Lucrative New Temptation For Punters

The Sunday Age

Sunday August 10, 2008

Tom Reilly

PUNTERS at this year's spring racing carnival face the temptation of the most lucrative trackside bet ever offered in Victoria - one that could make them millionaires in an afternoon.

But the new wagering system, which Tabcorp is confident will be in place by November, has already been criticised by the anti-gambling lobby.

Under the system, punters will be given the almost impossible task of picking the winners of six races in one afternoon, with the lure of riches from a massive prize pool.

Tabcorp managing director of wagering Robert Nason told The Sunday Age: "We consulted with our customers and this is a bet type which they were keen to see offered. We are currently in consultation with the (Victorian and NSW) commissions for gambling regulation, but we hope the bet will be available for the spring carnival."

The Sunday Age believes Tabcorp is hoping that the difficulty of winning the bet, provisionally named Pick 6, will result in a small number of very large payouts that will attract new customers.

A gaming industry insider explained: "This bet will be quite different to anything offered by Tabcorp at the moment and it signals their intent to try and attract new clients . . . Because it's going to be very difficult to pick the six winners, there won't be many winning tickets. And because there won't be many winners, the prizes could be huge, life-changing sums."

Punters will be able to ask for a "quick pick" which randomly selects the horses. The system is similar to that offered by Tattslotto, one of the main streams of gambling Tabcorp is hoping to challenge.

But Inter-Church Gambling Taskforce spokesman Tim Costello warned that the new bet is likely to leave a trail of big losers and could create new gambling addicts.

"We should be cautious about new betting products as they can attract new problem gamblers. People who don't have problems with existing forms of gambling may develop them in relation to new products," he said.

© 2008 The Sunday Age

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