this article may be of some interest
The TAB are just leeches on the public
I punt quite a bit on sports, rarely with Sportbet ... cause they are tards
Bookies not paying winning tickets
By Daryl Timms
May 4, 2006
PUNTERS who backed Fremantle to beat St Kilda can keep their tickets as souvenirs after TAB Sportsbet last night reaffirmed it would not pay out on a Dockers victory.
TAB Sportsbet manager Gary Davies admitted life would have been much easier if the match had remained a draw, and victory not been awarded to Fremantle.
There were five winning tickets in TAB Sportsbet Footyquad that would have netted each punter $32,500 had the Dockers been declared the winner on Sunday.
The punters are considering class action against the AFL to claim their winnings.
The pool has jackpotted to $162,911 for the weekend's round.
Davies said the TAB had begun paying out on a draw when the AFL notified it of the result - a draw - about 30 minutes after the game.
"We've paid out the bets as per the rules, that's the TAB Sportsbet rules and the AFL rules as per the official result which were faxed to us by the AFL," Davies said.
"There will be some upset punters, no doubt. We are all punters and talk through our kick (pocket) for a variety of reasons.
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"There will definitely be some seriously upset punters, but there are a lot of people who have got money now who should not have and I'm pretty sure no one will ring us up and say, 'Have this back'.
"As per normal procedures, TAB Sportsbet received the league's official AFL match results sheet by fax about 30 minutes after the match on Sunday declaring the game a draw."
Davies said a Fremantle victory would have been a much better financial result for the TAB than the draw.
Asked about possible legal action, he said it was the prerogative of any individual to consider.
Centrebet's Gerard Daffy said his agency had paid out on the draw and not a Dockers victory.
"We paid out on the two winners getting half of their total so it was a costly mistake for us, but we have no recourse so we cop it on the chin and move on ," Daffy said.
"Most of the punters backed St Kilda so they have been paid half so there are a lot more happy punters than unhappy."
Daffy said the AFL left itself open to legal challenges once it accepted money from gambling.
Sportingbet's Michael O'Sullivan said the Darwin betting agency had paid out on a draw and a Fremantle victory because it was the moral thing to do.
He said it had cost more than $100,000 but that was the advantage of being an entrepreneurial company that could look at anomalies such as the Tassie game and then make a decision.
"We started paying out on Fremantle nearly straight away because we thought it was the fair thing to do because it's hard enough to back a winner without it being taken off you," Sullivan said.
"Our view and actions have been justified by the decision now made by the AFL Commission.
"We are more than happy with what has happened." Sullivan said as well as paying out the "winning" Fremantle bets, his company had obviously not pocketed what should have been losing bets.
Herald Sun
Oink !
