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Aussie
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Centrebet Capers
FOOTBALL We are in the final countdown to kick-off off at the World Cup and money is rolling in for all of the pre-post markets we have open. With Aussie punters riding on the crest of a wave following the Socceroos 1-0 win over Greece in a friendly last week, we have noted a surge in business from those who wouldn't normally be betting on soccer. Naturally Australia has been easy to lay and they have already been backed to take out over $1 million with Centrebet. The biggest bet to date was a wager of $7000 at 67.00 prior to Christmas but since last week we have taken hundreds of bets at 81.00, including two of $5000. One Australian client has lumped two separate $5000 bets on England at 9.00 and 8.50 and we did also take two bets of £2000 from the UK when they were still 9.00. There really is massive interest in this with close to $250,000 already wagered on the Cup winner alone. We are noticing that most of the bets for winning countries are coming from patriotic residents, with a significant bet of €1500 coming from the Ukraine last week for that country to win at 67.00. There are dozens of exotic markets already open on the Centrebet website with more to come over the next few days. First round matches are also open with the Australia v Japan the most popular to date. RUGBY LEAGUE Although last week's round of NRL was on the quiet side following the State of Origin, there were enough upsets to see Centrebet come out on the right side of the ledger. The Origin wash-up wasn't as good as it could have been after Queensland was backed into favouritism. A big bet of $100,000 was taken for a New South Wales win at 2.05 in the final hour leading up to kick-off, so that took the gloss of it. With NSW now leading 1-0 in the series, the Blues are into 1.45 to win the series but surely Queensland will play much better football at home and equal the series? The Dragons were backed all over the country on Friday but we thought that they were a show and missed most of the big money. Steve Simpson was ruled out of the Knights side, and they haven't been that impressive in recent wins anyway. Andrew Johns has said he is struggling and that was evident in their 38-12 loss. We did get some sizeable bets for the Knights including one of $25,000 at 1.62. Canberra and the Cowboys have played out some close battles over the past two seasons, and it happened again at the weekend when the Raiders won in golden point extra-time. This was also a good result as there were some big bets for the Cowboys to win ($25,000 at 1.40) and also plenty for them to cove a 7½ point handicap, including two bets of $10,000. The Broncos v Bulldogs clash saw money both ways but the bigger bets were for the Broncos. One Sydney regular placed a total of $28,000 on Brisbane and they didn't let him down with a big win. Trent Barrett's suspension has been the big news of the week and that has made a drastic difference to the betting against Parramatta on Friday. With Barrett in, the Dragons would have been 8-9 point favourites but when the handicap opened at a flat 6 there was immediately money for the Eels, including bets of $4000 and $2500. Craig Gower has been named in the Penrith side in what should be a terrific match on Sunday. With Gower in, we have made the Panthers slight favourites to beat Manly but punters disagree as the first $5000 worth of bets on the game have been for Manly at 1.95. AFL While six of the eight favourites won round nine of the AFL, it went the way of the bookies with the losses suffered by Geelong and Essendon. Geelong were had been in poor form, but punters put that aside and ploughed into the Cats. We took some money for them early in the week at 1.29 but chased Geelong out to 1.35 on game day. Some of the bigger bets were $20,000 (1.35), $8000 (1.33) and $7500 at 1.29. There was also a bet of $25,000 for Geelong conceding 25½ points start. They held a narrow four point lead at half-time, and even then there was still money for Geelong, including one bet of $6000 at 1.45. The more the Bombers lose, the more punters pile on. Essendon were backed from 1.62 into 1.50 to beat Port Adelaide but were never in the race. We took $17,000 worth of bets at the 1.62, $23,000 at 1.60, and then a bet of $15,000 at 1.55 after Chad Cornes was ruled out of the Port side. Essendon have now joined Carlton as wooden spoon favourites at 2.50. This week’s matches opened as usual on Monday and four sides were backed, Geelong, Fremantle, Carlton and Melbourne. All four have something in common. They were all beaten last week! That is the way this competition is running at the moment. We think Geelong can bounce back against the Eagles who will be without Judd. The Cats are better than what they have shown recently and their season may well be over if they don't win. We opened them at what we thought was a 'safe' price of 2.25 but nearly $8000 in bets force a cut to 2.15, while we have only seen $600 for the Eagles to win. St Kilda’s Lenny Hayes is out for the season