Australian gamblers relearnt an old lesson along with the nation’s cricketers in this week’s record-breaking one-day international in Johannesburg: there’s no such thing as a certainty.
After Australia posted a record one-day total of 434 at the Wanderers Stadium on Sunday, three punters lost Aus$56 000 (about R263 000) betting that South Africa could not beat it.
The odds were not attractive. Two of the gamblers bet Aus$20 000 dollars each with Centrebet at 1,01 to one for the chance to win just Aus$200.
The third put Aus$16 000 on with Sportsbook.com.au at 1,06 to one, hoping to make Aus$960. All was lost when South Africa romped home with one ball to spare.
”I almost didn’t bother putting the odds up between innings,” Centrebet’s Gerard Daffy told the Sydney Morning Herald. ”I didn’t think anyone would be interested. It just goes to show again, there’s no such thing as a certainty. It’s what keeps bookmakers in business.”
Nobody backed South Africa at Centrebet’s odds of 26 to one. At that price, Aus$20 000 would have earned a cool Aus$520 000 (about R2,4-million). — Sapa-AFP