Crafty betting scheme leaves bookies in the doghouse

Gary Keep and Chris Bassani
21dec05
AN ingenious legal betting sting at the Gold Coast greyhounds ripped more than $200,000 from off-course bookmakers throughout Australia yesterday.



A NSW betting syndicate legitimately involved the Queensland TAB to inflate the odds of a short-priced favourite Lucy's Light, which won by seven lengths.

The syndicate set up legitimate betting accounts with several interstate betting firms including Centreracing, Sportingbet, Sportsbet, Betezy and Adelaide bookmaker Curly Seal.

These firms all offer punters Queensland tote odds on a dog race if requested.

The sting was executed on the second race, a stayers event with only six starters.

It was considered an easy assignment for top stayer Lucy's Light who opened up around Australia as a hot odds-on favourite at a $1.10 return for a $1 investment.

The syndicate backed Lucy's Light with the bookmakers who noticed the short odds and willingly held the bets because at that stage they were up for a minimal payout and stood to win well if the dog lost.

What bookmakers didn't know was that the syndicate would later place $15,000 on each of the other five dogs with Queensland's UNiTAB with only a minute before the race jumped. The bets were placed into phone accounts.

The $75,000 plunge pushed the price of Lucy's Light to $13 when the race started.

The Queensland win pool swelled to $88,645, compared to $12,292 on the Victorian TAB, where Lucy's Light paid $1.40, and $13,729 in NSW ($1.30).

Seal, who faced the largest payout, said he was seeking advice from stewards and his solicitor on the legality of the scheme.

"That's why I can't say too much, but, yes, I held some substantial bets on the winner," he said.

Sportsbet's Matthew Tripp, along with Sportingbet's Michael Sullivan, have reported the race to the Northern Territory Racing Commission.

Tripp said: "I've told all my punters I will pay out at $2 if the NTRC says something was untoward. If the NTRC says nothing is wrong, I will be quite willing to pay out at $13."

Centreracing manager Christian Sawyer has already paid the punters.

"These things happen, good luck to them. We know who the punters are and if they do it again we will simply bet back on the dog on their tote with their own money, thus losing nothing. By the look of things they had about $25,000 with bookies around Australia."

Besides Seal, the other bookmakers are estimated to have paid out between $10,000 to $30,000 each – Seal won't reveal his loss.

UNiTAB wagering manager Shane Adams said: "All rules were abided with."