Adams joins Kenilworth Board
August 20, 2013Eightfold Path to Highdown
August 21, 2013TAB will do away with couplings in Pick 6 bets on South African races from Monday 9 September in a move that is set to boost payouts and re-energise the bet.
“It’s a bold, and in some quarters, controversial step, but after much debate and consultation with a cross section of punters over several months, we believe it’s the right move,” said Phumelela’s Sports Betting Executive Vee Moodley. “Unavoidably, the Pick 6 has gone a bit stale over the years and the combination of couplings, fractional betting and, in more recent times, the first-timer rule has also diminished the bet’s appeal in terms of delivering mega payouts,” added Moodley.
“Removing couplings should refresh the Pick 6. It will be harder to win and the resultant bigger payouts should reignite interest in the bet, as happened with the Jackpot when the couplings and first-timer rules were dropped.”
Several top horseplayers have welcomed the impending removal of the couplings rule from the Pick 6. Champion punter Alvin Pillay thinks it’s a brilliant idea. “It’s time for punters who study hard to be rewarded when they find the ‘wrong one’ in a coupling.”
Leading owner and top TAB customer Greg Blank said he wished the couplings rule had been dropped sooner. “This will separate the men from the boys,” he commented.
Form expert Darryl Maree is also in favour. “It’s clear for all to see that the Jackpot has been rejuvenated by not applying couplings. I’m expecting a similarly positive effect on the Pick 6 once the new rule is in effect.”
While the bracketing of horses trained by the same trainer in the Pick 6 is falling away, TAB will retain the first-timer rule for the time being. Into the future, however, it is intended to drop this rule as well, which will bring the Pick 6 into line with international rules and enable overseas totes to commingle into TAB Pick 6 pools on South African racing.
5 Comments
“A cross-section” of punters were consulted. Interesting choice of words Vee, when Daryl Maree, Greg Blank and a champion punter are quoted. Perhaps it would have been a better idea to consult with a much broader spectrum of punters that make up the massive pools on a daily basis as opposed to a handful of big spending punters. I am glad Vee has considered the P6 “stale” in its current format suggesting/implying its been an “easy” bet to win. Even with couplings and the rest of the existing rules, its been a challenging bet.
Vee fails to make mention of additional bets like the Pick 7, 8 & 9 which he plans to introduce and further deminish the Pick6 pool. He has also fail to take into consideration the other additional bets introduced in the form of the Pick 3, All to Come, Quickmixes, etc which certainly had an impact on the Pick 6 pool. So, in essence, we are to have many more carryovers (esp PE and Kimberly) which will result in a bigger slice of the pie for the operators. Why not remove the 3rd place from the PA as well.
If Vee and co ever wonder why people have been attracted to the casino’s, look no further. Rule changes of this magnitude are never to be found in casino’s. Yet, in my opinion, the odds are stacked against you where casino’s are concerned and it seems the operators of Racing in SA are trying to level those playing fields by ensuring the odds are equally stacked against racegoers.
The next time Vee decides to change any of the betting rules, engage the entire racing community and those interested or those who have an opinion will speak up. There has been no official mention in any media type of this change until first highlighted on the Africanbettingclan website. This get communicated via MDK’s website on 21 Aug, with the change to come into effect on 9 Sept. BRILLIANT!!!!!!!
The very people that make up the pools, that eventually make up the turnover and profit for the operators are the very people that get shunted about with total disregard. I wonder what would happen if companies like Investec, PnP, Old Mutual, etc did the same to their customers. Back to the bookies
For all those who claim the new pick 6 rule will seperate the men from boys its because they got a whole lot of doe to back themselves!!! But what about the small punters who can’t afford to take such big perms who used to wait anxiously with a R50 ticket to see what profit they can make and the thrill of catching the pick 6 with a small amount they invested!!! Its sad to see that racing operators are looking to expand their pockets rather than seeing what their customers really want and whoever said they did their homework on the matter has a lousy source of information because the majority of punters will disagree with this new rule. Congrats guys you really know how to drive us punters away!!!
Horse racing is becoming elitist.Have u ever thought about the poor punters who will now have a better chance of summiting mount Everest than winning a P6,especially the PE one if you consider their fields.
For the average punter who play percentages the pick six is by no means an easy bet to win , already week in week out we see carry overs . Vee and company claim they want to attract the public to horseracing but in my view the introduction of this rule will defiiately not help. One might as well take your money and blow it at the casino’s and still have a better chance of winning . This is tunnel vision and obviously an attempt an attempt to fill the coffers of TAB…very shortsighted!
If a first timer win in any race involving pick6 and jack pot, what is going to happend to the second horse or to my pick 6?