Certified Legendary Thread TAB's- Full of "characters" ???

[Hamingja]

I used to wonder what had happened to the older regulars that came in every day and then suddenly stopped with no explanation. I think dying is more likely than them giving up the punt, moving house or switching to online betting.

 

[Fabab]

There is a guy ive seen a few times at the tab in Perth casino,he waves his ticket in the air and looks at it while the race is on as if to remind him what his bet is.
When horse loses seems like hes swearing in his native language.

My mate and his wife are in the tab area there and texts me what he has bet for us,i asked him if there is a wee guy waving his ticket around ,he said how did you know?

 

[TheJanuaryMan]

One which crops up from time to time:
The TAB operator who dislikes people.

The type who growls at people asking reasonable questions; who snatches tickets from them mumbling; who gives punters a mouthful if they have scratchings. I had one at an agency I went to many years ago and he was an absolute shocker. Until the day I asked him if he was in the right industry in terms of having to talk to people. He actually smiled and rubbed his head thoughtfully. Never had an inch of trouble again with him but there is more than him around.

 

[Shade]

I miss going to my local and seeing the my fellow degenerates in there.

Its the simple things in life hopefully were all back to normal in 21

 

[carloss]

The old guy that spends most of his time collecting cans (cashing them in at 10 cents a can) only to spend that money at the TAB.

 

[NYRB]

One which crops up from time to time:
The TAB operator who dislikes people.

The type who growls at people asking reasonable questions; who snatches tickets from them mumbling; who gives punters a mouthful if they have scratchings. I had one at an agency I went to many years ago and he was an absolute shocker. Until the day I asked him if he was in the right industry in terms of having to talk to people. He actually smiled and rubbed his head thoughtfully. Never had an inch of trouble again with him but there is more than him around.

remember coming into the TAB a decade or so ago and I went in to collect my winnings and the TAB operator was in exact the same mood as explained here. Grumpy, wanted to serve me last, disgruntled, only wanted to payout a certain amount..............

 

[iluvparis]

The old guy that spends most of his time collecting cans (cashing them in at 10 cents a can) only to spend that money at the TAB.

Retirement dreams

 

[FrankGrimes]

remember coming into the TAB a decade or so ago and I went in to collect my winnings and the TAB operator was in exact the same mood as explained here. Grumpy, wanted to serve me last, disgruntled, only wanted to payout a certain amount..............

Now I’m not a machine hog at all but was doing my quaddie one day and the bloke behind starts cracking it saying the race is about to start, (and it was some bush race also not a metro race) when I informed he could fill out a ticket like he would have been Doing for 25 years before machines came in.

 

[Fabab]

Unreal ,my mrs had a voucher for the casino so yesterday we go for a few hours.
I go into sports bar and sure enough theres old mate waving his ticket around,first time we have been in a while too.

 

[Tabcorp]

There is a guy ive seen a few times at the tab in Perth casino,he waves his ticket in the air and looks at it while the race is on as if to remind him what his bet is.
When horse loses seems like hes swearing in his native language.

My mate and his wife are in the tab area there and texts me what he has bet for us,i asked him if there is a wee guy waving his ticket around ,he said how did you know?

I'm not really feeling this one as it's based in a venue of our poor ugly cousin out west TABTouch. On the bright side soon we will take it over for a few cents in the dollar from the mugs that are the WA state government. Muhahahaha.

 

[halapenyo]

There seem to be a few people here who work in a TAB.

How were you guys instructed to deal with a regular winning customer? like if you had a guy that was coming in regularly and winning good money on sports betting, how would you deal with that?

 

[Hamingja]

Agents make money from turnover so winning punters are good for agents.

If your bets standout then the traders will just drop the limits to the venue.

 

[X_box_X]

There seem to be a few people here who work in a TAB.

How were you guys instructed to deal with a regular winning customer? like if you had a guy that was coming in regularly and winning good money on sports betting, how would you deal with that?

I'm not sure if you're being serious or not.

