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Aussie
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Centrebet Capers
[Cricket | CRICKET] The first Test gets under way at The Gabba on Thursday and Australia are going in as raging $1.45 favourites. The Aussies have had some big bets lumped on them at the short odds by parochial Australians, including $40,000 and $16,000, but against that there are some out there who think that the Poms can spring a huge surprise. After opening at $11, England are now into $9, and have been backed to take out over $50,000. Strangely, we took some money for the draw ($3.50) early this week when wickets were at a premium in the QLD v England tour match, but obviously punters may not have been aware that that match was played at Alan Border Field and not The Gabba. Matthew Hayden is $5.75 to score the first century of the series, and continues to be backed at $4.25 to top the series run total. You would expect that given the first Test is on Hayden's home turf, he should get a healthy score, but stranger things have happened. Ricky Ponting ($4.75) is the other Aussie who has come in for support, and for England, Marcus Trescothick and Nassar Hussein, both $13, have been backed to win over $25,000. Shane Warne has joined Glenn McGrath at $3 to snare the most series wickets, and because of the sheer consistency of that duo, there is little or no interest in anybody else. We hope Warnie goes through the English batting like a dose of Epsom salts as he is now into $2.75 NOT to get his 500th wicket during the Ashes Series. That option opened at $6, but English punters have backed it all the way down. Locally, it didn't take Mark Waugh long to have an impact on domestic cricket when he was judged 'man of the match' in NSW's win over South Australia on Saturday. NSW boasted a strong line up including the two Waugh's, no doubting the reason behind close to $20,000 invested on them at $1.50. NSW were always in the 'driver’s seat', and a good win has seen the Blues join QLD at the top of the table. Sunday saw two bets of $7000 placed on Victoria at $1.65 against Tasmania, but those bets went down the gurgler early when Tassie posted 311 runs in their 50 overs. The Vics fell 74 runs short, and pointed out that although they will be without Ricky Ponting for the summer, Tasmania may be the 'dark horse' of the competition. [Rugby Union | RUGBY UNION] Felipe Contepomi isn't exactly Centrebet’s favourite rugby player at the moment after he could only slot 2 goals from 9 kicks for Argentina against Australia at the weekend. What made it worse is that any goal kicker worth his salt would have been able to put most of Contepomi's misses away with their eyes closed, but that’s life. We were very keen on Argentina's chances of winning this game, and took a small fortune for Australia. Some of the bigger bets were £10,000 (from England), $12,000 from South Africa and $10,000 (from Australia) for the Wallabies to win at $1.50, as well as several bets of around the $5000 mark for them to beat a 4½ point handicap. It was fairly obvious that the Pumas were capable of winning, but silly mistakes, and bad kicking, were the major differences in a pretty ordinary game of rugby. This week we have three tremendous games where the top six teams to win the World Cup are in action against another from the same bracket. Australia travel to Dublin to play Ireland, and this will be no easy assignment. The Aussies were pretty badly battered against Argentina, and although go in as $1.50 favourites, they again look to be some risk. Early bets of $6000 and $4400 have gone on the Wallabies, but the lack of betting suggests punters also see it as a danger game. England host the All Blacks at Twickenham, and will be out to make a statement if they are to be treated as serious World Cup threats. England are favs at $1.55 but we have taken some big money from Kiwis for the All Blacks to win. Two $10,000 bets have come across the Tasman, as well as $3000 for them to get within a 4 point handicap at $1.95, but we think that England can definately win this one. In the other match, France are at home to South Africa. Betting will open on this match on Friday after the squads are announced. [Basketball | BASKETBALL] Late last week there was a nationwide plunge on the Melbourne Tigers to win this years title. Everybody knew that Mark Bradtke was coming back from Greece, but when it was finally confirmed, a Victorian punter moved into overdrive. He backed the Tigers to win nearly $50,000 at $18 and $16, and things looked 'rosy' when the Tigers beat West Sydney 103-97 on Friday. They were brought back to ground with a thud though when the Sydney Kings beat them by 8 points in a high standard match on Saturday. The Kings went in long odds on to win, and there were two bets totalling $13,000 placed on them conceding 11½ points start. The Tigers had at least one fan who backed them to win with a $1000 wager at 5.50, also placing $5000 with the start. The Tigers looked the goods when they held a 10 point lead at half time, but the Kings seem to have a 'never say die' spirit this season, something they have