New hours for T.A.B.

Press, 14 July 1980, Page 24

New hours for T.A.B.

PA Wellington T.A.B. betting offices would open on race days half an hour later, at 9 a.m., from August I,’ said the T.A.B. yesterday. Telephone betting would still be available at 8.30 a.m. on race days and the 9.30 a.m. opening in temote country towns would continue. ,

In the interests of security T.A.B. branch offices in principal centres would close on

face nights at 8 p.m. from August 1. The chairman of the T.A.8., Mr J. A. L. Bennett, said studies made by the board had shown that bets taken between 8.30 a.m. now represented less than 3 percent of the total bets processed. It was difficult on this basis to justify the costs associated with opening branch and agency offices at 8.30 a.m.

When it had been decided more than 28 years ago to

open at 8.30 a.m. on race days the interval between race starting times and the closing time for off-course betting had been two nours. Thus betting had closed at 9 a.m. for the first race of a meeting starting at 11 a.m. This allowed only 30 minutes for betting on the first lace. “Nowadays betting for a race starting at 11 a.m. did not close until 10.10 a.m. at manually run offices and 10.40 a.m. at automated offices.”