Bookie suspends betting after Melbourne Storm backed for wooden spoon

[McCrann]

Ever seen something so ridiculous?

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...for-wooden-spoon/story-e6frexnr-1225856813930

A LEADING bookmaker has suspended betting on the NRL wooden spoon after fielding several wagers on premiers Melbourne Storm to finish last.

Title favourites Melbourne are currently fourth on the NRL ladder after four wins and two losses and have been the subject of a salary cap investigation.

"We took three bets to win $10,000 and another to win $8000 for the Storm to win the wooden spoon all within 10 minutes of each other this morning," said Sportingbet Australia spokesman Bill Richmond.

"You don't take a series of bets like that unless someone knows something and we have suspended betting on the wooden spoon as a result.

"Melbourne is now our worst result for the wooden spoon despite the fact they are premiership favourites."

Geez - really? Suspend betting? Somone knows something? Give me a break - you're accepting free money their mate - why turn off the tap?

Actually - now that I think about it I guess they could do a Canterbury Bulldogs circa 2002 - and so this is actually free money for whoever placed the best.

Interesting - but will they be stripped of enough points?

 

[pizzor]

no wonder they had bets on lol

 

[Dutchy10]

Dirty stinking cheats

 

[asanque]

Don't suppose anyone here got on at 200-1 for Storm to be wooden spooners?

 

[Gift]

I wonder if they will actually pay out... coz theyd have to pay out a mill or two

 

[mattys123]

There is likely to be an investigation into who actually placed the bets and where they got their information from.

I'd very much doubt their will be a payout here, except maybe to the odd smaller punter who "smelt" the plunge before it was cut off.

I wasn't one though, damn it.

 

[asanque]

How can they not pay out?

I don't see any get out clause that would be applicable.

 

[Gift]

Then again Sportingbet must be pretty stupid to accept individual 10k bets with a payout of 2 mill before ringing alarm bells to close betting..

Only lame thing is that its likely its someone linked to the investigation that put the bets through...

 

[YIIIABLETTT]

damnnn wish i had of got me some of that

 

[Byron_Clanger]

Dirty stinking cheats

Couldn't have put it any better

 

[asanque]

Then again Sportingbet must be pretty stupid to accept individual 10k bets with a payout of 2 mill before ringing alarm bells to close betting..

Only lame thing is that its likely its someone linked to the investigation that put the bets through...

Nah it was only bets to win $10k.
Not bets of $10k.

 

[Gift]

Oh my bad i misread then.. they will payout 10k then.. thats peanuts to them. I was thinking 2 mill which would have been an issue

 

[Mr Crow!]

I had a bet earlier in the year for the Melbourne Storm to make the 8 ... do you think that will be refunded now?

 

[soho]

How can they not pay out?

I don't see any get out clause that would be applicable.

i heard someone had $40,000 on them at 250-1... thats like $10 million pay out... you'd think if the betting agency refused to pay the person out, he'd have lawyers onto them in a heart beat...

remember the tennis player who got done for throwing matches? i remember reading that a bookie over seas simply kept the 80,000 odd pounds or so that was wagered on him and exposed the scam... yep, didnt pay the winnings and didnt even give back the initial money... house rules always win...

wouldnt be surprised if the same happens here, and the bookies simply keep the cash...

dont know if its fair, dont know if its legal, but they say possession is 9/10ths of the law, and they have your money in their accounts and you'll have to be the one to get it off them...

in saying that, if someone, say a reporter or an insider for the NRL (or even the storm, lol) knew what was about to happen, i dont know if thats any different from someone 'knowing' a team is in good shape, or a horse is running well... they're still gambling on what sanctions the NRL boss was to hand down (unless they knew that... which is a scary thought, because it shows that maybe even the NRL is corrupt to the core) etc...

this shit happens in the stock market every 2 seconds...

what happens to all the bets that were wagered on the games last year?
can bookies claim compensation?

 

[sethlad]

i heard someone had $40,000 on them at 250-1... thats like $10 million pay out... you'd think if the betting agency refused to pay the person out, he'd have lawyers onto them in a heart beat...

Cmon,absolutely no way any bookie would take a bet to lose $10 million
If it was an Aus bookie you'd be lucky to get on for $10k

Someone got $70 @ 300/1 on Betfair,theyll pay because it isnt their money.
Im sure the corporates will find a clause to avoid paying

seth

 

[asanque]

Pretty doubtful that any bookie would take a bet like that for a $10 million liability. Got a link?

Perhaps the NRL wooden spoon will be based on wins/losses rather than points?

I'm sure someone can clarify this last point.

