Good point Hammers - I now do a lot of Tennis betting (although almost none through the TAB - quite frankly their odds are usually pathetic) but I don't see the TABs rushing to give a percentage of their Tennis turnover to the local tennis club or a percentage of their AFL turnover to the local AFL teams!

Topsy99 - I have no problem with operators such as Betfair making a contribution (and from what I have heard Betfair is happy to do this) - the problem seems to be that the racing industry is too greedy and that the TABS want to prevent any such agreement with Betfair - instead they want them to be prevented from taking bets on Aussie racing.

If I was running the show I would immediately cut the commission rate on all TAB pools (including the exotics) to 10%. 2% to go to the racing industry, 2% to the government and 6% for TAB operating costs. If the punter is placing bets via an automated system (ie. Internet or automated phone system) then the punter gets a 4% rebate so the effective commission rate is only 6%. This would immediately make the TAB competitive with Betfair type operations, increase dividends substantially and give the punters a fair chance of making a profit. In my opinion you would see TAB turnover jump dramatically so the actual loss of revenue to the industry, government and TAB would be minimal. But will it happen - I doubt it!

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"Computers can do that????" - Homer Simpson