G'day all

I read with interest the machinations going on with the suitors of UNITAB and the rumblings with the merger of pools with STAB....

I have a couple of questions, I was hoping someone could answer:

What does that mean to the average punter ?

1. i.e. bigger pool = bigger dividend? and is the same true for exotics? (esp. my pet exacta bet)
2. would it be reasonable to assume that fixed price and "best" price facilities will also adjust accordingly?
3. will the merged pools dicourage "sting" betting (Like the Greyhound sting a little while back)?
4. Would the takeout be expected to fall?

Thanks In Advance

__________________
Stix
.......Giddy Up..... !!

1: This is a fallacy - the dividends will not be bigger, they could be more stable though. Given that those exotics that have a Flexi bet option, they could be even smaller as the Flexi becomes more popular & more punters get to have a slice of the payout cake.
2: Not sure what you exactly mean but if we have a national pool then the only tote price will also be the 'best (tote) price" - not sure how the corporate bookies will handle this but they will probably offer tote price plus.
3: Even with merged pools, many of the greyhound pools will be on the small size so don't really see it discouraging punters like Eddie Heyson (the greyhound sting man).
4: More likely the takeouts will go up rather than down - with no competition in the tote markets & state governments that have budget shortfalls (like NSW), why would they go down? The NSW government have already stated that they want Tabcorp to underwrite any shortfalls in the state revenue should the government permit co-pooling of the Vic & NSW pools. Tabcorp also put it to the NSW government a few months ago that they wanted the overall takeout raised from 16% to 16.5%.

I know that others will disagree with me, but I've thought for ages that we should have just one national tab. It just seems so damn stupid to me to have three separate sets of dividends and all the different sets of bet types from state to state.

i dont disagree sportz i couldnt think of a better way mate

You obviously don't bet 'best tote' with a corporate bookie like I do Sportz. It's a good product with some nice overs available. Can't see any advantages in a national pool for the average punter.

I say yes to Sportz we need a national tab not what we have now.....i agree there will be some diadvantages but think of the advantages.

the pools will be bigger with this affect payouts...could be but there will be more mug money in the pools.

You won't have one of those corporate bookies tell you "sorry we are not accepting your bets anymore" just because you are a winner they are doing that more and more these days and that is for as little as $200 bets.

We will staill have competition from the bookies ,betfair,Austote and since we have licensed the above we will have more companies wanting to get in on the action.

The take out is bad i agree but i can walk in to any Tab and lay down $1000 or more on a bet and not have some one say a word about it to me.....i can also walk in a collect that bet with no questions and no one knowing who i am.

La Mer,

Sorry mate, but the "average punter" certainly doesn't bet best tote. They probably don't even know that any such thing exists. The average punter ONLY bets at their local tab, pub or club and gets the dividend that Unitab, NSWTab or Supertab gives them. And they often grumble when they see a bigger dividend on one of the other tabs.

Thanks for your thoughts guys.

I guess by "Best Price (Tote)", I mean where IAS guarantee pay a dividend higher (beat) at least 2 of the totes.

As for 3 different divvies, it works for me and my exacta bets, with UNITAB "usually" paying better dividends than the other two toes. I'm sure for the WIN punters it would provide a better environment.

I was thinking the take outs would increase, which I suppose would affect the "average" punter more than the more "astute" or "environmentally aware" punter , that's why I was wondering about "best price"......

Interesting times coming up...... especially with re-licensing as well....

__________________
Stix
.......Giddy Up..... !!