and that has seen support for Melbourne, even though they are returning from the west. Carlton attracted two bets of $5000 at 3.10 and is still easy to lay at 2.90. Port Adelaide was so impressive against Essendon so it is hard to see Carlton winning, but from what we have seen so far this year, you can never rule any team out! RUGBY UNION We think that the Crusaders won the Super 14 final 19-12 over the Hurricanes on Saturday night, or at least that is what the score was posted as after the game. It was near on impossible to tell what was going on as the match was played in fog thicker than pea soup. There was any amount of money to say that the Hurricanes could win the final but that is something we have become used to in most finals around the world. People love to back the underdog and the Wellington side was backed from 4.20 into 3.40 to win the game. Five separate bets of $5000 were taken for them to win at different odds and dozens of smaller bets. There was a lot of money for the total game score to be less than 44½ points, nearly all of it coming from Kiwi clients who were clued up on the weather. While the total eventually made it to 31, it was never a hope of going over. While there was money for the Hurricanes to win the game and also two $10,000 wagers for them at +9½, there was also plenty to say that the Crusaders could cover the spread. When they failed to do so, that saw us recoup most of what we had lost on the end of season book. The Super 14 season is now over and it was one that firmly belonged to the punters. The Test season begins now, and we have some very big matches coming up involving the Wallabies. FORMULA ONE The task of Fernando Alonso and punters was made easier when Michael Schumacher was disqualified from pole position in the Monaco Grand Prix. Schumacher was banished to the back of the grid, which of course made it impossible for him around the tight street circuit and saw Alonso move into a long odds-on favourite. The Spaniard led form start to finish, justifying his final quote of 1.48. Prior to the qualifying furore it had been a good betting race with punters backing both Alonso and Schumacher at 2.50. As we all know, it is crucial to draw a good position around Monte Carlo and Schumacher blew from 2.50 to 26.00 when relegated. Alonso was installed at 1.45 which saw two bets of €5000 taken but he eased out when there was a late rally for Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn drew third on the grid and it was the first time in twelve moths that we had seen an avalanche of money for him. He firmed from 3.50 into 3.00 and was backed to win over $50,000. While Aussie Mark Webber qualified second on the grid, we didn't see much money for him at 13.00 and you have to feel sorry for the way his race finished. A podium finish was well within his sights when he had to retire on lap 49 with engine trouble. Any doubts that Alonso faced went out the door when Raikkonen also had to retire on lap 51. BIG BROTHER If only backing football winners was as easy as backing who will be evicted each week on Big Brother! This week it was Michael's turn to be shown the door, the first male housemate to be evicted. It seems he was unpopular with the whole world and hasn't made too many more friends since he came out. Michael was backed from 1.50 into 1.15 with the biggest bets being $3000 at 1.25 and $2000 at 1.45. Jade is a 1.10 pop to be one of two to go this week but betting for the second evictee has been interesting. Dino opened at 1.65 and despite meeting with some support, he has eased to 1.90. Krystal is the one expected to go by punters having been backed from 2.20 into 1.90. While Camilla has developed a knack of irritating all housemates, she looks safe for the time being at 4.50. David has come back into favor to win the major prize on the back of a good sized plunge this week. David touched 7.00 early in the week but one South Australian punter placed a total of $1500 on the farmer and he is back into 4.00 favorite. Katie is second pick at 4.50, ahead of Claire and Gaelan at 7.00. IT TAKES TWO The new Channel 7 reality show It Takes Two got under way on Sunday night and in keeping with the way a lot of these shows are going, there was huge interest even before anyone knew if the celebrities could sing or not. Home and Away star Mark Furze was 5.00 favorite going into show one and is now into 3.50, ahead of Erika Heynatz at 5.00 and Simon Reeve at 5.50. All three have met with support, as has former AFL footballer Richard Champion, who put up a fine performance on Sunday and has been slashed from 13.00 into 6.00. Champion has been backed to take out close to $5000. While the judges were gushing in there praises of all singers (where is Dicko when you want him?), it was clear a couple struggled. Katie Fischer had been backed at 11.00 before Sunday but has blown right out to 34.00, while Richard Zachariah is the bolter of the field at 101.00. Until next week, good punting For further information contact Gerard Daffy at Centrebet on 02 9206 8715 or centrebet@centrebet.com
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