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Aussie
Rules
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Centrebet
Capers
[Rugby League | RUGBY LEAGUE] Anybody who backed South Sydney to win the wooden spoon with Centrebet got a pleasant surprise when they were paid their winnings at the completion of the final round. Not a single punter backed the Bulldogs to run last, but had they, they too would have been paid as technically speaking they did run last, but we were of the opinion that as most of the bets placed were after the season started, that anybody who backed Souths was doing so on the form exposed, and on the upcoming draw. Factors outside of both their's, and our, control intervened, thus altering the status of that competition. The irony of the whole "Bulldogs situation" is that the same team that played illegally for 23 rounds and was stripped of 37 competition points, were allowed to play for the last three rounds with the same "illegal" team and keep those points! Anyway, while we certainly weren't under any obligation to pay those with a bet on Souths, we thought it only fair to do so. Also, if we want people to have a wager on finals etc in future, unless there is a clear understanding of what can happen if a similar set of circumstances arise, how could we possibly expect anybody to want to bet on a "futures" market? Several punters, and a few lawyers, have contacted Centrebet regarding bets placed with not only us, but also other outlets, and it appears certain that some of these punters are preparing for a court battle. It will be very interesting to see the results, as this will be the first time any action like this has been taken. Last week's final round clash between the Bulldogs and Brisbane was "talked up" as though it was the final match itself, and that sparked plenty of betting interest. Very little separated the two in the betting, with Brisbane starting slight favourites at $1.85. Three separate bets of $10,000 were placed on the Broncos at $1.90, and while there was also solid support for the Bulldogs, we still wanted them to win, and they didn't let us down, sparking emotional scenes by winning 25-18. Canberra's 25-16 win over Melbourne also went the right way after we saw several large bets, one being $13,000, placed on Melbourne with 6½ points start. Melbourne were also an ordinary result for us had they made the finals, and as it turned out, Canberra having won this match was enough to see the Raiders sneak into the final 8. Parramatta continued their questionable form when beaten 15-6 by North Qld, again a big result. Bets of $15,000 and $10,000 went on Parramatta to win at $1.38, and there was also any amount of money for the Eels to cover the handicap. Things got worse for punters on Sunday when both games went to the outsiders, Penrith and St George-Illawarra. Nothing surprises with the Northern Eagles, which is probably why we weren't "rushed" by punters wanting to take the $1.38, but they were coupled up with Newcastle in some big multiples. The 40-22 win by the Dragons over Newcastle capped off a good weekend for Centrebet, and has really opened up premiership betting. This week, early bets of $5000 and $4000 came for Brisbane at $3.50, and even though we shortened them into $3.30 money is still coming, particularly in premiership doubles with the Brisbane Lions. Newcastle have "eased" to $4, but we continue to see support for the Roosters ($5.50) and New Zealand at $6, with the latter being backed to take out $100,000 early this week. The Warriors go around as raging $1.10 favourites, or -18½, against Canberra on Sunday. When betting opened, bets of $18,000 and $6000 were placed on Canberra receiving the start, but now we are beginning to "lay" New Zealand. Two of the qualifying finals will be repeats of last week's games, with the venues being the only differences. The Sharks were backed for a bundle to beat the Roosters last week, but the 30-18 win by the Roosters has seen the betting reversed, and they go into this one carrying all the support at $1.57. Recently, Parramatta have had a good record against Brisbane, winning two of their three finals clashes and their last games at ANZ Stadium but the they just don't look good enough to beat Brisbane on Saturday, even though Brisbane form has also been ordinary. Brisbane opened at $1.25, and the first two bets, totaling $18,000 (both from New Zealand) were placed on them at -10½ ($1.90), and the action since then has also been for Brisbane. Parramatta's chances took a bad turn overnight when their Kiwi Test captain Nathan Cayless was suspended. In the other