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Aussie
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Centrebet Capers CRICKET The West Indies provided Australia with little resistance in the second Test played in Hobart and the odds suggest the same fate awaits them this week in Adelaide. The Australians will go into the Adelaide Test beginning tomorrow (Friday) as hot favourites at 1.26 and while the series has already been decided, the odds haven't scared many away. Bets of $30,000 and $25,000 have been taken at that price with a draw at an unwanted 5.25 and the West Indies at 11.00. Adelaide is a noted spinner’s track which invariably produces a result but there have been some major upsets here in the past. Those who took the 1.33 for Ricky Ponting to top the series run totals have a major problem on their hands now as Matt Hayden's resurgence has seen him regain the lead by 41 runs. Unless a minor miracle happens, we can't win either way as Hayden attracted a bet of $4000 to win $24,000 before the series started. Hayden is currently trading at 1.60, with two more bets of $2000 coming in since the Hobart Test. RUGBY LEAGUE The Kangaroos survived a torrid opening 20 minutes against Great Britain in the final round match of the tri-nations series and emerged victors 26-14. Betting on the game proved to be all one-way traffic with our opening wager being $10,000 on the Kangaroos conceding 6½ point-start. Punters were far from hesitant to lay the odds on, with another $15,000 at 1.45. There was a smattering of money for the home side just prior to kick-off but the result was a long way short of being favourable from a betting perspective. The final this week at Elland Road, Leeds, should prove to be an interesting affair. The New Zealand pack led by Paul Rauhihi and Ruben Wiki are sure to take it up to the Kangaroos. However, the Aussies will be confident they can repeat last year’s demolition of Great Britain to retain the tri-nations trophy. Betting has the Kangaroos 1.22 and conceding 11½ points with the Kiwis at 4.25. Early money has been for the favourites at this stage but when Stacey Jones alights from his plane on Saturday morning that the money will begin to come. It must be remembered that the underdogs beat the Kangaroos by 10 in their first encounter and were unlucky to go down by a mere penalty in the second. That form alone makes the 4.25 and 11½ point-start attractive. RUGBY UNION The Wallabies got their tour back on track with an ugly victory over a lack-lustre Irish outfit last weekend. In a match that pitted two ordinary teams against each other, the result was determined by who could lose the game. Australia came in for massive support, attracting bets of $25,000 and $15,000 at 1.40 and $12,000, $10,000 and $7,500 conceding the 7½ point-start at 1.90. New Zealand were supported early against England at the handicap of -15½, including two bets of $10,000 but our clients from the Northern Hemisphere couldn't let the +15.5 go past, especially with England's record at Twickenham. The punters got this one right, as the Poms aimed up to their superior competitors, signalling that all might not be lost as they head towards 2007. This week things aren't going to get any easier for the Scottish boys. The All Blacks welcome back Richie McCaw and are undefeated against Scotland. England has made some positional changes for their last match of the season against Samoa, with a decent victory expected. The match of the weekend will see France host South Africa in Paris. Saturday night promises sub-zero temperatures, a chunk of snow and a real contest in the forwards. The injury depleted Welsh host the Wallabies, who are struggling with depth at the end of their tour. Australia should be too good at Millennium Stadium but rumours and innuendo, combined with constant criticisms of captains, coaches, players and management must take its toll. AUSTRALIAN RULES This week we opened up the market for the 2006 Brownlow Medal and it has already proven to be a good talking point. We have placed West Coast midfielders Ben Cousins and Chris Judd at the head of proceedings at 11.00. Cousins won the medal this year and Judd the previous year. Given the Eagles are well in contention to win the premiership next season (5.00); it would be fair to assume that their best players will be a force again. In the first 24 hours of betting, Cousins has been backed to win nearly $15,000 but there hasn't been much interest in Judd. Nick Riewoldt had a terrible year this season after breaking his collarbone but he is another who has already been backed, with one bet of $500 each-way coming at 21.00. Veteran Bulldog Scott West has been a prolific vote-getter for several years and is another to attract early support including $200 each-way at 26.00. BOXING The long awaited bout between Anthony Mundine and Danny Green is still some four months away, but this week we saw the first serious move in the betting. Both will be fighting on a card in Perth in early December and presuming both are victorious, their fight will go ahead. Danny Green has been the outsider at 2.05 since betting opened but in the past week we have taken two $5000 wagers for him, which has seen the price come in to 2.00. We continue to see some support for Mundine now that he is out to 1.77 and there has already been close to $30,000 bet on the fight. There is no doubt at all that this will be the biggest betting fight ever staged in Australia. This weekend, a Light Welterweight unification bout will be decided between Ricky Hatton and Carlos Maussa, to be staged in Sheffield, England. Hatton is the IBF titleholder who put Kostya Tszyu's career on hold five months ago and will go in as a very hot favourite. We have already taken two bets of $10,000 at 1.08 for Hatton to win, as well as a $5000 for him to win by KO at 1.40. Maussa doesn't have too many friends keen to take the 8.00 but the 33 year old veteran was an impressive winner against Vivien Harris (seventh round) when claiming the WBA title back in June. HARNESS RACING The Miracle Mile is one of the most prestigious races on the harness racing calendar each year and this year’s race has had a terrific build-up with controversy surrounding the sale of one of the favourites, Lookslikelightning. The West Australian pacer was impressive last week and was installed favourite (2.50) on Tuesday but has now drifted out to 2.80 following good support for Victorian, It is I (2.75-2.50). It is I has been plagued by injury throughout his career but punters think he will be the one to beat as he will more than likely occupy the position behind Lookslikelightning, who most say will lead. Sokyola (15.00) will be trying to do a 'Makybe Diva' as he attempts to win his third Miracle Mile in succession but he has struggled over the past few months. He has been hard to lay at that price so if he was to win, he would do us a big favour. GREYHOUNDS Tonight Centrebet will be covering the final of the Melbourne Cup of greyhounds. Enigmatic former New South Wales sprinter Bond has set the Sandown circuit alight over the past two weeks, breaking the long standing record a fortnight ago. He deserves to be a short priced favourite (1.90), but we are keen to take him on. There have already been bets of $2000 and $1500 placed on Bond but the first five metres of the race will be crucial to his chances as he has a good beginner either side of him. Exciting youngster Closing Argument has drawn the coveted red box, right beside Bond and his quick early pace makes him the one to beat in our book. We have rated him a 3.75 chance with the only other runner under double figures being Paua to Burn at 6.00. She loves the Sandown track and has been backed to take out over $5000. AUSTRALIAN IDOL We said a few weeks ago that Kate DeAraugo had a pretty good local media campaign behind her in her home town of Bendigo, Victoria and there is little doubt that the media attention she gained went a long way towards her winning Australian Idol. Kate had been one of the outsiders to win the competition for several weeks but while punters didn't rate her a chance, the voters did. When Kate made it into the final against Emily Williams, she was still the underdog at 3.40, with Emily at 1.30. We did take a $4000 wager for Emily at that quote but she hit a rocky road on Sunday night, copping some criticism from the judges. That saw a major change in the betting, with Emily drifting to 1.55, and Kate into 2.30. On Monday, the bets favoured Kate 60/40 but the bigger wagers, including one of $2500 were for Emily. Just as Casey Donavon did last year when she was the outsider, Kate went on to win the title, which proved to be a more than handy result for Centrebet. 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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