League lover's winning streak maxes out TAB
MICHELLE DUFF Last updated 05:00 16/04/2013
The rugby league aficionado, who calls the Courtenay Place TAB ahead of his visits so they can prepare his private room, won the maximum $250,000 from a $5000 multibet on the NRL in late March.
He took almost exactly the same bet on Friday to win another $250,000 - along with a further $180,000 on a slightly different wager.
Following last month's successful formula, he picked the favourite to win in each of the eight NRL sixth-round games.
He placed the bets at the Courtenay Place TAB, where staff know him so well they prepare him coffee while handling his bets in a discreet back room.
Operator Vani Bradshaw said the man, who did not want to be identified, visited every fortnight to gamble between $5000 and $10,000 on rugby league.
He was known to study players' form and never missed a match report, often browsing the newspaper in the TAB as he made his choices.
He never bet on anything other than league, and was a "nice, talkative gentleman", Ms Bradshaw said.
Betting on the favourites is not generally considered a path to riches in the NRL, a competition in which upsets are common. The league has player salary caps to ensure talent is spread around the 16 teams.
In one of last weekend's fixtures, favourites St George Illawarra needed a field goal two minutes from time to beat the Wests Tigers 13-12.
While backing favourites was not a high-risk strategy - setting this gambler apart from notorious Kiwi punter Graham "Steel Balls" Bruton - risking such big amounts on a multibet certainly was, TAB communications manager John Mitchell said.
"It's very unusual for someone to pick eight results in the NRL and all those choices to be based on the favourites winning. It's absolutely bizarre how it's all come together in this guy's favour.
"He's maxed us out. It's unbelievable - he's taken us for close to three-quarters of a million over the course of a month."
The $250,000 return equals the biggest single return on a sports bet in TAB history, and the biggest on a rugby league multibet.
Never has so much been won in consecutive bets over such a short time frame.
HOW TO WIN $680,000
Wellington's mystery gambler started with $5000 in March, betting that the TAB's favourites in each of the eight NRL second-round games would win.
On March 19 he won his first $250,000, when the South Sydney Rabbitohs beat the Cronulla Sharks in Sydney and his multibet paid off.
Last Friday, he gambled $8300 on the NRL sixth-round games, again betting on the eight favourites.
He also took a $10,000 wager on seven favourites, while picking the North Queensland Cowboys to come within 12.5 points of the Brisbane Broncos.
When both his multibets came in, he won $250,000 on the first and $180,000 on the second - giving him $680,000.
- © Fairfax NZ News
MICHELLE DUFF Last updated 05:00 16/04/2013
The rugby league aficionado, who calls the Courtenay Place TAB ahead of his visits so they can prepare his private room, won the maximum $250,000 from a $5000 multibet on the NRL in late March.
He took almost exactly the same bet on Friday to win another $250,000 - along with a further $180,000 on a slightly different wager.
Following last month's successful formula, he picked the favourite to win in each of the eight NRL sixth-round games.
He placed the bets at the Courtenay Place TAB, where staff know him so well they prepare him coffee while handling his bets in a discreet back room.
Operator Vani Bradshaw said the man, who did not want to be identified, visited every fortnight to gamble between $5000 and $10,000 on rugby league.
He was known to study players' form and never missed a match report, often browsing the newspaper in the TAB as he made his choices.
He never bet on anything other than league, and was a "nice, talkative gentleman", Ms Bradshaw said.
Betting on the favourites is not generally considered a path to riches in the NRL, a competition in which upsets are common. The league has player salary caps to ensure talent is spread around the 16 teams.
In one of last weekend's fixtures, favourites St George Illawarra needed a field goal two minutes from time to beat the Wests Tigers 13-12.
While backing favourites was not a high-risk strategy - setting this gambler apart from notorious Kiwi punter Graham "Steel Balls" Bruton - risking such big amounts on a multibet certainly was, TAB communications manager John Mitchell said.
"It's very unusual for someone to pick eight results in the NRL and all those choices to be based on the favourites winning. It's absolutely bizarre how it's all come together in this guy's favour.
"He's maxed us out. It's unbelievable - he's taken us for close to three-quarters of a million over the course of a month."
The $250,000 return equals the biggest single return on a sports bet in TAB history, and the biggest on a rugby league multibet.
Never has so much been won in consecutive bets over such a short time frame.
HOW TO WIN $680,000
Wellington's mystery gambler started with $5000 in March, betting that the TAB's favourites in each of the eight NRL second-round games would win.
On March 19 he won his first $250,000, when the South Sydney Rabbitohs beat the Cronulla Sharks in Sydney and his multibet paid off.
Last Friday, he gambled $8300 on the NRL sixth-round games, again betting on the eight favourites.
He also took a $10,000 wager on seven favourites, while picking the North Queensland Cowboys to come within 12.5 points of the Brisbane Broncos.
When both his multibets came in, he won $250,000 on the first and $180,000 on the second - giving him $680,000.
- © Fairfax NZ News
