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Centrebet Capers The curtain has been drawn on another year, and don't they go quickly. It seems like only yesterday that we were all worried about the 'millennium bug' and now we find ourselves in the second half of the decade. Once again it was a topical year in sports betting. All the news on this side of the world has been centered on Betfair and their push to get an Australian license. 'Integrity' has all of a sudden become a buzz word as authorities continue to apply pressure to put a halt to Betfair's inevitable Tasmanian license. At a recent conference, a Betfair spokesman revealed that they had around 2000 active Australian clients. Given that they will not be able to provide an 'in play' service on their web site, and that they legally cannot advertise outside of Tasmania, you must wonder what all the fuss has been about. Betfair opponents have given the company millions of dollars worth of free advertising in this intriguing battle and they still only have 2000 active clients. Punters were the winners in the latter part of 2005 following a terrific run of favourites in English, Spanish and German football and the NFL in America. Plenty of the bigger English companies issued profit warnings and we have recently seen a couple of US focused online sports books disappear into cyberspace. It is a much tougher caper now than it was 10 years ago, and online fixed odds and exchanges have bred a new form of punter, those who take no risks. With technology and nous, there are now thousands around the world who bet all day and night without risking a cent, making a good living. Something has to give, so we can expect to see some more casualties in the bookmaking ranks over the next year or two. Now for a look back over Centrebet's year...... Biggest bet of the year: $250,000 on the North Queensland Cowboys (2.20) to beat the Wests Tigers in the NRL Grand Final. It was a 'saver' for the guy who was on the Tigers for a fortune but it was a bet just the same. We also took a bet of $165,000 on St George Illawarra (1.55) to beat the Tigers in an NRL semi-final the previous week. Biggest winning bet of the year: A $60,000 wager yielded one punter $150,000 when Ernie Els won the Qatar Masters back in March. The same Aussie based golf fan had also won $150,000 the previous week when he took the 7.00 for Phil Mickelson to win the Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Biggest losing bet of the year: Apart from the two mentioned earlier, we also took a bet of $150,000 on a draw at 2.50 in the first Ashes cricket Test. There was also a bet of $100,000 that we got to hang onto when the New Zealand Warriors (2.00) failed to make the NRL final 8. Biggest winning multi of the year: No contest. This belongs to an overseas based Australian who coupled up the Sydney Swans with the Wests Tigers to win the AFL/NRL premiership double. He won a shade over $1 million from an outlay of $700. Biggest losing multi of the year: A six-leg multi of $78,000 was placed early last January on a round of FA Cup matches at odds of 2.62. Five won but Manchester United, a 1.04 chance, was held to a 0-0 draw by Exeter. Centrebet hard luck story of the year: The Sydney Swans were a bad result in their finals match against Geelong, including one bet of $50,000 at 1.30. The Swans trailed throughout the match before Nick Davis extricated himself from a pack of players to kick the winning goal with three seconds left on the clock. The rest is history. Centrebet client hard luck story of the year: To the client who wanted to place $1000 on Newcastle to run last in the NRL at 67.00. When informed he could have $300 he decided to pass the offer up, didn't bet and the Knights proceeded to lose week after week. They rallied late in the year but not enough to avoid the wooden spoon. Most predictable results of the year: That the Waratahs wouldnt win the Super 12 after getting off to a flying start and that Geelong would do the same in the AFL. That Tiger Woods would win a Major and also that Roger Federer would dominate the mens tennis circuit. Biggest upset of the year: There were many but two stood out. Bangladesh (51.00) beating Australia in a one day cricket match and Wales winning the grand slam in rugby's Six Nations. Biggest plunge of the year that lost: In AFL, the West Coast Eagles were backed from 21.00 into 6.00 before the season got underway. Those who got the big odds got a great sight as the Eagles made it to the Grand Final before narrowly going down to Sydney. Biggest plunge of the year that won: Bookmakers everywhere took a hammering on the US Formula One Grand Prix when those cars with Michelin tyres pulled out. That left only six starters and of those, four were over 34.00 to finish in the top eight and over 101 to finish on the podium. Suffice to say it wasn't a good result for us either! Biggest betting event of the year: The Ashes Series. Always big betting events but the evenness of the two sides throughout the series made it even better. In excess of $250,000 was wagered on each Test before a ball was bowled. Biggest choke of the year Australia: Nick O'Hern rates a double mention. He led and capitulated in the Heineken Classic at Royal Melbourne early in the year and then had an unassailable lead in the Masters at Huntingdale in December and collapsed again. International: AC Milan. They led 3-0 against Liverpool in the Champions League final. Liverpool blew out to 100/1 in live betting and that was probably unders. Then Liverpool scored three times in seven minutes to take the game to extra time. They ended up winning on penalties. Most disappointing sports person of the year Australia: Mark Philippoussis, who couldn't beat time with a stick last year. International: Michael Schumacher. Maybe the critics were right, Schumacher isn't that good its just the car. Team of the year - Australia: Very easy, the Socceroos. Watch out Brazil, here we come! International: The All Blacks. Continued their dominance, winning the tri-nations, the Bledisloe Cup and thumped the British Lions. And now for a few Centrebet awards......... The Lazarus (back from the dead) award: Liverpool. It's not possible to come from three goals down in a Champions League Final. The Sydney Swans deserve a mention as they were gone against both Geelong and St Kilda but got up off the canvas before doing a similar thing in the Grand