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Aussie
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Centrebet Capers
CRICKET The World Cup is upon us, but you would hardly know as cricket punters have been very apprehensive to bet on the finals series, and who can blame them? The whole issue of Zimbabwe, Kenya, player contracts etc has meant that there is a wave of uncertainty as to how the series will unfold, and that has had a drastic affect on the betting. The individual games themselves will be as big as ever, but 'long term' betting is nowhere near what it was on previous World Cups. We still have Australia favourites to win the Cup at $2.60, but the big shortener has been South Africa. We thought we had them 'safe' at $3.25, but this week we took bets of $4000 and $3000 at that price, and with so many unanswered questions over the groups, that is all we are prepared to take, so have shortened them into $3. Smaller amounts of money continue to come for New Zealand, and also for the West Indies, now into $16. We have suspended the Group betting, but were quite amazed to see early this week some bookmakers around the world still giving huge odds Zimbabwe to win Group A, even though there is a strong possibility that they may get as many as two 'forfeit' wins. There has been some action on the wickets and run totals for both the series and individual teams. A Sydney client has placed $2000 each way on both Matthew Hayden ($11) and Hershelle Gibbs at $15, while Adam Gilchrist ($15), Jaques Kallis ($16) and Sanath Jayasuriya ($26) have each been backed to take out close to $15,000 this week. Hayden is $3.10 to top the Aussie totals, but the bulk of early bets have been for Adam Gilchrist at $4.50, and in the South African totals, we have laid Gary Kirsten ($4.50) and Boeta Dippenaar ($7) to take out over $12,000 from two New Zealand punters. Some punters believe that 'spin will be king' in South Africa as Muttiah Muralitharan ($21) and Saqlain Mushtaq ($31) are now easily our two worst results. English punters backed Mushtaq to win in excess of $40,000, whereas most of the money for the controversial Muralitharan has come from Australia. Brett Lee and Glen McGrath remain our $11 favourites, and are also co $3.60 favourites to top the Australian group. Sunday's first match between South Africa and the West Indies has seen all one way traffic for the home side, even though they were beaten by a provincial side in a trial match early in the week. After opening at $1.30, they are now $1.28, with bets of $USD 20,000 taken at $1.30 and $USD 25,000 coming in at $1.29, both from India. If South Africa have a weakness, it is their bowling, so hopefully the West Indians can find some form with the bat. On Monday, early trading has seen nearly $40,000, mostly from England, come for Sri Lanka to beat New Zealand at $1.90. The other match has seen one very brave Australian client place $20,000 on Zimbabwe at $1.08 to beat Namibia! Whilst that will probably happen, we are more than happy to take punters 'on' who want to back the short priced teams (remember Bangladesh's win over Pakistan in the last World Cup). Some bookmakers aren't even listing prices for favourites, yet listing a price for the other team (how can you do that?), but if anybody wants to take $1.01 for South Africa to beat Kenya, or the same odds for India to beat Holland next Wednesday, they are more than welcome to give us a call! All of our usual betting options will be available on each match, and we will update as many of the 'futures' markets as we can each day. RUGBY UNION The Super 12 season is fast approaching, and union punters have surprisingly kept away from the two favoured sides, the Crusaders and the Brumbies. A South African and a New Zealand punter have between them backed the Auckland Blues to win over $100,000, and they are now into $7.50 after opening at $14. The Highlanders have attracted two separate bets of $1000, one from South Africa, the other from Auckland, to win the title at $15, as well as a $5000 bet to make the semis at $2.10, the first bet on that particular market which opened this week. The other two Australian sides, the Waratahs and the Reds, have each had a total of just over $1000 placed on them over the past two weeks at $12 and $14 respectively, and we have even taken bets of $500 for both the Sharks at $26 and the Chiefs at $51. The Six Nations season opener is also only a matter of weeks away, and while we haven't seen any takers for England at $1.35, we have taken several bets totaling just under £1000, all from England, for France at $3.75. As for the World Cup, there isn't too much to report going