Aussie bookies sigh as New Zealand punters cash in on the cup

SYDNEY - Those odds of 20 to one for a three-horse race were too appealing and New Zealanders climbed aboard.

Australian online betting agency Centrebet said yesterday it was paying out more than $100,000 to New Zealand punters who gambled on their country winning the right to host the 2011 Rugby World Cup, ahead of Japan and South Africa.

"No one saw it coming except Centrebet's Kiwi punters whose wagers went against everything that was said or written about how the vote would go," said Centrebet's Gerard Daffy.

When the flood of New Zealand money came in, Centrebet tightened its price from $21 into just $4. One punter jumped in even then with a $2000 bet.

All the newspaper reports said New Zealand wasn't a serious player, Prime Minister Helen Clark's flight was delayed for a day and Centrebet shifted the price out to $13. The same punter followed up with a $1000 bet. That, and other bets, led the agency to close New Zealand's price at $4.50.

"We had dozens and dozens and dozens of bets of all sizes across the spectrum, so they have got some Centrebet dollars to play with this weekend," said Daffy.

It had been a hard market to set, as he said.

"You don't really know what the price should be. The facts and figures probably pointed towards Japan getting it." However, he said that with only 20 people voting, not all would have been businessmen looking to the future as opposed to wanting to shore up rugby in the countries where the game was already established.

That said, Daffy was surprised to read the Australian Rugby Union admitting it voted for Japan.

"I don't know whether I would have been owning up to that. That wasn't very smart, was it. I thought we were in the trenches together in the wars."

While Centrebet said in its press release that New Zealand punters had taken it to the cleaners, Daffy said that was a euphemism for New Zealand punters doing well.

* Centrebet has the All Blacks at $2.25 to kick off the 2011 Rugby World Cup as the defending champions, while they are $1.12 to beat current titleholder England at Twickenham tomorrow.

- NZPA