Cloud Over Gower's Future Quickly Turns Into Storm Flood
Sydney Morning Herald
Friday February 10, 2006
IT'S amazing what a few whispers and rumours can do to a betting market. Late last week word swept through league circles that Craig Gower was disenchanted with losing the captaincy at Penrith and was looking to head to Melbourne to join the Storm. Enter the flood of money. "It was incredible to watch," TAB Sportsbet's Glenn Munsie said. "On the Friday we took a bet of $1200 on Melbourne to win the competition at $26. On the Sunday we took a bet of $2500 on them at $26, and then, after turning them in to $17, we took a bet on Monday of $2000 on the Storm at $17. Before those bets the biggest single bet we had taken on Melbourne was a $1200 bet at $26 way back in October." But it wasn't only the Storm to whom punters rallied. After having held "virtually nothing" on the wooden-spoon betting, Munsie said TAB Sportsbet took a bet of $2000 on Penrith to win the spoon at $11 last week. And it wasn't only there where the money arrived. Sportsbook.com.au reported a bet of $2000 on Penrith to win the spoon at $10, and a bet of $5000 on Melbourne to make the top eight at $2.40. Munsie said that at TAB Sportsbet, its largest NRL bet to date was $35,000 on the Bulldogs to make the eight at $1.45.
TRICKLE FOR TAHS: The new-look Super 14 competition begins this weekend, and the only early wager of interest has come for Queensland getting 7.5 points off NSW. The punter, a client of Sportsbook.com.au, has invested $10,000 on the Reds at $1.90. The best money to win the competition has come for Canterbury, including a bet of $8000 at $3.30, while the small punters are, as usual, backing the Waratahs to go one better than last year.FOUR-LEGGED FRIEND: If you like hearing about a lucky punter who invested a little to win a lot, then read on. Last Saturday a TAB Sportsbet punter invested $10 on a four-leg jockeys' challenge all-up. He took Darren Beadman in Sydney, Danny Nikolic in Melbourne, Stathi Katsidis in Brisbane and Clare Lindop in Adelaide. All four won and for his $10 investment the punter collected $10,440.KELLY WHO? It's only a couple of weeks before the 2006 world surfing title begins on the Gold Coast, and already punters are rallying behind the locals. Andy Irons is favourite to win the title at $3.25, just ahead of Kelly Slater at $3.40, but it has been the next two in betting, Mick Fanning at $7.50 and Joel Parkinson at $17, who have attracted all the money at Sportsbook.com.au.EVERYONE'S A WINNER: The Premier League lawn bowls competition is warming up, and the money continues to come for a variety of teams to win the 2006 title. "This week they have come for Cabramatta and Birrong," said Larry Hawke from Sportsbook.com.au. "We took a bet of $1000 at $7.50 on Cabramatta, and $1000 at $5 on Birrong." The firm has also taken good bets on Merrylands and Taren Point to win the title.IF THE DRESS FITS: They really do take bets on just about anything in the UK, and weight loss is no exception. This week British bookie William Hill wrote a bet of #50 ($118) at odds of 15-1 that Sarah Shakespeare, a 26-year-old wedding planner from Buckinghamshire, can lose two stone (12.7kg) in seven weeks, just in time for a wedding she is attending in St Lucia in March. Sarah, believed to be a distant relative of William, weighed in at 10 stone 12lb (69kg) and is hoping to weigh just under nine stone (57kg) by wedding time, to collect the #800 dividend. "Weight-loss bets have a very good success rate, even with people who have been trying and failing to lose weight for years," said William Hill's spokesman, Rupert Adams.THERE'S ALWAYS NEXT YEAR: Super Bowl XL finished on Monday but already the markets are up for Super Bowl XLI. Indianapolis and New England are joint favourites with TAB Sportsbet at $8, ahead of Pittsburgh at $9, San Diego at $11, Denver at $13, and Carolina, Chicago, Cincinnati, Kansas City, Seattle and Washington all at $17.DEJA VU: The Johnnie Walker Classic got under way in Perth yesterday and all the early money has come for the usual suspects at TAB Sportsbet - Retief Goosen, Robert Allenby, Richard Green, Nick O'Hern, Mark Hensby and roughie James Nitties at $201.HOME IS WHERE THE CASH IS: It's been one-way traffic for tonight's first one-day cricket final, with TAB Sportsbet reporting the money has come for Australia at a rate of 10 to one, while Sportsbook.com.au reports the money has come in for the home team, Egypt, to beat the Ivory Coast in the final of the African Nations Cup.
© 2006 Sydney Morning Herald
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