Bookmakers take the punt on Spring Racing Carnival profits
October 13th 2009 08:42
Spring Carnival is here again and punters are salivating at the generous promotions up for grabs. Casual gamblers may not realise it but Australian booking companies have a love affair with gambling themselves - gambling away their profits!
In recent years bookies have surprised many by offering promotions that seem to defy the laws of common sense - situations where they stand to lose in a HUGE way if the games do not go as expected.
Many tuned out when the siren sounded at this year's AFL Grand Final - Geelong had won by six points - but you can be sure the Northern Territory Sportsbet bookies were still watching very carefully. They had promised all punters with bets up to $200 a REFUND is their team lost by six points or less!
When Max Rooke scored his after-the-siren goal (the goal that didn't seem to matter) it made a huge difference to Sportsbet - it saved them from having to refund over 16,000 punters. Commentators dubbed it 'the final kick that saved the bookies'!
When 2009 Cranbourne Cup winner Sermon (trained by Robbie Laing) was excluded from the Caulfield Cup, many punters simply shrugged and adjusted their bets accordingly. But you can be sure www.Luxbet.com was breathing a huge sigh of relief.
One of THAT company's PR gimmicks is the Luxbet.com Caulfield-Cranbourne Bonus, which promises a $1 million bonus if the same horse happens to win the Caulfield and Cranbourne Cups.
When it was announced that Cranbourne winner Sermon would not race at Caulfield, it became pretty obvious that wouldn't happen. Luxbet will hold on to that $1 million in 2009!
In a slightly different example of dangerous promotional tactics, ABC Online is reporting that a midget race organised by Racing Australia has raised eyebrows, including those of Victoria's Racing Minister Rob Hulls. Accusations of 'poor taste' are flying around.
"I mean the Midgets Cup for goodness sake. Having short-statured people jump on blokes' backs and fall over the finish line at race tracks is certainly no way of promoting this great Spring Carnival, right around the world, right around Australia and right throughout Victoria" said Hulls. He alleged that such events do nothing to promote racing as a sophisticated and innovative industry.
Victorian Premier John Brumby agreed that the stunt was inappropriate, saying:
"What occurred may well be humorous to many people, but I think the test is whether it's hurtful to people and what occurred is quite hurtful to a number of people and so I think it's tacky."
A lot of careful PR maneuvering is part and parcel of big events like this, where exhorbitant amounts of advertising money are funnelled in: careers are made, deals broken, fortunes secured, sponsorship withdrawn and drunken gloves-clad girls picked up in the fading Flemington sunshine.
For most, however, Spring Carnival simply means a few extra racing segments on the news, a more striking and colourful selection of hats in the newspaper society sections, and perhaps the chance to win money in a free Spring Carnival Tipping Competition (such as the one run by Sportsbet www.sportsbet.com.au).
Sportsbet released their fairly uncontroversial new commercial over the weekend, in time for The Age Caulfield Guineas Day (Saturday 10th October) and www.Luxbet.com Cranbourne Cup Day (Sunday 11th October).
Be sure to get your bets in for mid-week races such as Schweppes Thousand Guineas Day (Wednesday 14th October) and this weekend's BMW Caulfield Cup Day (Saturday 17th October).
Australian bookmakers are the biggest punters of all, writes Sandra Hajda
In recent years bookies have surprised many by offering promotions that seem to defy the laws of common sense - situations where they stand to lose in a HUGE way if the games do not go as expected.
Many tuned out when the siren sounded at this year's AFL Grand Final - Geelong had won by six points - but you can be sure the Northern Territory Sportsbet bookies were still watching very carefully. They had promised all punters with bets up to $200 a REFUND is their team lost by six points or less!
When Max Rooke scored his after-the-siren goal (the goal that didn't seem to matter) it made a huge difference to Sportsbet - it saved them from having to refund over 16,000 punters. Commentators dubbed it 'the final kick that saved the bookies'!
Premiership Cat Max Rooke kicked the first and last goal of the AFL Grand Final. His after-siren effort saved bookmakers a fortune
When 2009 Cranbourne Cup winner Sermon (trained by Robbie Laing) was excluded from the Caulfield Cup, many punters simply shrugged and adjusted their bets accordingly. But you can be sure www.Luxbet.com was breathing a huge sigh of relief.
One of THAT company's PR gimmicks is the Luxbet.com Caulfield-Cranbourne Bonus, which promises a $1 million bonus if the same horse happens to win the Caulfield and Cranbourne Cups.
When it was announced that Cranbourne winner Sermon would not race at Caulfield, it became pretty obvious that wouldn't happen. Luxbet will hold on to that $1 million in 2009!
In a slightly different example of dangerous promotional tactics, ABC Online is reporting that a midget race organised by Racing Australia has raised eyebrows, including those of Victoria's Racing Minister Rob Hulls. Accusations of 'poor taste' are flying around.
"I mean the Midgets Cup for goodness sake. Having short-statured people jump on blokes' backs and fall over the finish line at race tracks is certainly no way of promoting this great Spring Carnival, right around the world, right around Australia and right throughout Victoria" said Hulls. He alleged that such events do nothing to promote racing as a sophisticated and innovative industry.
Victorian Premier John Brumby agreed that the stunt was inappropriate, saying:
"What occurred may well be humorous to many people, but I think the test is whether it's hurtful to people and what occurred is quite hurtful to a number of people and so I think it's tacky."
A lot of careful PR maneuvering is part and parcel of big events like this, where exhorbitant amounts of advertising money are funnelled in: careers are made, deals broken, fortunes secured, sponsorship withdrawn and drunken gloves-clad girls picked up in the fading Flemington sunshine.
For most, however, Spring Carnival simply means a few extra racing segments on the news, a more striking and colourful selection of hats in the newspaper society sections, and perhaps the chance to win money in a free Spring Carnival Tipping Competition (such as the one run by Sportsbet www.sportsbet.com.au).
Sportsbet released their fairly uncontroversial new commercial over the weekend, in time for The Age Caulfield Guineas Day (Saturday 10th October) and www.Luxbet.com Cranbourne Cup Day (Sunday 11th October).
Be sure to get your bets in for mid-week races such as Schweppes Thousand Guineas Day (Wednesday 14th October) and this weekend's BMW Caulfield Cup Day (Saturday 17th October).
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