Betting should surely be fun, simple and easy to understand.
The announcement late last week by TabGold that local Quartet pools with fractional betting on selected UK race meetings returned to the TabGold betting menu from last Thursday following a mixed reception from customers to the introduction of commingled Quartet pools on all UK and Irish race meetings last month, has been been further elaborated on by Gold Circle management.
As things stand at present, local Quartet pools (with fractional betting) are offered on two UK meetings most days, with commingled Quartet pools available on all other UK and Irish meetings.
Given the vast differences in the rate of exchange between the regions it is technically not possible to offer fractional betting on pools commingled internationally. The minimum unit for commingled bets is R1 and this in itself already translates into a fractional bet in international pools.
The unit of betting on the Quartet on the UK tote is 1 Pound – so a customer playing locally in SA at a R1 unit of investment, is only effectively getting approximately 1/24th (or 4%) of the bet depending on the daily rate of exchange.
By way of example, a 4 horse boxed quartet taken here in SA and costing R24 (24 combinations at R1 each) will translate to a 1/24th fractional bet on the UK tote.
In instances where a local ticket is the only winner, the customer will be paid 1/24th (or around 4%) of the net pool with the balance of the pool being carried over.
In such cases, dividends in SA are shown with both the full unit payout (based on our R1 unit) as well as the carry forward amount.
So, in broad terms, and assuming a net pool of R10 000 and only a percentage winner, the local dividends would show a payout of R400 and then a carry-over of R9600 (with the R400 being equivalent to 1/24th of the net pool).
To get the full UK Tote payout on a commingled Quartet requires playing the bet to a R24 unit.
For good order, the media release stated that commingled Quartet pools have been welcomed in some quarters, but many TabGold customers complained that this has resulted in them being unable to play fractional Quartet bets on UK races.
TabGold have taken note of the complaints and customers can enjoy the best of both worlds. As before local Quartet pools with fractional betting will be offered on two UK meetings most days with commingled Quartet pools on all other UK and Irish meetings.
Whether an Irish or UK meeting has local or commingled pools will be displayed clearly on Tab sheet race cards in store and online.
Unfortunately for several reasons, including vast differences in exchange rates, it is not technically possible to offer fractional bets on pools commingled internationally.
The minimum unit for commingled bets is R1 (more in the case of countries like the USA) and this is itself a fractional bet in international tote pools.
As an example, the unit of a UK Tote Quartet is one Pound and a customer playing a R1-unit Quartet with TabGold on a UK race is buying about 1/24th of the bet, depending on the exchange rate on the day. And if that bet is the only winning ticket, the customer will get 1/24th of the pool and the remainder will be carried over. To get the full UK Tote payout on a commingled Quartet requires playing the bet to a R24 unit.
That aside, the introduction of commingled Quartet bets has given TabGold customers many more opportunities to play Quartets on UK and Irish races, and access to bigger pools and payouts.
