TAB and TABGOLD’s great new bet Soccer GG, which merges the exciting worlds of soccer and horseracing, starts this Saturday and the pool will kick off with a R50,000 bonus.

“We derived the name from gee-gees, which has long been a slang term for horses. Soccer GG aims to stretch soccer and horseracing fans out of their comfort zones, while simultaneously adding a new level of entertainment to their betting. And to get the bet going, we will add R50,000 to each of the first four Soccer GG pools,” he added.

Vee Moodley of Phumelela.

The Soccer GG bet features five soccer matches and one horse race. To win, players must forecast the results of the soccer matches, which are labelled M1 to M5, and the race which is shown as M6.

As with other TAB soccer bets like Soccer 6, the home team is labelled as Team A and the other as Team B in each game. There are three result options to choose from in each match: 1 = Team A win; 2 = Draw; 3 = Team B win.

In the race, players must mark the numbers of the horses they fancy on the betting form. Tote customers must use the usual horseracing betting form to take their bets and there are posters in all TABs explaining how to take the bet.

As with all multiple-event tote bets, players can take a single entry (one choice in the five soccer matches and the race) for R3 or a permutation, in which multiple choices can be made. The cost is R3 per combination.

Initially, Soccer GG will only be offered on a Saturday but the bet may be expanded to other days depending on the demand.

TAB AND TABGOLD will add R50,000 to each of the first four Soccer GG pools – this Saturday 30 August and Saturdays 6, 13 and 20 September.

Details of the pool for this Saturday:

M1: Free State Stars v Maritzburg M2: QPR v Sunderland M3: Swansea v West Brom M4: Everton v Chelsea M5: Kaizer Chiefs v SuperSport M6: Race 7 Vaal Saturday – the R250,000 August Stakes. Runners are: 1 Across The Ice 2 Midnight Run 3 Killua Castle 4 Nice Stride 5 Isobar 6 Sabadell 7 Anger 8 Global Express 9 Stavinsky 10 Foyle 11 Storm Incoming 12 Velddrifter 13 Chief Sioux (Reserve) 14 Commissionerstreet (Reserve)

If any horse does not run, it is replaced by the tote favourite in Soccer GG bets.