on there apart from a $5000 bet taken two weeks ago for New Zealand at $2.50, who remain favourites ahead of Australia at $2.90. AUSTRALIAN RULES We have opened up a few more end of season markets this week to coincide with the training camps that all AFL sides have been doing around the country. Aussie rules has also been in the headlines, once again with Wayne Carey's life under the microscope, but that hasn't stopped us from rating 'the King' some hope of winning the Brownlow Medal. Carey will be trying to rejuvenate his career at the Adelaide Crows, and the Crows style of play should see Carey get a lot of the ball, hence his price of $34. Brisbane's Michael Voss is our favourite at $15, but in keeping with years gone by, the early money has been for Andrew McLeod and Nathan Buckley, both at $17. There isn't anything big so far, just several small bets and one of $300 for Buckley, but the signs are there that that will continue. Last years winner, Simon Black, has had three early bets placed on him at $21, while St Kilda's potential superstar, Nick Riewoldt, is an early mover, into $21 after opening at $26. Carlton are $4.50 to collect back to back wooden spoons, and we will be able to have a look at the Blues this week as they are in Alice Springs on a four day training and promotional camp. The Kangaroos have had nearly $800 placed on them at $5.50 to run last, with many thinking rookie coach Dean Laidley will face an uphill battle, with St Kilda on the next line of betting at $6. One side we are prepared to 'risk' this year is Essendon, and while we have been only able to extract a few hundred dollars from punters for Essendon to win the flag at $12, we recently took a $12,000 bet for the Bombers to make the final eight at $1.60. There is pretty good interest in the final eight betting as we have also taken a wager of $6000 for Hawthorn at $1.60, $2500 for Fremantle at $2.50, and $1800 for Carlton at $3. Betting to win the Wizard Cup will open next Monday after we compile the injury reports from this week’s activities. BASKETBALL The Sydney Flames took a leaf out of their home town counterparts the Sydney Kings when they inexplicably lost to Bulleen in the last round of the regular season in the WNBL last weekend. The Flames were beaten easily, 74-63, as a raging $1.05 favourite, and while it is rare to see anyone prepared to take the short odds in women’s basketball, on this occasion one Sydney punter did have $5000 on the Flames to win at the $1.05. Not to be denied, he has come back this week with a $4000 bet for the Flames to win the elimination final against Adelaide at $1.50. The top of the table clash to see who goes straight through to the Grand Final will see the Canberra Capitals go in as red hot fav's at $1.20, but there has been money for Townsville to cause an upset. Townsville finished second on the table, and were the first team in WNBL history to win all their home matches, but it will be a different story in the Nations Capital on Saturday. We have listed Townsville at $4, and as well as taking nearly $700 in win bets, we have also taken a bet of $2500 for Townsville to stay within an 8½ handicap. Resiliant Sydney Kings supporters were again let down when the Kings lost the local derby to West Sydney by 3 points. These two met a few weeks ago, with the Kings handing out a decent hiding to the Razorbacks, so punters were prepared to take the short odds. Win bets of $6000 and $4800 came for Sydney at $1.25, as well as a bet or $4500 conceding 8 points start. Last night (Wed), Sydney travelled to Perth, and with Ben Melmeth out of the side, Perth were the side punters wanted to be on. It wasn't a spectacular betting game, they quite often aren't when two top sides meet, but we did take three bets totaling just on $11,000 for Perth to win at $1.65. The Kings were at their enigmatic best again beating Perth by 2 points. The first Fox Sports televised game saw the besieged Canberra Cannons at home to Victoria. In a good betting game, we were looking for a 'home' victory even though there was one bet of $8000 on Canberra at $1.72. Victoria were very easy to sell at $2.10, but were no match for Canberra going down by 8 points. Of the weekends games, we will get a good indication of where Adelaide are when the host Perth on Friday night. It will be a tough assignment for Perth backing up from Wednesday's clash, which is why we have listed Adelaide as $1.75 favourites, and punters agree. The only early money has been for Adelaide to win, which has seen them move into $1.70. There has been early support for Cairns, who host Wollongong on Saturday night. Bets of $1600, $1200 and $1000 have gone on