The rugby World Cup is a time of earning for many serious sports punters who crunch the numbers, research the teams, calculate the correct odds and attempt to beat the bookies over the six week tournament.
But for every serious, well researched, winning punt there are thousands more that havebeen overly influenced by patriotism, emotion, alcohol or the hunt for a quick thrill.
The TAB today released some of the biggest World Cup bets they have received ahead of the tournament which kick of tomorrow.
The biggest bet registered was $130,000 on any team other than the All Blacks to win the tournament (paying $1.55) while the wildest was $1000 placed on Fiji to beat England by 13 and over in the tournament opener (paying $81).
* A punter has put $10,000 on England to progress through Pool A (paying $1.15) which would return $1,500
OUTRIGHT WINNER BOOK • 43% of the money is on the All Blacks • 14% is on England • 12% Ireland • 10% Australia • 9% South Africa • 3% Wales • 9% Rest of the pack
Meanwhile, 70 percent of all bets placed on the Rugby World Cup with Australian online Bookmaker CrownBet have been on New Zealand to win.
The All Blacks are the short-priced favourites ($2.25) to lift the Webb Ellis Cup for a record third time, with England the next best at $5.00. Australia are on the fourth line of betting, priced at $8.50.