All-up betting on target

Press, 17 June 1988, Page 33

All-up betting on target

PA Wellington All-up betting is on target for introduction in August, more requests are to be made for T.A.B. jackpots, and fixed-odds betting is a long way off.

T.A.B. marketing manager, Mr Blake Henderson, said on Tuesday the introduction of all-up betting is planned for the second or third week of August. “Extensive testing is going on at the moment and we are hopeful of meeting that projected deadline, which is now about two months out,” said Mr Henderson.

All-up betting is one transaction for a succession of bets in which winning funds are reinvested automatically. The betting method will be kept simple to begin with, said Mr Henderson. “Initially it will be on a straightforward basis of two-to-six races, with win or place betting only, on one meeting.

“With time we will build up the complexity which will bring in com-bination-type betting.” The all-up better will be able to choose which races the bets are placed on.

If all horses selected run a place, a dividend will be paid equivalent to the whole dividend from the first placed horse being reinvested on the second selection and .the process being repeated through to the, last selection.

The bet is lost as soon as a selection does not run a place. T.A.B. jackpots should be much closer to reality with the introduction and success of Lotto, said Mr Henderson.

“As you know we have been trying for some years to get approval from Internal Affairs.

“It has always been my interpretation that when it was planned to introduce Lotto they did not want something at the T.A.B. that would take the stuffing out of it. “We are going to keep plugging at it because obviously we believe now, as we have always believed for a number of years, that there is a public demand for a high return betting type. “Hopefully we can get agreement soon and get something off the ground.” Fixed-odds betting has many complications and

Mr Henderson said he cannot see its introduction for some years. "Without changing the whole tote operation there is no way fixed-odds betting can be introduced without including an element of bookmaking. “Someone has to establish the odds to start with which is virtually playing bookmaker." Mr Henderson gave an example where if a punter had a large bet on a horse on which long fixed-odds k had been secured there could well be insufficient funds in the pool to pay the dividend. “If you were going to have tote fixed-odds betting you would have to have a system where the punter would take the odds after the bet had been placed. “Even for a small punter who puts a couple of dollars to win on a horse that is paying $3O his dividend could be reduced to say $8 if a person at another window has put $lOOO on the same horse a few seconds before.

“There are a lot of complications in trying to design a tote fixed-odds situation. I would say it is a fair way off at this stage.”