Final. The punter of the year award: To the ex-pat Aussie based in Saudi Arabia who continued his annual tradition of just having the same bet every year- a premiership double of the Wests Tigers and the Sydney Swans. He struck gold, all $1,020,000 of it when both won. His outlay was a little over $700. Horse of the year award: Makybe Diva. We lost plenty on the great mare's third Melbourne Cup win but it was one of the year's sporting highlights Keeping it in the family award: The Uusorg family from Estonia. Hot favourite Margo defeated his brother Maddis to again win the World Wife Carrying Championship. They say there is 'a better one ' at home with the younger brother being the 800 metre athletics champion for Estonia. The tradition looks like continuing for a few years yet. The 'I must log on more often' award: The Aussie bookie still accepting bets on My Restaurant Rules 24 hours after the whole world knew that one of the final three had been closed down. It was on all the forums and punters had a field day. The Panasonic (world's best copier) award: I suppose all in this industry are guilty of some levels of plagiarism but one overseas company deserves a bouquet. They religiously open WNBL (Aussie womens basketball) prices each week within 20 minutes of Centrebet opening the same competition. In all instances, it gave us great comfort that they agree with all of our assessments. We don't take many bets on that league but you have to wonder how many people 12,000 miles away would want to gamble on it? The Ben Johnson (best winning run with a bit of assistance) award: To the Sydney punter who one weekend last January backed Peter O'Malley in the New Zealand golf Open, Geoff Ogilvy in the US Tour event, (both to win $100,000) and had $30,000 on Manchester City in a Premier League match at 2.70. Both golfers won in a playoff and Man City won 3-2 with a goal in the 90th minute. The Raw Onion (leaves a bad taste) Award: To those who contacted us wanting to bet on the Michael Jackson, Schapelle Corby and Michelle Leslie trials. Please!!! The goose of the year award: To the Aussie punter, who by his own admission, bet on Australia to beat Bangladesh in a one day cricket match. He had $30,000 to win $300 on Australia, only to see them go down in one of the greatest sporting upsets of all time. He later explained that he was taking his wife out for the night and he thought this would be a good way to get his expenses back. Suffice to say, they won't be going out for a while! Centrebet sportsperson of the year award: Lance Armstrong. Won his seventh Tour de France; taking us to the cleaners (again). Thankfully the great man has retired. Centrebet team of the year: The Wests Tigers. Team of no-names, recycled coach, never made a finals series, yet defied all that to win the 2005 rugby league title in Australia. And finally some fearless predictions for 2006.... AUSTRALIA: St Kilda to win the AFL flag, beating the West Coast A midfielder wins the Brownlow (surprise, surprise) and it will be Chris Judd to repeat his 2004 effort. Eddie McGuire will finally admit after Collingwood lose their first 10 matches that Mick Malthouse must go. In a major surprise, the new coach is.....Eddie McGuire. North Queensland beat Parramatta in the NRL Grand Final in front of a record (low) crowd. Ricky Stuart and Wayne Bennett will partner each other on Dancing with the Stars. Queensland will win the Origin Series 2-1. New South Wales will win the ING Cup, while South Australia will win the Pura Cup. Australia will regain the Ashes with a 5-0 win over the Poms. There will be allegations of sledging and trying to influence the umpires. As a consequence, Shane Warne is sent to Alcatraz for the rest of his natural life. Andrew Symonds will have a haircut and someone will tell him that he doesn't need sunscreen on his lips when playing indoors at Telstra Dome. The New South Wales Waratahs will win the Super 14. Fittingly, Mat Rogers will be the star of the series. Wendell Sailor will be a flop.....again. The Wallabies will appoint Ewen McKenzie as coach and will win at least one game for the year. New Zealand will again win the tri-nations. Leica Falcon will win the Melbourne Cup. Dermott Weld will have an entrant in the Cup but threatens not to run it unless the VRC turn the sprinklers on. (This one features every year and is one of the few that is always right) The Socceroos win their first World Cup match against Japan, but sadly that is it. They go down 2-0 in their matches against Croatia and Brazil. Anthony Mundine and Danny Green will finally fight. Mundine will be backed for a fortune and win. In his post fight spiel, 'The Man' will modestly say that he is the greatest sportsman of all time. Someone will win Australian Idol who has a personality, can sing and whose record sales will reach double digits. Maybe that is expecting a bit much but one of the three would be good. INTERNATIONAL: Chelsea will be odds on favourites to win the 2006/07 Premier League after winning this year. AC Milan will win the Champions League. Germany will win the World Cup. Referees will be accused of match fixing when England is bundled out of the quarter finals. Realists will know the real reasons why. Australia will beat the Proteas in South Africa 3-0 in their cricket Test series. There will be a sensation when Shane Warne is accused of NOT harassing women with text messages. McLaren win the Formula One constructors title, with Kimi Raikkonen winning the drivers championship. Michael Schumacher fails to run a place in the first five races of the season and is signed up by Yamaha in a straight swap with Valentino Rossi. Roger Federer will win three of the four grand slams with Rafael Nadal winning in France. Mark Philippoussis will win a match. Maria Sharapova will have an operation to remove her voice box so she can stop grunting. The year will pass without an Argentinean tennis player testing positive to drugs. Tiger Woods will win three of the four majors. Robert Allenby will win the British Open. Colin Montgomerie will smile. Ian Thorpe will win every event he contests at the Commonwealth Games, including the high jump and shooting finals. There will be accusations of drug cheats when England wins a medal in the pool. No matter what happens in 2006, we at Centrebet wish you all the best and hope you back plenty of winners.
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