match, Newcastle have to be favourites at home, but it seems most were impressed by St George-Illawarra last week as most of the early money has been for the Dragons with 7½ points start. [Australian Rules | AUSTRALIAN RULES] Collingwood delivered a knock out blow to punters when they scored an upset 13 point win over Port Adelaide. Being $1.14 shots, Port were coupled up in some massive multiple bets, as well as two $10,000 bets at -32½ points. One Adelaide client bet $8000 at $1.50 that Collingwood's Leon Davis would kick one goal or less, and Davis' 3 goals well and truly put paid to that bet. The sickening blow that put gun Essendon full forward Matthew Lloyd "to sleep" before he hit the ground face first in the first quarter was not only bad news for Lloyd, and Essendon, but also one South Australian punter. He placed $10,000 on Lloyd at $1.85 to kick more goals than the West Coasts' Troy Wilson, and while Wilson didn't have the best of days kicking three goals, with Lloyd out of the game after not scoring, we had the money early. Following Collingwood's win, punters became "gun shy," and we saw solid support come for the three remaining outsiders, while at the same time "laying" the favourites. Obviously Collingwood assisted in making it a good round for Centrebet, but we managed to keep out of too much trouble on the last three matches, which saw all three favourites win, and cover the handicap. Port Adelaide thumped Essendon by 10 goals last time they met, and in that match Essendon were without Lloyd and James Hird, so it's hard to see Essendon turning the tables in Adelaide on Friday night. That, however, is reflected in the odds, with Port at $1.25. In early trading, we have taken three $5000 bets for Port to win at $1.25, and also nearly $17,000 for them to beat a 28½ point handicap. Adelaide have been dealt an ordinary deck losing home ground advantage to play Melbourne at the MCG on Saturday night. Playing away from home, we made Adelaide slight outsiders at $1.95, and while we think that the Crows will get to better odds, we have already seen close to $15,000 come from "Crowland" for their beloved side. Brisbane are now $1.45 to win the premiership, and while we haven't seen any takers at those odds, we continue to lay the Lions with the Brisbane Broncos in premiership doubles. This week we have taken small bets on all other sides, but already it looks as though all are willing to concede that the premiership Cup will be heading north again. Brownlow Medal action is starting to warm up, and we can report a good move for the West Coasts’ Ben Cousins. Cousins has been $5 since the last round, but we have been forced to cut him into $4 second pick behind Luke Darcy, who is temporarily unwanted at $3. Next week, we will have numerous other bet options up on the Brownlow. [Cricket | CRICKET] One punter from NSW would have been feeling gravely ill last week when Kenya looked likely to stage one of the biggest upsets in the history of sport! The Kenyan cricket side were playing Australia in a One Day match in Nairobi, and we posted Australia at $1.01. A Sydney man plonked $25,000 on Australia to win, which meant a potential win of $250. It's a real danger taking short odds, especially when there is little to gain, and with two overs remaining, Australian needed 20 runs to win, and needed a miracle. Shane Watson came to the rescue, and he belted the Kenyan bowlers to get Australia home with 5 balls to spare, handing our friend from Sydney 250 hard earned dollars! Tonight (Thurs), Sri Lanka and Pakistan play in the first match of the ICC Champions Trophy. It might surprise a few that we have the home side Sri Lanka as slight favourites at $1.75, but Pakistan ($2) were very ordinary in that Series in Kenya. Australian punters though have stuck with Pakistan, including bets of $7000 and $5000, and there's no sign of any Indian money at this stage. Australia and New Zealand have been best backed to win the Trophy final. The Aussies are $2.75 and have attracted a series of decent sized bets from Australian punters, but we have also laid New Zealand to take out in excess of $25,000 at $15. Centrebet will have the usual exotic bets available on each match, and prices to win the games will be updated at the half time intervals. [Formula One | FORMULA ONE] It's a guessing game trying to work out what Ferrari will do in the F1 races that are left in this season, so prior to qualifying, we have taken the safe way out and kept both Michael Schumacher ($1.55) and Rubens Barrichello ($2.85) under the odds. That has meant this event is very quiet, although a German punter has placed €1000 on Juan Pablo Montoya at $9. The same person has placed €2000 on Montoya to get pole position and another €3000 to finish on the podium at $2. [Motor Bikes | MOTOR BIKES] Colin Edwards' two wins in Holland last week has seen him get past Troy Bayliss on the title points table. Edwards now holds a one point lead after racking up his seventh win in a row, and for the moment Bayliss' bike is no match for Edwards. In initial markets, Bayliss was $1.65 with Edwards at $2.10 to win both races. Luckily we saw money for Bayliss, as after qualifying, it was all "one way traffic" for Edwards. Betting switched with Edwards into $1.65, at which price two English clients invested £2000 between them on the American to win both events. Edwards did the rest, although his task was made easier in the second race when Bayliss came to grief. Valentino Rossi was back in the winners circle in Portugal on Sunday. Rossi started the race as $1.45 favourite, ahead of Daijiro Katoh at $4.50. Katoh would have been our worst result to win, or finish on the podium, but one Italian client was on the mark with Carlos Checa, placing $4000 on him to finish on the podium at $2.50. Checa wound up in second place behind Rossi, with Tohru Ukawa in third position. [Golf | GOLF] Robert Karlsson virtually led all the way to win last week's Omega European Masters after an opening round of 65. Karlsson was $67 in our opening market, and was into $1.70 when he held a two shot lead coming into the final round. Nobody fancied the short odds on offer, and Karlsson provided us with a good win. This week, early money has come for defending champion Bernard Langer. The German has won this event four times, but this is a strong field. We opened Langer at $26, but he is now into $15 after being backed to take out in excess of $50,000. Kiwi Michael Campbell has been backed to win a similar amount at $29, and both Thomas Bjorn ($17) and Paul Casey ($41) have been backed to win $20,000. In the USA, another first time winner in John Rollins won the Canadian Open last week. Rollins went in as a $141 chance, but one Sydney punter "found him" after the first round, placing $40 each way at $67. Rollins came into the final round five shots behind leader Neal Lancaster, and was still quoted at $81, but Lancaster double bogeyed the last to see a three way playoff with Rollins and Justin Leonard. Rollins birdied the first hole, to give bookies another result! This week, defending champion Robert Allenby is the $10 equal favourite with Jim Furyk to win the Pennsylvania Classic. Chris Dimarco won the inaugural Classic the previous year, and he is third pick at $17. This field lacks a bit of depth, and punters have sought out those at much longer odds. A South Australian client has backed Jeff Sluman ($26), Carlos Franco ($67) and Loren Roberts ($61) to win $13,000, while a Qld client has backed Steve Flesch ($31), Dudley Hart ($41) and Rod Pampling ($101) to win $15,000 each way. Annika Sorenstam confirmed her position as the number one player in the world with a four shot win over Lorie Kane in last week's Williams Classic. This week, Sorenstam is $2.50 to win the Safeway Classic, an event that wasn't held last year due to September 11. Mi Hyun Kim won in 2000, and we have taken a $600 bet each way Kim at $17 from a Sydney client, as well as seeing several each way bets for Karrie Webb at $6.50. [Tennis | TENNIS] Pete Sampras rewarded his fans when he defeated Andre Agassi in the US Open at the weekend. Sampras' form was anything but good leading into the Open, and we had no qualms taking bets to lose over $100,000 for Sampras at $41 and $34. When Lleyton Hewitt departed at the expense of Andre Agassi, Sampras' path was made a whole lot easier, but he still went into the final as the outsider against Agassi at $2.30. In a spirited betting event, even though Sampras was originally a loser for us, and we took good money for him when there was only two left, the amount of money placed on Agassi at $1.65 and $1.62 turned our book around, and Sampras became a good winner. The biggest losing bet on Agassi was $24,000 at $1.65, and he was also the second leg of a double worth $30,000 following Serena Williams’ win. Serena went into her final as favourite at $1.55 over sister Venus ($2.35). Venus had been favourite for three weeks. The powerful younger of the Williams’ sisters gained popularity with punters as the tournament progressed, landing a $16,000 winning bet at $2 just before the semi finals, and another of $15,000 at $1.60 when the two finalist were known. Just looking at the way these two cut a swathe through the women’s