Punters rejoice as Heartland Championship gives TAB headache

Punters rejoice as Heartland Championship gives TAB headache

8 August 2011

The first round of the 2011 Heartland Championship has given the TAB a headache with 4 out of 6 outsiders claiming victory. Normally the bookies would welcome such a result but with a number of punters jumping on high-priced outsiders Buller, Thames Valley, Horowhenua-Kapiti and East Coast, the TAB’s coffers were significantly depleted.

TAB Heartland Bookmaker, Kieran McAnulty, said “The first week of the Heartland Championship can throw out the odd unanticipated result, but having four out of six outsiders win was certainly a surprise.”

East Coast’s 15-13 victory over heavily favoured Mid Canterbury hit the TAB the hardest with one punter walking away with nearly $20,000. “That could have been much worse if East Coast had won by 13 points or more. I couldn’t believe it when I got the phone call from Ruatoria telling me East Coast were up by 12 points with 20 minutes remaining. Suddenly the Sportsdesk went pretty quiet”, McAnulty said. Before the match East Coast were paying $100 to win the Meads Cup while the TAB were offering $5.00 on Mid Canterbury. “Obviously we are going to have to reconsider that position.”

A number of multi bets were also going through the Heartland Championship, which only added to punters’ fortunes. “Just to give you an indication of how easy it was to take money off the TAB last weekend, a $5 multi bet on Buller to beat Poverty Bay ($3.30), Thames Valley to beat the mighty Wairarapa Bush ($2.60), Horowhenua-Kapiti to beat South Canterbury ($3.75) and East Coast to beat Mid Canterbury ($8.00) collected $1287.00. If Wanganui ($1.14) and North Otago ($1.25) were added to that, the dividend was $1834.00.”

Updated odds for the Meads Cup Outright Winner are:

North Otago: $2.50

Wanganui: $2.50

Poverty Bay: $10.00

Mid Canterbury: $12.00

Buller: $20.00

West Coast: $25.00

Horo-Kapiti: $20.00

East Coast: $25.00

Wairarapa Bush: $30.00

South Cant: $30.00

Thames Valley: $30.00

King Country: $50.00

Odds for each match will be released the preceding Thursday.

ENDS

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