the Taipans at $2.40, and we have taken three bets totaling $5800 for Cairns with 3½ points start. The amazing winning run of Townsville has seen them climb the Championship betting all the way up to $6, but it would seem as though the best finish they could get would be fourth place, so it is hard to see them getting any shorter. GOLF Ernie Els! Is there nothing this man can't do? There was no question that Ernie was deserved favourite for The Heineken Classic held at the much revered Royal Melbourne Golf Club, but to come from 10 shots behind after the second round? In a co-sanctioned European/Australasian tour event, Els was sent out a well supported $4 fav ahead of Lonard $12 and the likes of Bjorn $21, British Open winner, Lawrie $26, and other major winners in Norman and Faldo. One bet of $2500 each way at $4 and another $2000 at $4, along with numerous other wagers saw Ernie start a poor result for Centrebet. And after a poor beginning, 2 under at the completion of Friday and 10 shots behind Paul Casey, we were feeling pretty confident we had the punters money. Just to make matters worse, Peter Lonard was best backed to beat the Big Easy at $12, with bets of $1000 each way and 4000 NOK each way. What unfolded proved to be a nightmare. One astute client from Australia placed $400 each way on Els at $26 prior to the start of the 3rd Round along with a flurry of smaller wagers to suggest Els could make up the 10 shot gap. Ernie then proceeded to shoot 13 under for the weekend, with rounds of 66 and 65, to win by 1 shot from Lonard, who bogeyed the last from the same bunker Els made par from. Others at the top of the leader board failed to capitalize on the Saturday, and Els found himself 3 shots off the pace at the end of the 3rd round and along with Lonard who was 1 behind leader Faldo, shared favouritism. Needless to say we were aware we were in deep water, as Els in current form, was not going to let back to back Heineken Classics slip, as he did the pervious week in Singapore. Royal Melbourne can produce some unusual results on the last day, as one mistake can prove costly, and although Els did not play the last 6 closing holes as he would have liked, he proved what a class act he is by making 3 incredible saves, particularly 16 and 18. This week sees The Tour go to New South Wales Golf Club for the second running of the ANZ Championship, a modified stableford event. Last year Richard S Johnson proved too strong for Craig Parry and Scott Laycock to win by 2 points with a further point to Andre Stoltz 3rd. However neither Johnson nor Laycock are able to return this year as they both won their Tour Card over the summer and head to Florida for the prestigious Pebble Beach pro am. With Ernie Els having a well earned week off, local players such as Lonard $8 and Appleby $12 see it as an opportunity to position themselves at the top of the Australasian Order of Merit. Lonard has been well supported from his opening quote of $10, with one bet of $1500 and another of 2000 SEK along with Nick O'Hern who has been backed to win over 30k from one of our English clients. However this course is a links style, designed by Alistair McKenzie, and many European players will be more familiar with this type of layout so this should be an evenly contested affair. The PGA tour saw a see-sawing tussle take place in The Bob Hope Chrysler Classic in California. After 4 rounds Tim Herron held a 4 shot lead over Weir and Haas with another shot to the inform Chris DiMarco in 4th place. This type of lead is often enough for most golfers to hang onto come the last round, but such was the ease of which PGA West, Palmer Course, was playing that the $1.65 Herron would have appeared attractive odds. However that was not to be the case, and Lumpy self destructed with a closing round 75 which included a quadruple bogey. Mike Weir showed his maturity and composure with a closing 67 from the evergreen Jay Haas, one year short of being eligible for the Champions tour, with DiMarco and Herron tied for 3rd. This week at Pebble Beach sees the return of two unheralded players in Matt Gogel, defending champion, and Pat Perez, runner up in 2002. Both performed solidly at the Bob Hope, particularly Perez who finished in a tie for 6th however as this is regarded as a big hitters course most punters have tuned into Vijay Singh at $9 with one bet of 3000 NOK and another 2000 DKK each way, to suggest he can improve on his already imposing record here, a tie for 6th last year which was preceded with runner up cheques the previous two years. Also well supported is Phil Mickelson at $8. A winner in '98 and with a closing round 67 for a tie for 6th at the