TAB review March 3

[dave nz]

A very interesting week in sports betting with the larger punters having mixed success.

Rugby punters in Super 14 landed some good winners at short odds. There was $75,000 at just $1.04 on the Hurricanes to beat the Bulls and $10,000 at $1.65 in the same match for the Canes to win by 13 or more. There was $39,000 at $1.10 on the Bulls to beat the Waratahs although the visitors made a real race of it and held a handy early lead.The Crusaders bounced back from their setback the previous week to beat the Reds and there was a wager of $15,000 at $1.09 on them. However there was a losing bet in the match of $10,000 at $1.87 on the Sharks getting a 14 and a half point start. Another Super 14 losing bet was $10,000 at $1.87 on the Reds giving the Blues a 3 and a half point start.

Once again, basketball, both NBA and NCAA, attracted some big bets, some winners and some losers. The winners firstly : $50,000 at $1.72 on New York and Milwaukee to score 208 points or less in the NBA, and $40,000 at $1.65 on Milwaukee getting an 8 and a half point start from Atlanta, also in the NBA. And now the losers : $50,000 at a lay price of $1.80 on Dallas and the LA Lakers scoring 196 points or less, $25,000 at $1.80 on Chicago and Indiana scoring 205 points or less, and $20,000 at a lay price of $1.57 on the NCAA teams North Carolina and Florida State scoring 138 points or less.

There were several very healthy bets on tennis over the past week,both at short odds and both successful. There was $69,000 at just $1.03 on Venus Williams beating Pous in Acapulco and $25,000 at $1.16 on Zheng beating Bovina in Kuala Lumpur.

The Australian cricketers have arrived in the country for their long-awaited series and first indications suggest that the Black Caps will be competitive as they showed by winning the second of the T20 games. One punter came unstuck when backing Australia to win the second match - the bet being $10,000 at $1.37. However there were plenty of winning bets on them in the first match, some in live betting. There was $22,500 at $1.01, $16,350 also at $1.01, $15,000 at $1.08, and $10,000 at $1.06. A good winning bet bin the second match was the $30,000 at $1.50 that Australia's first method of dismissal would be caught.

A lot of good racing on both sides of the Tasman at this time of the year. Some of the bigger bets : $13,000 at $1.60 on Typhoon Tracy to win the Futurity Stakes ( winner ), $11,000 at $2.00 on Wall Street winning the Fairdale 1600 ( loser ), $10,000 at $2.20 on Terror To Love to win the Kindergarten Stakes ( loser ) and $10,000 at $1.90 on The Beekeeper to win the Southland Guineas ( winner ).