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Aussie
Rules
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Centrebet Capers
CRICKET The VB Series continued this week with a further three games played in Sydney and Adelaide, with improved performance from Zimbabwe and the return of heroics by Brett Lee, this time with the bat. The first game in Sydney between the Aussies and India proved an excellent betting game, with bets on India before the game easily outnumbering those for Australia, with one Victorian punter placing $7500 at $2.95 and a NSW punter placing $10,000 at $2.85. Late money did eventually come for Australia from our Indian punters in the form of 20000USD at $1.45. India, after a slow start rattled up 297, which under normal circumstances would be a daunting total. Enter the rain. After getting off to a flying start, the rain came and reduced the target to a much more manageable 225 from 34 overs. Australia continued to cruise towards victory before a collapse of wickets saw the task become a little more tricky than originally thought. It went right to the wire with 11 off 6 and then 7 off 3. Enter Brett Lee, who after struggling with his bowling during the summer, took matters into his own hands and Balaji for a six. In Adelaide, Zimbabwe showed that they can play competitive cricket from time to time with a loss by 3 runs to India and 13 runs to Australia. The batsmen are now making the most of good starts and not throwing their wickets away, which has even resulted in punter support. In the current game against Australia at the MCG a NSW punter has placed $2000 at $8 and another Qld punter $1000 at $7. On the domestic front, we have a full round of ING cup games, with the main game being South Australia playing Victoria. Already we have seen $2000 at $1.85 on Victoria and it would not surprise to see more money come for both teams in this clash, given the events of the past two weeks. BASKETBALL The combination of a round of mostly uninspiring NBL games (Hunter have three games, need I say more) and a final round of WNBL that promoters could only dream of, sees the focus switch to the women's league this week. In the WNBL Dandenong are secure in top position but with one round to go they are the only team that are certain to make the playoffs. Canberra, Sydney, Adelaide and Townsville all have 12 wins and all can finish anywhere from 2nd to 5th. If Canberra can notch up two wins they will secure 2nd position and the double chance that goes with, but with games against Townsville (home) and Sydney (away), two wins are far from a formality. Two losses and Lauren Jackson and the rest of the Capitals will be spectators for the playoffs. Sydney have had the advantage of a bye last week and get Canberra coming of a game the previous night. A win over Canberra will guarantee their participation in the post season and with the double chance, unless Townsville can notch up two wins on the road. By way of their superior head to head records against Adelaide and Townsville, it is possible that Sydney could advance to the playoffs with a loss but this is not something they will want to be relying on. Townsville have been on fire, winning seven straight games but it doesn't get any tougher than playing the top two teams, on their home courts, on consecutive nights. Their situation isn't clear cut either. Two wins they finish 2nd; two losses they miss. One win, one loss and other results will determine their fate. Adelaide's task seems relatively straight forward. A win against the AIS propels them to the playoffs and even though that seems a formality after they defeated the league leading Dandenong Rangers last week, it is worth noting that AIS beat them by 8 points last time they met. This is really a case of the finals beginning a week early such is the importance of this round of matches and it is reasonable to expect that with the stakes so high that Canberra and Adelaide will not let their opportunities slip. Perhaps it will be the disappointing Sydney side that will be watching the finals instead of taking part. TENNIS Never bet at short odds against champions. That is a simple betting rule that thousands of Australian Open punters ignored when Marat Safin faced Andy Roddick in the pick of the men's singles quarter-finals games and, boy, didn’t the Russian make them pay for underestimating him. We took the view that A-Rod was the lay of the championship and positioned ourselves in the worldwide betting market so as to attract everyone who thought that the American top seed would wipe the floor with his Cold War opponent. It worked beautifully. Punters took prohibitive prices on Roddick - they backed him from $1.36 to $1.25 - even though Safin crushed last year's Champions Race winner in straight sets on their one and only previous meeting and the Russian looked like the best unseeded player to play in the tournament since Australian star Mark Edmondson took the title 28 years ago. Safin duly beat Roddick 6-4 in the final set and we pocketed a six-figure sum. The biggest individual bet we took on Safin was $1000 at 3.65, whereas there were plenty of four- and five-figure wagers on Roddick at 1.36 and worse. Punters also got too carried with Thomas Enqvist and Lisa Raymond in their matches versus Andre Agassi and Patty Schnyder respectively. Enqvist's head-to-head record against the four-time Australian Open champion - the Swede led 5-4 going into his third round rendezvous with the American - prompted many punters to place speculative bets on the outsider, while Raymond's emphatic loss at the racquet of Schnyder was painful for those punters who thought that the conqueror of Venus Williams would breeze past the Swiss into the last four. GOLF The golfing Gods have a way of making fools out of those who believe they fully understand the mechanics of the game, whether players, critics or bookmakers alike. Recently there has been a question mark