you ‘buy’ a swimmer and they fail to reach the points target, the system works in reverse and losses can add up.

 

Sports Acumen has a range of fixed odds markets along with spread betting markets on a number of events at the Olympics, including the Men’s 100m, the Men’s 200m Freestyle, and a Jana Pittman market, based on how far she will progress in her 400m hurdles quest.

 

 


 

Latest Sports Acumen Odds

 

Australia's Total Gold Medals

 

 

 

Current  Spread

 

11

12.5

 

 

Jana Pittman Performance Index

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note - must complete heat for bets to stand

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heat

0

 

Opening Spread

Semi

20

 

25

30

Final

40

 

 

 

Bronze

60

 

 

 

Silver

75

 

 

 

Gold

100

 

 

 

 

200m Men's Freestyle - "Race of the Century"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other

0

 

Opening Spread

Bronze

10

 

Thorpe

40

43

Silver

25

 

Phelps

25

28

Gold

50

 

Van Dan Hoogenband

9

11

 

 

 

Hackett

6

8

 

 

 

Quote Others

 

 

 

100m Men's Athletics

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other

0

 

Opening Spread

Bronze

10

 

Powell

 28

31

Silver

25

 

Green

23

26

Gold

50

 

Crawford

 12

15 

 

 

 

Gatlin

 5

7 

 

 

 

Collins

 4

6 

 

 

 

Obikwelu

 3

5

 

 

 

Aliu

 1

2 

 

 

 

Brown

 1

 2

 

 

 

Quote Others

 

 

 

 


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