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Aussie
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Centrebet Capers
BASKETBALL The NBL's first venture into the Asian market was an outstanding success with the Wildcats and Kings putting on a good display of basketball before a crowd of 7200. An outstanding success also for punters who took the minus 3.5 and minus 4 Sydney. A handful of bets of five to eight thousand ensured punters enjoyed the Singapore experiment a lot more than bookmakers did. Wins from Sydney and Wollongong strengthened their grip on top two positions and direct entry to the semi finals. It would now take a major slip-up from one of these teams and a very strong finish from one of the teams below them for either of these two to miss the coveted top two finish. It doesn't mean that one of these teams will win the Championship but it does mean that there are big odds currently available about their chances of doing so. It is fair to say that Round 19 is not the most enticing round of the season and television viewers can be excused if they don't sit through every minute of two West Sydney games. The pick of the games is possibly Perth hosting Brisbane. The Bullets are running into form at the right end of the season and Perth are desperately trying to re-discover theirs. Perth's home court advantage has not been a factor this season and a $5000 bet on Brisbane at minus 2 that came from the West suggests that those out west have lost faith in their local team. The Wildcats will be hoping that a training session run by arguably the greatest coach of all time, Phil Jackson, will have the desired effect and produce some improvement. The final round of WNBL produced a result that has created the need for some re-assessing. Adelaide's defeat of Dandenong, albeit in a meaningless game, entitles the Lightning to a little more respect and takes away the air of invincibility that surrounded the Rangers. In a season where results have been fairly predictable the semi finals may well produce two upsets. RUGBY LEAGUE The final of the World Club Challenge takes place on Friday evening at Elland Road Stadium, Leeds. NRL Champs, Canterbury Bulldogs take on Super League Champs, Leeds Rhinos, in the ninth game of this format. Leeds have been installed $1.50 and 6½ point favourites over the Dogs who are $2.60, however all the early money has been for the home side, carrying one $10,000 wager at the win price followed by a further $10,000 conceding the start. Centrebet were prepared to take a stance against the favs, as the underdog has an impressive record in recent years, the home side winning three of the last four encounters, including Penrith copping a 22-4 shellacking at the hands of Bradford last year. However, in all cases the home side has been the outsider and momentum and build up could be somewhat different this year. However if money doesn't start arriving for the Bulldogs from their loyal supporters soon, the $1.50 about Leeds may be hard to come by. One thing is for certain, and that is the Bulldogs are at their most dangerous when their backs are to the wall. That may be the case at Elland Road on Friday night. GOLF Justin Leonard recorded his first win in two years when he captured the 2005 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. The win was his ninth PGA tour victory after closing with a five under par 67, enough to close out tour maidens, Joe Ogilvie and Peter Lonard. Leonard was friendless in the betting at $23, while the seemingly inform Stewart Cink and David Toms were all the rage, both backed to win in excess of $100,000. Along with favourite Phil Mickelson they put in a consistent performance without ever looking to be a realistic winning chance. The final day battle came down to Ogilvie, who held a two shot lead over consistent Australian, Peter Lonard, with a further shot back to Leonard. Punters were not keen to take the $2.75 on offer Ogilvie, Lonard had some supporters at $4.50, while the eventual winner had admirers at $7, carrying one wager of $1,000. All in all it was not a huge betting event, with perhaps the lack of top line players the contributing factor. We head to Arizona this week for the FBR Open, won last year by local, Jonathan Kaye. Kaye has already had a runner-up finish at the Mercedes Championship this year, so the $34 on offer may represent real value. World number one Vijay Singh is all the rage in the betting, carrying one $30,000 wager at his opening quote of $5, and with wins here in '95 and '03 he should prove hard to beat. Others in the betting are Phil Mickelson at $8, Stewart Cink at $16 and David Toms at $19, none of whom has attracted much activity from the punting public. It looks like its going to be one of those events where we lose some finger nails pushing back the irrepressible Vijay Singh. On the European tour front, Englishman Nick Dougherty captured his maiden victory in the Caltex Singapore Masters. He completed the four rounds eighteen under par to street Colin Montgomerie and Martin Lafeber by five shots with a further two shots back to Swede, Thomas Bjorn. A $2000 wager at $4.75 on the winner at the completion of the second round took the cream off what was a disappointing betting affair, while Montgomerie, one shot behind Dougherty at that stage, failed to close out the event and defend the title he won the previous year. The tour goes down under this week for the Heineken Classic, won in the previous three years by laconic South African, Ernie Els. Els has been backed to win over $200,000 at his opening quote of $3.75 along with young gun Australian Adam Scott at $10. Els' form at Royal Melbourne is impeccable however he will need to be at the peak of his form if he is to hold out Australian Peter Lonard. $10, and Stuart Appleby, $12. Lonard not only closed out the final three events on the Australasian tour last year, but he has had two forward showings in the US this year, including a tie for fourth at last weeks Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. Appleby won the season opener Mercedes Championship in Hawaii a couple of weeks back at his only start in the States this season, so he will be keen to do well in front of his home crowd. Throw in seasoned European tour players such as Montgomerie, Bjorn, McDowell and Dougherty and we really do have a 'Classic' event. FOOTBALL Centrebet punters think that they know better than the English Premiership's two Champions League-winning coaches and are backing Chelsea to do the FA Cup, Carling Cup, Premiership and Champions League quadruple. Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson says that the Blues have no chance of winning four major competitions and Chelsea chief Jose Mourinho believes that talk of such a trophy haul is madness. The soccer betting public is not listening, though. British bookmakers are offering ordinary odds on the Blues making history, with one famous firm listing them at 11.00. Little wonder then that Chelsea supporters are forming an orderly line to back their team at Centrebet's realistic quote of 34.00. British bookies are gun shy of same-team accumulators because they caught a collective cold in 1994 when Warwickshire, featuring a certain B. C. Lara of Trinidad and Tobago in its batting line-up, took out three of English country cricket's four tournaments. Their quadruple prices are anything but special. The Blues have one hand on the Premiership cup after the Red Devils beat Arsenal at Highbury on Tuesday. Centrebet does not cheer for United very often but it was very pleased with the outcome of the latest grudge match between the glamour clubs. Centrebet won on every line that it traded, with several large bets on fewer than three goals going down 10 minutes before half time. Five punters backed United 4-2 at 81.00 but none of them gambled their mortgages. Until next week, good punting. For further information contact Gerard Daffy at Centrebet on 08 89555800 or centrebet@centrebet.com.
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