Vee Moodley. “Pools are up”
The new Pick 6 variation of couplings not applying has drawn mixed reaction after a tough week of finding winners. The TAB carryover policy has also come under the spotlight and Phumelela Betting Executive Vee Moodley has clarified the process for punters wanting the opportunity of getting their money back.
Moodley confirmed that carryovers accumalate from a Thursday to a Wednesday and then get split over the weekend, between a Friday and a Monday.
Last Monday’s Arlington meeting, the first under the new rule, delivered a carryover of R937 975 and today’s Friday 13th Arlington Pick 6 kicks off with a R450 000 starter.
A frustrated Cape punter phoned the Sporting Post this week to express his disappointment with the difficulty encountered in putting a winning Pick 6 together without the couplings.
“I have a percentage philosophy to spending my R1000 per meeting and try to win a fairly small percentage regularly, with the odd decent dividend now and again. I find that over a month or two, I can win a decent total. This week I have been all at sea and am considering chucking the Pick 6 in and rather focussing on the Jackpot. It is impossible to find some of these combinations, and if I wanted to play a Lotto type bet, I would go to the casino or buy a Lotto ticket,” he said.
Emptying our pockets?
The unnamed punter added that policing of racing was even more important, now that the stakes were higher.
“Let’s be frank and say that potential manipulation with stable combinations and jockeys is now more rewarding. The Stipes need to be visible and to take action when a horse suddenly improves 20 lengths. I see that on Monday at Arlington the trainers of both No Question and Velvet Lady were questioned. But can the Stipes ever claimed to have followed up in say two months from now when No Question is running below par? I haven’t seen one instance of it, and the window dressing needs to stop, before we pack it in,” he said.
On the flipside, TAB reported earlier this week that their customers continued to show their approval for couplings being dropped from the Pick 6. The pool at the Vaal on Tuesday attracted 35% more than it normally would.
The R1 145 834 pool was shared among just 3.158 winning tickets. One TAB customer won the full payout and walked away with a cool R362 822. The remaining R783 012 was shared among 17 players who took fractional bets.
Phumelela Betting Executive Vee Moodley said: “The pool was 35% higher than normal. We normally take about R850 000 on a Tuesday Pick 6, which goes to show that making the bet tougher to win appeals to both big and small punters.
“The smallest percentage won was 1% for a dividend of R11 458,” he added.
