TAB review Aug 26

[dave nz]

The big talking point, in a rugby sense, on the TAB Sportsdesk last week was not the Bledisloe Cup test in Sydney but the Wellington v Auckland Ranfurly Shield game in the capital. The reason for this was the $200,000 placed on Wellington at a lay price of $1.35. In a nerve-wracking match Wellington held the Shield by winning 16-15 but not before Auckland had created any number of opportunities in the last 10 minutes or so. In another topsy-turvy Air New Zealand Cup there was only one other significant bet and that was also a winner with $20,000 at $1.80 on Counties getting a 13 and a half point start from Taranaki. They hardly needed the start because they won the match comfortably and recorded their first win of the season. Naturally enough there were any number of Multi bets going through the All Blacks but the only bet on them of any significance Head to Head was $10,000 at $1.88.

The NRL is only several weeks away from finding the eight teams who will contest the final series so the pressure is on in each and every game. One such game last weekend was that between the top-placed St George Dragons and the resurgent Brisbane Broncos. Prior to the match we had a punter who wanted $100,000 bet on the Dragons at $1.23. He/she was given $50,000 at $1.23 and the remaining $50,000 at $1.18 but all to no avail. The Broncos won the game. The Warriors had a rare victory when they beat the Raiders in Auckland and landed a $10,000 bet at $1.88 while another winner was the Newcastle/Newcastle halftime/fulltime bet of $10,000 at $3.00 against Melbourne. A couple of other NRL bets: $10,000 at $2.25 on Penrith beating Souths by 13 or more (winner), and $10,000 at $2.00 on Melbourne to beat Manly (loser).

American Football is starting to warm up with pre-season games being played and the regular season now just a few weeks away. We have been live betting the games that are on SKY Sports and some big betting has resulted. Last week we had a game between the New York Giants and the Carolina Panthers and the Giants landed some healthy wagers with their win. There were bets in live wagering of: $50,000 at $1.20, $15,000 at $1.30, and $12,500 at $1.07. However, a win for us in the same match. $10,000 at $1.95 on the total combined points being 33 points and under.

Still about 40 games to go in the regular season in MLB and there's plenty of jockeying going on to see which eight teams will make it through to the post-season. A couple of useful bets to report: $20,000 at $1.52 on the Chicago Cubs to beat San Diego (loser), $14,500 at $1.85 on Cleveland and the LA Angels to produce 13 runs or less (winner), and in Live betting $10,500 at $1.08 on Boston to beat Toronto (winner).

The United States Tennis Open starts next week and there have been any number of tournaments around the players for the players to use as a build-up for the season's final Grand Slam. Several bets of interest: at the women's WTC tournament in Toronto we took a winning bet of $30,000 at $1.10 on Azarenka to beat Peng. At the men's ATP tournament in Cincinnati there was a losing wager of $12,650 at $1.16 on Roddick to beat Querrey.

Other significant bets to report: $29,000 at $1.47 on Bayern Munich to beat Mainz in German football (loser), $13,000 at $1.20 on Rubens Barrichello to finish in the top eight of the European GP (winner - he actually won the race), and a couple of racing bets, $10,000 at $1.20 on Black Caviar winning the Arrow 1200 (winner) and $10,000 at $1.60 on Saucy Magic in the Blackwell Memorial (loser).