draw, it might be a long while before any other player gets to win a major, especially while the Williams’ are numbers one and two in the world as they will continue to be separated by the draw. [Soccer | SOCCER] Favourites won 12 of the 20 Euro 2004 qualifiers last weekend, but we were fortunate enough to get some draws in crucial betting games, none more important than Norway v Denmark. This was the match where we gave punters the opportunity to bet into a 100% market. It will come as no surprise that the turnover on the match was the equivalent of a World Cup game, and of the three options, it was the draw ($3.30) that was our big winner, so Norway’s equalizer in the 93rd minute was perfect for Centrebet. Up until the day of the match, the bulk of the money had been for the draw and Denmark, but the late money was all for Norway, including a 250,000 NOK ($AUD 50,000) at $2.80. Scotland were also held to a 2-2 by the “lowly” Faroe Islands. We had no trouble “selling” the Scots at $1.50, with over $50,000 in bets alone coming from three European clients. Similarly, Sweden ($1.50) being held to a scoreless draw by Latvia got rid of many big bets, with favourite punters also suffering when raging favourites Croatia ($1.22) were held to a 0-0 draw by Estonia. Soccer is really back in vogue, and we have hundreds of matches to bet on this week. In Denmark, we are again going to risk FCK, who play away to Esbjerg. FCK opened at $2.35, and are now $2.30 after we took several 10,000 DKK ($AUD 2000) bets. Brondby ($2) are also playing away to AGF, and while we have taken one large bet of 50,000 DKK for Brondby, many Danish punters have backed AGF at $3.30, “saving” on the draw at $3.50. There are two good betting games in Norway as well. Norwegian punters have backed Start to win just under 300,000 NOK ($AUD 60,000), but now that we have drifted Brann out to $1.50, money is arriving for Brann. Lillestrom at $1.80 are the best backed home side this week. The largest bet has been €4500, but we have taken numerous bets for Lillestrom from Norwegian clients. What does give us some hope is that there has also been money for the draw and Bodo/Glimt. After a delay of two weeks, Italian soccer begins this week, but there has been only limited action early in the week. A lot of the short priced favourites have been coupled up in multiples, but outside of those, the biggest bet taken has only been $3000 for Brescia at $1.95 to beat Piacenza. Most favourites have been backed in Spain, led up by Barcelona ($2.25), away to Bilbao, and Alaves ($1.75), who are home to Santander. The first bet from Asia, $12,000, arrived for Barcelona early in the week at $2.30, while bets to the value of $10,000 and $6000 have come from Germany for Alaves. With a midweek round of the English soccer completed last night (Wed), the weekend’s matches will be opened later today. [American Football | AMERICAN FOOTBALL] It was an exciting opening round of NFL, with most games decided by close finishes, with two going to extra time. Punters didn’t fare too well when only five favourites managed to cover the spread, with two stand-offs. Our best result of the round was Denver’s 23-16 win over Superbowl favourites St Louis. We made mention last week of two big bets on the Rams to win the NFC Championship and also to win the Superbowl, and punters didn’t stop there as there was bundles of money to say that they would beat a 2½ point handicap. A German client placed €10,000, while an English client joined in with £7500 also conceding the start. The same punter had a busy weekend with Centrebet, placing £7500 on Cleveland to win at $1.75 (beaten 40-39 by Kansas in controversial circumstances), £8000 on Dallas conceding 8 points (beaten 19-10 by newcomers Houston), £7000 on the Jets conceding 3 points (beat Buffalo 37-31 in overtime) and another winning bet of £7000 on Miami at -8 points against Detroit (Miami won 49-21). It hasn’t been overly busy in early betting on this weekend’s matches, but we have seen a couple of early moves. A Costa Rican client was in action early, placing $10,000 on the Jets (-1) against New England, also placing the same amount on San Diego (-12½) against Houston. An English based client is also on the Jets with a bet of $12,000, at the same time placing $10,000 on Dallas with 3 points start against Tennessee. As you can see from our lines, most of the games this week are evenly matches, and once again we are pretty keen to take on all favourites, especially those playing away from home. 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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