Bob Hope, punters see Phil running into form. One thing is for sure this week, Centrebet is as happy as Ernie Els that he is taking a week off from the tour - any tour! RUGBY LEAGUE The weekend saw the return of Rugby League World 7s played at Aussie Stadium in Sydney. The last time this event was held was in 1997 and saw Parramatta Eels successful, and punters saw them as great value to defend their title as they were well supported from $10 into $8 prior to kick-off, with one client from Brisbane placing $1500 to say they could repeat the dose. Also well supported were St George/Illawarra, $15 into $10, Newcastle Knights $11 into $8 and Souths, $15 into $12 .We generally treat these events with trepidation but punters were keen to try their hand at this innovative format and they soon kick-started us into action. We bet on all the matches on day one and some good results went our way with the Eagles defeating Newcastle and Canberra beating Brisbane comprehensively. Punters were on the mark with Group betting however as St George/Illawarra and England were both well supported. On day two of this event, we offered a full service on all Cup matches, and once again the Eagles proved to be our salvation when they defeated the Dragons in their quarter final 20 to 16. Parramatta looked impressive on day one, so we rode the Eels wave into their Quarter Final by taking on Canberra at the handicap of +6½ pts with one bet of $5000 from an astute judge from Sydney. Souths overcame the Sharks in their Quarter Final but were beaten but not disgraced by Parramatta in their Semi. With the likes of Walker and Clarke they could well prove to be the surprise packet of the NRL season. The other Semi and Final provided no more upsets with Paramatta proving too strong for a gallant England in the Final, prevailing 48 to 18. With over 50,000 spectators witnessing the event over 2 days and Captains of their respective clubs hailing the event a success, it appears that the World 7s will take on a higher profile with Centrebet in the future. FOOTBALL Centrebet hates it when Manchester United go on a lengthy winning run and I have crossed off Red Devils boss Sir Alex Ferguson's name from my Christmas card list after the Old Trafford giants recorded their sixth successive English Premier League victory. Punters backed United versus Birmingham as if defeat was out of their question on Tuesday, with last year's title runners-up kicking off at $1.40 after opening trading at $1.57. Centrebet's live betting service is proving very popular and United fans continued to back their heroes during the match, with one lucky punter wagering 50,000 NOK at $1.48 just moments before Ruud van Nistelrooy sensational strike put the visitors ahead at St Andrews. ‘Never bet in local derbies’ is an old punting adage but one that punters are ignoring ahead of United's grudge match against Manchester City at Old Trafford. Football fans do not care much for City's new strike partnership of Nicolas Anelka and Robbie Fowler, especially after many odds-on punters got their fingers burned backing the Blues to beat relegation favourites West Bromwich last weekend. United are $1.42 (from $1.47) to defeat their deadly rivals, with punters paying little attention to City's awesome attacking line-up and the Maine Road result in November when City won 3-1. Story of the week on the European mainland was Barcelona's first game following Louis van Gaal's resignation. New boss Radomir Antic took Barca to one of his old stamping grounds, Atletico Madrid, for a game that many punters, including a German client who bet €10,000 at $3, thought would see the Catalan club turn the corner. Not so. Barca slumped to a 3-0 loss and lie just three points above the Spanish Primera Liga drop zone. So impressive is their Champions League form (ten wins in ten matches), however, that they are 11.00 to win Europe's leading club competition. I cannot wait for next week's England versus Australia game in London. Socceroos coach Frank Farina and the boys are taking the match very seriously, whereas there is a feeling among English soccer supporters that their Swedish manager, Sven-Göran Eriksson, does not appreciate the unique sporting rivalry between the two countries and may not select England's strongest side. Centrebet will have a host of betting options on football's Ashes battle as Australia bid to beat England at soccer for the first time. Sydney's eastern suburbs will be like a morgue if England lose! Until next week, good punting. For further information contact Gerard Daffy at Centrebet on 08 89555800 or on centrebet@centrebet.com.
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