TAB Sportsbet was on cloud nine, holding a record $4.46 million on the third State of Origin match on Wednesday night, but pity the poor old punter.
While the TAB's Glenn Munsie revealed his betting agency lost about $100,000 on the match, quite good considering the well-backed favourites won the match, he did acknowledge the NRL - which is sponsored by TAB Sportsbet - is losing respect.
"It is quite obvious that the interpretation of the rules, when it comes to State of Origin, is quite different to a normal club game. Penalties that would be given in a club game are overlooked many times in an Origin," Munsie said.
Sportsbook.com.au's Larry Hawke agreed: "It was evident that a number of decisions in the State of Origin decider had a dramatic effect on the result."
"The so-called forward pass from NSW by Braith Anasta in the last couple of minutes was no way in the world a forward pass. That cost NSW a chance of squaring up the game and, on top of that, Nate Myles should have been sent off for his spear tackle."
Munsie said round 17 NRL betting was "very quiet" apart from the resurgent South Sydney to beat the hapless Bulldogs on Monday night. Souths have been the subject of the two biggest wagers this week in their bid to win a fourth successive game. "A punter had $30,000 on Souths to win at $1.70 and another had $20,000 on them to cover the 2½-point line at $1.90," Munsie said.
Meanwhile, Lasseters Sportsbook has already opened a market on next year's Origin series, with Queensland at $1.55 and NSW at $2.40. Cats to claw back start Only two AFL matches are to be played this weekend, with Adelaide facing Geelong at AAMI Stadium tonight and Sydney playing Collingwood at ANZ Stadium tomorrow night.
Hamish Davidson's Sportsbetting.com.au has the Cats installed as dominant favourites to beat the Crows.
"The Cats are going along nicely and another easy win is on the cards," said Davidson, who added the -23.5 points start at $1.90 was the best-backed option.
Betstar.com.au's Alan Eskander reported "huge interest" in the Swans accounting for Collingwood.
"Sydney have looked good winning a string of games in a row, and while the Magpies are going along OK, the Swans should win again," he said.
Meanwhile, Hawke revealed one Sportsbook.com.au client had a 10-leg multi alive with the last two legs being Geelong and the Swans to win. For an outlay of $675 the bet stands to win $25,000. Cadel a popular pick The Tour De France, which starts on Sunday (Sydney time), is attracting a lot of interest with punters backing Australian Cadel Evans to win the yellow jersey.
Betchoice.com's Mark Morrissey said Evans had been the subject of "plenty of support" while in betting on who will win the green jersey for the sprinters' title, Aussie Robbie McEwen, was third favourite behind Oscar Freire. Hawke said Sportsbook.com.au punters had backed Evans in from $3.50 to $3 to win the Tour, while Italian Riccardo Ricco had been backed to win $10,000 at odds of $41.
Sportingbet's Michael Sullivan said: "McEwen has definitely got the class to get the job done but he might struggle without any support from his team whose attention will be focused on putting Cadel Evans in yellow." THE BEST BET Sydney (-11.5) against Collingwood at $1.91 with Sportsbook.com.au.