TAB review April 7

[dave nz]

Unlike last week when our two biggest bets went astray, this week saw some big ones get home.

The largest of all was the $100,000 at $1.05 on the Chiefs as they staged their huge comeback against the Lions. The Chiefs were as much as 17 points behind at one stage but our punter "kept the faith". In the same game one punter came badly unstuck when he/she took a $50,000 wager at $1.12 on the Chiefs/Chiefs - halftime/fulltime. There was also a $10,000 bet at $1.05 on the Chiefs head to head , while in Christchurch there was a winning $20,000 wager on the Crusaders at $1.45 to beat the Bulls.

Basketball in the States, particularly college ball, is massive at this time of the year with so many different teams vying to become NCAA champions. The final matchup was between North Carolina and Michigan but in a semi final game we took a massive winning bet of $60,000 at $1.23 on North Carolina. However, in the same game there were two losing bets on the points being 160 or less. They were both $10,000 at $1.87. Some big bets from the NBA - $50,000 at $1.47 on Boston to beat Atlanta and $25,000 at $1.85 on New Jersey and Milwaukee to produce 200 points or less.

By far the biggest bet in a busy week of football, which included World Cup qualifiers and Premier League, was the $40,000 at $1.45 on the Czech Republic to beat Slovalia in their World Cup game. Sadly from the punters point of view Slovakia won.

Upsets continue to make life difficult for NRL punters, in fact only one favourite won in the latest round of matches. Last seasons Premiers, Manly, are the only side without a win but the punters were prepared to give them support against the Newcastle Knights. There were losing bets on Manly of $20,000 at $1.18, and $16,397 also at $1.18. On the other side of the coin there was a bet in live betting of $16,000 at $1.70 on Newcastle. The New Zealand Warriors are always a betting target for Kiwi punters and they once again jumped on board against Souths but the Sydney side proved too good in the end. The biggest wager on the Rabbitohs was $20,000 at $1.62. The Melbourne Storm have a very good record at home and were expected to easily beat the Titans. However the Gold Coast were too good and the bet of $20,000 at $1.20 on the Storm went astray. Another home team expected to get the points were the Brisbane Broncos but they were upset by the side coached by their old mentor Wayne Bennett, the St George Dragons. We took a bet of $10,000 at $1.45 on the Broncos.

The biggest galloping race in this country last weekend was the Group One NZ Thoroughbred Breeders Stakes at Te Aroha. The Aussie horse, Dane Julia, won the race ahead of the 3 year old filly Shanzero. There were two sizeable bets on Shanzero - $20,000 at $2.80 and $20,000 at $2.50.