lacked in the past. Wollongong continued their good start to the season with a 7 point win in Cairns, while a couple of big bets (one of $7500) just scraped home when Perth beat Townsville 104-96, just edging past a 7½ handicap. This week, Sydney embark on the 'doomsday double', having played Adelaide last night (Wed) before heading across the Nullarbor to take on Perth on Friday night. The Kings were 5½ point favs last night, but fans deserted them in preference of Adelaide. Most of that money, including a bet of $4800, was for Adelaide with the start, and we think that the Kings continued their amazing start to the season, winning 105-91 to remain undefeated. Friday’s game is very similar with an early push for Perth. The Wildcats opened at $2.60, and that was snapped up by several early shoppers. Perth are now into $2.50, and still that is being taken, and although in the past it has been extremely dangerous to pin too much faith in Sydney, we think they can win in the West. Canberra are back from the USA, and if it wasn't for that fact, they would be much shorter than the $1.25 they are against the Giants in Saturday’s live FOX Sports game. The new look Cannons have only tasted defeat once so far this season, and are now into $9 to win the title. We managed to get some early money, around $4000 for the Giants as soon as we posted them receiving 7½ points start, but that support has since dried up. A $7500 double has been placed on Canberra to win, into Cairns ($1.80) to beat Townsville. If Townsville, a grand finalist last year, are still to be considered a threat this season, they really would need to beat Cairns on Saturday night. [Racing | RACING] There wasn't a dry eye in the Flemington stands when Damien Oliver steered import Media Puzzle to Melbourne Cup victory on Tuesday. We reported last week that the untimely death of Oliver's brother Jason, saw a groundswell of support come for Media Puzzle, who spent most of the weekend favourite at $5.50, before eventually starting at $6. This was easily the biggest betting Cup that Centrebet has ever covered, and that was directly attributable to the overseas horses being in the race. Over the weekend we laid several outsiders including Hail ($2000 at $51), Cyclades ($2500 each way at $81), and Daliapour, ($3000 each way and $2000 to win at $31). Cup day was frantic with $5000 for Media Puzzle ($5.50), $7000 each way Distinctly Secret at $7.50, and $20,000 for Vinnie Roe at $7. Even though all of the overseas contingent were heavily backed, Centrebet recorded a win on the big race. Some of the earlier bets placed on the winner were $100 each way at $126 when betting opened, and $300 each way at $67, which was placed by a South African client. He had things nicely sewn up as he also had $300 each way the third placed Beekeeper at $67. This year’s Melbourne Cup was a promise of things to come. The overseas horses will continue to dominate the race, with the only proviso being they have to use a 'local' jockey. Bookmakers everywhere will not be so eager to be giving 'top odds' any horse from Europe in future because as soon as they land here they are 25% of the price they were before leaving home, and now that Aussie punters have jumped on the 'International bandwagon', there isn't much point trying to lay these horses when markets are first issued. Today (Thurs), the Oaks will be run, and we have taken a set against favourite Macedon Lady. The filly ran a valiant second to Helenus a fortnight ago, but that was an extremely tough run. The $2.75 on offer has been taken with bets totaling $20,000, mostly from Sydney. We rate the second favourite Lashed as the horse to beat. Lashed didn't enjoy the best of luck when a close up third in the Wakeful last Saturday, and looks certain to be able to cope with the 2500 metres of the event. [Elections | ELECTIONS] Victorian Premier Steve Bracks predictably called an election for Nov 30 last Monday. It is very rare for any Government to call an election with still 12 months to run, so Bracks obviously thinks he will win, and so do we. The fact that he is talking about ruling in his own right with an increased majority is also a pointer to why he is so short. The Labor Party, led by Bracks, were despised $11 outsiders when they staged one of the biggest political upsets in history 3 years ago when they defeated Jeff Kennett. Now firmly entrenched, and also adding the fact that Territory and State elections since have been dominated by Labor, we opened Labor at $1.06 and The Libs at $7. We have found plenty of support for Robert Doyle early in betting, with just over $6000 worth of bets forcing the price down to $4.25. Steve Bracks has drifted to $1.15, which has been taken with one bet of $10,000, but we don’t expect to see big bets come for Bracks until Election day draws near. Due to being in Melbourne for the Cup and all associated festivities, this week’s Centrebet Capers is a very abbreviated version. Next week I will be back in Central Australia to bring you up to date with the latest in betting news. 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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