Racing: Odds on TAB lifting phone bet stakes

The TAB is considering raising the minimum wager for operator-assisted telephone betting to $5.

The minimum now is $2 but the TAB announced it would review the situation because it was making a loss.

"The current level is now a loss-making activity and we are looking at ways to address this," said Gary Hooper, general manager channels.

"We have always been aware of a very loyal group of customers who regularly use operator-assisted phonebet to place bets of less than $5, and we have held off increasing the bet level for a number of years, primarily out of loyalty to these customers.

"However with the emergence of the internet and the telephone-based touch tone facilities as mainstream betting channels, customers wanting to place lower-value bets will still be able to do so.

"These channels are already very popular with many punters because they are easy and quick to use."

Hooper said customers would also still be able to place $2 bets at any retail outlet or via Skybet (interactive television wagering) using their Sky remote.

But bets made through a telephone operator which were not of $5 or more were making a loss, Hooper said.

Hooper said telephone betting accounted for 20 per cent of total turnover. But he did not give a direct answer when asked if raising the minimum would result in a backlash from punters.

"I wouldn't express it as that," Hooper said. "The key thing is we are not stopping people from betting. We are just addressing a loss-making activity as would any healthy business."

- NZPA