A group of anonymous punters landed a remarkable betting coup winning $200,000 from some of Australia\’s leading bookmakers, which offer punters to match the same odds offered by the TAB.
The betting syndicate legally manipulated the TAB odds of the favourite in a Gold Coast greyhound race, by placing $15,000 on each of the other five greyhounds in the race during the last 90 seconds of betting time.
While some of the betting syndicate, using telephone betting accounts, pushed the odds of the winner out to $13 on the Queensland TAB, compared to the $1.30 dividend paid on the NSW TAB and $1.40 in Victoria, the others heavily backed the dog with the unsuspecting interstate bookies, which included Centreracing, Sportingbet, Sportsbet, Betezy and Complete Sports Betting.
Centreracing\’s Christian Sawyer said it was the biggest sting there had ever been in a dog race in Australia.
Complete Sports betting, which faced the largest payout, said to be seeking advice from stewards and lawyers on the legality of the scheme.
Sportsbet and Sportingbet reported the race to the Northern Territory Racing Commission.
“I\’ve told all my punters I will pay out at $2 if the NTRC says something was untoward. If the NTRC says nothing is wrong I will be quite willing to pay out at $13,” said Sportsbet\’s Matthew Tripp.
Sportingbet\’s Michael Sullivan said it is rare to see betting stings pay off so well.
“The bottom line is the pools are out there and they can be manipulated I guess if you invest money on other runners, in this case with the dogs,” he said.
“But it is rare and it doesn\’t happen very often, but when it does happen I guess it makes news.”
Sullivan added that some interstate bookmakers will have to reconsider the way they operate.
Calculators
