Hi All,
YOU should all be very happy as according to The Sydney Daily Telegraph the upcoming merger is a win win situation and punters will get larger dividends.
YEAH they are probably gonna give us 5/1 on LONROH at his next start.
Who are these imbiciles trying to fool.
I bet ....their take out of the pot will go up in a short time.

Cheers

[ This Message was edited by: quapi on 2003-10-17 22:02 ]

gooday kenchar ya right there ,my user name is exactly what will happen.

the kid,

I bet ....their take out of the pot will go up in a short time.

I'm not so sure about this. For the average / small punter, I don't think it will make much difference, the vast majority of these people bet within their "state" anyway....

For the "professionals", they'll generally have multiple TAB accounts, and if the combined "UniTAB" increases their take, I can see the professionals moving more of their funds to STAB. Since the TAB's are really trying to woo the larger punters, increasing their take when they still have some level of competition could have a detrimental effect.

I'm unsure how this will affect services like IAS.. I've been using IAS DivviPlus almost exclusively since it was introduced on all meetings, and have beneffited greatly. (Although I note more and more often the "plus" part is only one or two cents better than the best TAB)

I've stated before that I am in favor of a single unified pool.. larger pools *should* lead to less volatility in prices in the lead up to a race, and *should* also make it a little more difficult for those trying to "play" the pool.

Then again, I could be wrong... :smile:

Cheers,
Chris.

[ This Message was edited by: quapi on 2003-10-17 22:03 ]

How the f*** do they conclude that a merged pool will result in larger dividends? The ONLY way for the TAB to increase the average dividend is to reduce the percentage they take out of the pool and I can't see that happening until the frost starts settling on the ground in hell!

Chris,

If the Unitab merger is successful how long do you think it will be before the combined entity makes a move on the Tabcorp TAB wagering division (or at the very least the smaller TABs such as TAS, ACT & WA)? The ACCC might step in to stop a takeover - but then again they may not given that each TAB is a virtual monopoly anyway. Then there would be nothing to stop the take being increased!

Also I am curious about you betting with IAS but wanting a single pool! A single pool would effectively wipe out the advantage you get through the DIVI+ product. I estimate the benefit of DIVI+ is currently around 8% (ie. returns are an average 8% higher with Divi+ than with a single TAB account). With the merger of NSW/Unitab I believe this will reduce to around 5% advantage. Were the 3 TABS to merge we lose it all (unless they were to change the DIVI+ product to pay a much bigger premium over the TAB dividend).

Stebbo,
Heres part of the article,and think about the TAB takeout if this happens.
VICTORIAS TABCORP IS CENTERING MOST OF ITS BUSINESS ON GAMING WITH SPECULATION THAT THE COMPANY MAY EVENTUALLY OFFLOAD ITS WAGERING ARM.
That will leave us with 1 TAB and really dont think their take out will be less,as Ive said in many posts this business is about one thing and one thing only and thats the almighty dollar.

Cheers


[ This Message was edited by: quapi on 2003-10-18 21:54 ]

Kenchar: I wasn't aware of that, thank you for pointing it out. Yes, if there is only one TAB, then I suspect the takeout might be at risk. I don't necessarily think it's certain it will go up, but it's a real possibility.

Becareful: Divi+ is only available on win bets on the gallops. I also do a lot of exotics betting, place betting, and betting into the Harness and Dogs (although the latter is more for fun than business). Not so long ago I won a $1,400 trifecta.. Not to shabby I hear you say... It paid $2,000 odd on each of the other TABs.... That's a lot of difference.

I recall reading somewhere that Mark Read states that his target takeout is 5% or thereabouts. Unless it's a short-ish priced favorite, quite often his "plus" can be 8 or 10 or 15c better than the best tab. The other day, on a $100 bolter, his "plus" was $4 and change...... Why does he do this I always ask? Because his "take" is 5% not 15%.

I haven't done the math around this, so I'm very happy to be proven wrong, but your 8% improvement is based upon the Average TAB price.... What do you think you're going to get with a single pool????? - The average TAB price. I strongly suspect that if IAS stay with their 5% take, then your 8% will remain reasonably stable. Makes sense doesn't it... 15% vs 5% should be about 10%... (BTW: I've sometimes been accused of being an optimist :smile: )

The other thing that I'm interested in is pool sizes. I'd like to think that I'm going to be successful enough to want to place large wagers midweek - this is for win / place and exotics.... This is just not possible with 3 separate TAB's unless I split my bets amongst all 3. A right royal pain in the butt if you ask me.

Why this concentration on the TAB's??? I've also noted, again without keeping hard records, that the Tote pays better than the bookies in most cases. Just take a look down the list of results on IAS at the end of a day.. compare IAS's open, close, the official SP, to the Divi+ dividend... Apart from the shorter priced horses, in the majority of cases the Divi+ is better... My betting is into the mid-range horses, so I'm almost always better off on Divi+

Lastly, and sadly, I've been reading a post on Ausrace that suggests that Divi+ is going to be removed from all races, and go back to Metro only... that will be a shame, as more than 50% of my bets are on non-metro meetings.

Cheers,
Chris.

PS. I know it's possible to shop around the bookies and get the best price, which may often beat the tote... This is a skill I simply do not have yet, and one that I need to acquire.... In the meantime, with my $20, $50 and $100 bets, the tote is the place for me.

[ This Message was edited by: stebbo on 2003-10-17 20:31 ]

ONE REASON FOR THIS MERGER___ TO IMPROVE THE RETURNS FOR THE PUNTER.
YA THINK??????:razz:

How do these smilies work : razz :

You had it right the first time Boxhead - but you needed to leave a space between the last ? and the :

:razz:

I hope that when this goes ahead that we get the Tab online site. NSW tab site is a huge pain, so slow its painful. Tab online is 100% faster. I mainly use IAS and Sportingbet., but I use NSW tab for exotics etc....