 

[soho]

maybe it was completely automated online?

heard it on SEN today, the ox was saying how he hoped "the guy who had put 40,000 on the storm to finish last this morning doesnt get paid out... its a crime..."

do bets over a certain amount need to be 'processed'? i wish i knew, but i dont have that kind of money to be placing such bets...

as for the tennis thing, found this on wikipedia (so take it with a grain of salt):

The ATP launched a match fixing investigation of Davydenko's match against Martín Vassallo Arg*ello in Sopot of 2 August 2007, after several large bets were placed at an online British gambling company, Betfair, in Arg*ello's favour after Davydenko had won the first set 6–2. Davydenko withdrew from the match during the third set with a foot injury.[10] Although Davydenko had suffered three first-round defeats in his last three tournaments, was injured in an earlier-round match, and showed signs of injury in the second set,[11] it did not make sense to Betfair that such a heavy betting volume would go in Arg*ello's direction at that point of time in the match. Per its agreement with the ATP, Betfair notified the Tour.[12][13][14] It has since been revealed that nine people based in Russia had bet US$1.5m on Davydenko losing while two unknown people would gain US$6m from the loss.[15][16] A total of $7 m was wagered on the match, ten times the usual amount.[17] Due to these irregularities, all bets were voided. On September 11, 2008 Davydenko, along with Arguello, was cleared of any involvement in match-fixing. At over a year in the process, the inquiry was the longest ever held into match-fixing in tennis.[17] However, Betfair did not return money to those who won money from the match.

 

[asanque]

maybe it was completely automated online?

heard it on SEN today, the ox was saying how he hoped "the guy who had put 40,000 on the storm to finish last this morning doesnt get paid out... its a crime..."

do bets over a certain amount need to be 'processed'? i wish i knew, but i dont have that kind of money to be placing such bets...

as for the tennis thing, found this on wikipedia (so take it with a grain of salt):

The ATP launched a match fixing investigation of Davydenko's match against Martín Vassallo Arg*ello in Sopot of 2 August 2007, after several large bets were placed at an online British gambling company, Betfair, in Arg*ello's favour after Davydenko had won the first set 6–2. Davydenko withdrew from the match during the third set with a foot injury.[10] Although Davydenko had suffered three first-round defeats in his last three tournaments, was injured in an earlier-round match, and showed signs of injury in the second set,[11] it did not make sense to Betfair that such a heavy betting volume would go in Arg*ello's direction at that point of time in the match. Per its agreement with the ATP, Betfair notified the Tour.[12][13][14] It has since been revealed that nine people based in Russia had bet US$1.5m on Davydenko losing while two unknown people would gain US$6m from the loss.[15][16] A total of $7 m was wagered on the match, ten times the usual amount.[17] Due to these irregularities, all bets were voided. On September 11, 2008 Davydenko, along with Arguello, was cleared of any involvement in match-fixing. At over a year in the process, the inquiry was the longest ever held into match-fixing in tennis.[17] However, Betfair did not return money to those who won money from the match.

Even online bets, all bookies have a set limit that is allowed without further authorisation.

I guess the bookies could just void the wooden spoon market.
Would need to check the rules on the wooden spoon market for more clarity on the rules.

 

[Dr Awkward]

i heard someone had $40,000 on them at 250-1... thats like $10 million pay out... you'd think if the betting agency refused to pay the person out, he'd have lawyers onto them in a heart beat...

That is BS. No bookie would take that bet. And if they do then they deserve to die broke.

 

[pacemaker]

Very interested to see if those bets get payed out

 

[adii_7]

i got 120 on @ 150/1 lets see if they pay out...

not really lol

 

[IDIG]

I had a bet earlier in the year for the Melbourne Storm to make the 8 ... do you think that will be refunded now?

Im wondering this too as i put the Storm in a bunch of multis (premiers, top4)..what now?

 

[Caviar]

TAB Sportsbet is going to pay out all bets placed on the Melbourne Storm to win the wooden spoon.

No one had $40,000 on them. They had a bet to win $40,000.

This will be a good thing for the bookies if they pay out because think of all the money they will make from people backing the Storm to win the flag/ top 4/ top 8 or all the money put on any other team to win the wooden spoon. By paying out on the Storm wooden Spoon bets surely they would make a big profit out of it because there would only have been a handfull of bets placed on them.

 

[Harvey Leadpipe]

TAB Sportsbet is going to pay out all bets placed on the Melbourne Storm to win the wooden spoon.

No one had $40,000 on them. They had a bet to win $40,000.

This will be a good thing for the bookies if they pay out because think of all the money they will make from people backing the Storm to win the flag/ top 4/ top 8 or all the money put on any other team to win the wooden spoon. By paying out on the Storm wooden Spoon bets surely they would make a big profit out of it because there would only have been a handfull of bets placed on them.

Correct. And the bookies took a bunch of $50 bets to lose $10k, not $10,000 bets. And you're right again, a small price to pay for writing off the bets placed on the Storm to win the flag, as well as good will for those that got on.

If they don't pay out, they'd stink even more than what they do with flexi-quaddies with abandoned meetings these days.

 

[Lakey91]

Of course they will pay out - what is 50k to them? Imagine how much cash they made last night - all bets of storm for the premiership, minor premiership, top 8, top 4 etc (including all the multis it was in) plus all the bets on Sharks for wooden spoon (that would be a fair bit too IMO) are now wins for them too.

They will have made a packet.