raised over the form of Ernie Els which was followed by a victory at the Sony Open, and constant scrutiny of Phil Mickelson following his fall from second to sixteenth in the official world golf rankings which has now been answered in an emphatic manner with a victory in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. This is Mickelson's first victory since season 2002 and his second in three years at this event and the third year in a row a lefty has won at La Quinta. Punters were well aware of Mickelson's form here and despite over twelve months in the golfing doldrums he still had his share of supporters with one bet of $500 each way at $17 prior to the first round, and one $4000 wager at $2.25 from a loyal follower with two rounds to go. The victory didn’t come without it’s share of drama however as Mickelson needed to birdie the final hole to force a play-off with Skip Kendall and then birdied it again in the first play-off hole. And spare a thought for Kendall as it is the fourth time he has finished runner-up but more heart breaking, the third time in a play-off. The well supported Jonathan Kaye finished well for fourth as did Chris Riley who finished in a tie for ninth. Keep following these two players who along with Harrison Frazar have been in fine form. This week we head to Arizona for the FBR Open, previously the Phoenix Open, where defending champion Vijay Singh has been installed favourite at $6.50 ahead of a resurgent Phil Mickelson at $10, Retief Goosen $14 and evergreen Kenny Perry at $21. Singh has been solid in the betting, as you would expect from a player who has finished in the top ten at his last ten consecutive events, while Harrison Frazar and Jesper Parnevik have both been backed to win over $20,000 at $51. This event lacks depth at the top of the betting and if golfing gods remain consistent then expect a resurgence of form from the likes of Mike Weir and Rocco Mediate. On the European tour Marcel Siem captured his maiden title after a dramatic three way play-off with Frenchmen Gregory Havret and Raphael Jacquelin. Jacquelin has been a model of consistency with eleven top ten finishes in the last two years and now with a tie for second in the Dunhill Championship which follows a tie for fifth in the South African Open, that consistency should reward him with a maiden tour win. This week we head to Bangkok, Thailand for the Johnnie Walker Classic, a combined European and Australasian event. Defending Champion Ernie Els has been backed to the exclusion of all other runners with one wager of $20,000 at $5. Best backed to beat him home are Trevor Immelman at $15 and Brian Davis at $41 who along with fellow European players Lee Westwood $17 and Raphael Jacquelin, $26, should prove tough nuts for Els to crack. Centrebet wishes them the best of luck! AMERICAN FOOTBALL New England are odds on to win their second Super Bowl title in three years when the Patriots tackle Carolina, a team written off as no-hopers before the season began in September, at Houston's Reliant Stadium. The Panthers were 81.00 shots at the beginning of the National Football League campaign and were trading at double-figure odds at the turn of the year as punters refused to place their faith in a team that won only one regular season game two years ago, a season that ended with an embarrassing 38-6 loss to their Super Bowl opponents. Punters are backing New England to cover our six-and-a-half-point spread in a relatively low-scoring game. Both teams are defensively strong, a trait that most Super Bowl side possess. FOOTBALL Unbeaten in the English Premier League and through to the latter stages of three knockout competitions - are Arsenal on the verge of something special? If you think that the Gunners will win several trophies this season then Centrebet is the bookmaker for you. The reason for this is simple, many betting agencies do not allow punters to build such accumulators as Arsenal to win the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League. They block same-team multiple wagers and quote so-called special odds upon request. That would be fine if the odds were fair but 99 times out of 100 they are far from special. So if you think that Arsenal will mirror Manchester United's 1999 treble of Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League and would like to put down some money, make sure you bet with us. As of today, you will get almost double the price that one of the United Kingdom's best known bookmakers is quoting. Why do betting agencies insist on offering special odds on same-team accumulators? For the answer one has to go back to 1994 when Warwickshire won three of the United Kingdom's four domestic cricket competitions and made the final of the other. Warwickshire officials placed boxed multis’ - six doubles, four trebles and one multiple - with a few bookmakers so as to insure that they could meet bonus payments if the Bears enjoyed a successful season. Think of it as a quirky insurance policy. Warwickshire won the County Championship, Benson & Hedges Cup and AXA Equity & Law Cup to pocket a six-figure sum from the betting industry. That is why most firms are afraid of laying such wagers nowadays. But not Centrebet. The Merseyside derby between Liverpool and Everton is the pick of next weekend's Premier League games. Even though it is of far less importance than in the Merseyside duo's glory days, football fans love fixture and bet accordingly. Liverpool have won five and drawn three of their last eight matches versus Everton, which just goes to show that you should not throw out the form book for all derby games. Punters are taking the odds on Liverpool and, as ever, steaming into the Arsenal-Chelsea-Manchester United win treble. It is paying just under $3.
Until next week, good punting. For
further information contact Gerard Daffy at Centrebet on 08 89555800 or
centrebet@centrebet.com.
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