 

[HeathySure]

I'm not sure if you're being serious or not.

its not a bad question. The TAB agencies want customers because they get paid by commission (hence venue mode) but the TAB wants to win so discourages winners. IF there is a trend of one TAB winning with certain bet types they have cameras to see who it is and they can limit that TAB for those type of bets.
Pro's employ people to bet in different TABs but they have to move around so not to arouse suspicion. They all get found out eventually. TAB always wins in the end

 

[X_box_X]

its not a bad question. The TAB agencies want customers because they get paid by commission (hence venue mode) but the TAB wants to win so discourages winners. IF there is a trend of one TAB winning with certain bet types they have cameras to see who it is and they can limit that TAB for those type of bets.
Pro's employ people to bet in different TABs but they have to move around so not to arouse suspicion. They all get found out eventually. TAB always wins in the end

I'm speaking from experience because I've worked on both sides: The TAB operator and the semi professional punter. I can guarantee you there are contingencies in place to restrict the amount the pro's can bet, but it has absolutely nothing with TAB operators taking action. EBTs for certain venues have limits where bets go through to a trader for processing. The same applies for placing bets over the counter at venues identified as a commercial risk.

 

[HeathySure]

I'm speaking from experience because I've worked on both sides: The TAB operator and the semi professional punter. I can guarantee you there are contingencies in place to restrict the amount the pro's can bet, but it has absolutely nothing with TAB operators taking action. EBTs for certain venues have limits where bets go through to a trader for processing. The same applies for placing bets over the counter at venues identified as a commercial risk.

yep i get that but the TAB agencies want the turnover. Its a double edged sword

 

[balmainforever]

Most professionals go jumping from one venue to the next trying to get their bets on.

 

[IKnowtheDog]

Lord knows what shenanigans got missed in the pre camera TAB days

 

[TheJanuaryMan]

Lord knows what shenanigans got missed in the pre camera TAB days

Were there cameras around in 1984 for the Fine Cotton debacle?

 

[deucelow]

In 1984 huge amount of betting was still SP.

 

[TheJanuaryMan]

Mr Omen.
He saw something this morning, read something in a paper or passed an animal which had to be a Lucky Charm and a lead for the day. Known to back things based on the name of a mate's cat, an ex-girlfriend from 20 years ago or a favorite TV show.

Finest moment was when he paid his electricity bill at 6pm the Monday before the Cup so backed Twilight Payment.

 

[halapenyo]

I'm speaking from experience because I've worked on both sides: The TAB operator and the semi professional punter. I can guarantee you there are contingencies in place to restrict the amount the pro's can bet, but it has absolutely nothing with TAB operators taking action. EBTs for certain venues have limits where bets go through to a trader for processing. The same applies for placing bets over the counter at venues identified as a commercial risk.

you mentioned you worked as a TAB operator.

Was it common for people to come in and place big cash bets on things like NBA, NFL etc? Or were most of your customers just betting on horse racing and local sports.

 

[X_box_X]

you mentioned you worked as a TAB operator.

Was it common for people to come in and place big cash bets on things like NBA, NFL etc? Or were most of your customers just betting on horse racing and local sports.

It depends on the time of the week. During a weekday, 95+% were regulars who'd usually bet primarily on racing. It was unusual for someone to approach the counter to place a bet other than racing bets. These are the old fashion punters.

Those who bet on sport would do so using an EBT. A lot of those punters do bet on international sports but I'm not sure about how large those bets were.

I'm not sure about international sports, but I recall a bloke cashing in a winning ticket of $5,000 once. After I finished paying out his winnings (I had to get money out of the safe), he then told me to place a $5,000 bet on Carlton to beat Collingwood.

Apparently the next day (I wasn't working) he cashed in his winning ticket from the Carlton bet and asked to place his entire winnings on another AFL head to head.

 

[halapenyo]

I'm not sure about international sports, but I recall a bloke cashing in a winning ticket of $5,000 once. After I finished paying out his winnings (I had to get money out of the safe), he then told me to place a $5,000 bet on Carlton to beat Collingwood.

Apparently the next day (I wasn't working) he cashed in his winning ticket from the Carlton bet and asked to place his entire winnings on another AFL head to head.

Hypothetically, if that same bloke kept coming in every weekend cashing in big winning tickets, how would you have handled it? like would head office have asked you to stop taking his bets?

Thanks for your insight btw. Much appreciated.

 

[iluvparis]

Hypothetically, if that same bloke kept coming in every weekend cashing in big winning tickets, how would you have handled it? like would head office have asked you to stop taking his bets?

Thanks for your insight btw. Much appreciated.

I believe limits get cut on EBTs that regularly cop big winning bets.