“What’s gambling really costing you?” is one of seven fancy new taglines the federal government wants corporate bookmakers to say at the end of advertisements spruiking odds and promotions and anything, presumably, featuring Shaquille O’Neal.
Gambling was going to cost bookmaker Matt Tripp and his new betting company Betr a whopping $50 million if favourite Deauville Legend won the Melbourne Cup after a promotion to lure new customers threatened to blow up in his face.
That was the story bubbling away at Flemington on Tuesday as the field made their way to the barriers for the $8 million race. Usually, it’s the bookmakers taking our money. Now the hunter had become the hunted. Or something like that.
“There were many people suggesting it was all a scam,” Tripp told this column. “That it sounded too good to true. And it almost was.”
Betr is the long-awaited online gambling partnership between Tripp and media giant News Corp, which owns 33 per cent of the business. When the wagering start-up was launched last month, it audaciously offered new customers odds of 100-1 for every Cup runner with a maximum bet of $10.
The promotion immediately sparked an investigation from Liquor and Gaming NSW to determine if Betr was illegally inducing people to gamble.
Matt Tripp was squirming in his Julius Marlows as Deauville Legend loomed large in the Melbourne Cup.Credit:Arsineh Houspian
“Liquor and Gaming NSW remains seriously concerned that these advertisements may constitute prohibited inducements to gamble,” a spokesperson said on Thursday. “Betr has responded to our concerns, and we are reviewing this information as part of our ongoing assessment of the matter.”
Not surprisingly, punters climbed into the promotion with many snapping up the ludicrous price being offered for the highly-rated Irish raider Deauville Legend.
About a week out from the race, it was becoming clear in the Melbourne offices of Betr that the marketing stunt was getting away from them.
Yes, it had netted a huge number of new customers – about 300,000, according to Tripp – but the cost would be enormous if the favourite won.
“When the horse loomed up, I thought, ‘Here we go. This is not a good way to start a business…’”
Matt Tripp
Last Thursday, it reduced the price for Deauville Legend and second pick Loft, which was later scratched, to $10. Betr also started backing the horse with the TAB and Sportsbet to minimise its exposure but the loss still would’ve been enormous.
The night before the Cup, Betr punters were surprised when a text pinged on their mobile phones offering a $150 cash-out in bonus bets. It was a terrible deal in comparison to potentially winning $1000 from a $10 outlay on a short-priced favourite.
On the day of the race, the Australian Financial Review reported that Betr was looking at a loss of between $10m and $50m if the favourite saluted. I’d heard talk out of Melbourne of a potential loss of $100m.
“The middle one is correct – $50m,” Tripp confirmed when I put the three figures to him. “I’ve been a bookie for a long time. I’ve run the biggest operations in the land, and the most I’ve ever stuck my neck out to take on a horse has been in a Melbourne Cup. But it [the loss] was between $2 and $3 million.”
Deauville Legend ridden by Kerrin McEvoy during trackwork at Werribee Racecourse.Credit:Racing Photos
Tripp was sitting in his office alongside other ashen-faced Betr executives as the horses paraded before the race.
The knock on Deauville Legend has been it can get overheated in front of a big crowd in the mounting yard. But every expert, on both Network Ten and Racing.com’s coverage, gushed how good the favourite looked as it paraded.
“I thought the same thing,” Tripp said. “A few people also called me from the track and said it presented well. I thought, ‘Shit, that’s all I need’.”
Deauville Legend also had champion jockey Kerrin McEvoy on board and when the horse started to reel in leaders Knights Order and Smokin’ Romans about 450m from the winning post, Tripp’s heart moved its way into his throat.
“When the horse loomed up, I thought, ‘Here we go. This is not a good way to start a business. They’ll all be out to get me tonight’,” he said.
Like many Cup favourites, Deauville Legend faded as they came down the long Flemington straight.
Topweight Gold Trip sailed past and won. Deauville Legend finished fourth. That’s the moment when the blood returned to Tripp’s face.
“It was like a nightclub in our office after the race,” he said.
Because of the outrageous odds being offered, the race was still a loss for Betr. Tripp said about 16,000 backed Gold Trip at $101.
It’s also been claimed that Betr has refused to pay out some bets.
“I’ve read a couple of things that we deactivated accounts and all this sort of rubbish,” Tripp said. “There were a bunch of duplicate accounts trying to open multiple accounts, which wasn’t in the spirit of the way things should be handled. That was a very small section of the 300,000 people who have joined us. Less than one per cent.”
There are enough types debating the scourge of gambling without this column wading in. I like a flutter so it would be hypocritical to slam corporate bookmakers when I use their services, although even serious professional punters tell me they think the wallpaper of gambling advertisements is too much and sends the wrong messages to the kiddies.
Perhaps it’s best to follow the oldest punting adage of them all: “If you don’t have the money to lose, don’t bet.”
Nevertheless, it was interesting to see a bookmaker take on so much risk and squirm in his Julius Marlows as Tripp did.
“It was an offer that’s never been seen before and never will again,” he said.
Tripp, who is also part-owner and chairman of the Melbourne Storm, then boarded a flight to the UK to watch the final weeks of the Rugby League World Cup.
Swans bid farewell to iconic fan
The Sydney Swans have a heavy heart this week following the passing of long-time supporter and mentor Ken Williams, who was 93.
Williams was part of the 75,754-strong crowd that watched South Melbourne beat Richmond in the 1933 VFL grand final and at Princes Park in Melbourne in 1945, cheering on the Bloods in their infamous 1945 “bloodbath” grand final loss to Carlton.
Four years later, he brought some racehorses to Sydney and was supposed to stay for a fortnight but decided to stick around for good.
On a sunny autumn afternoon at the SCG in 1994, he was sitting in his signature position behind the goals when St Kilda’s Tony Lockett infamously broke Peter Caven’s nose.
The Swans faithful became chirpy as the home side got out to an eight-goal lead before Lockett led a miraculous revival.
From a set shot right in front, he homed in on the head of one particular Swans fan. “I got the chance to drill one straight at my ‘mates’ in the stand,” Lockett wrote in his autobiography. “I missed but I’m sure they realised I’d been listening to them all afternoon.”
Swans star Jude Bolton with Kenny Williams after their 2012 grand final win.Credit:Paul Rovere
Years later, it was revealed that one of those “mates” was poor old Kenny. “Plugger used to kick low ‘torps’ [torpedo punts] at him when he was playing for St Kilda and try and kill him,” former Swan Jude Bolton said a few years ago.
Lockett, of course, came to Sydney and became firm friends with Williams.
“When I look back, it was silly kicking the ball at Kenny because if it happened to hit him … you know what I mean,” Lockett wrote. “I am a spur-of-the-moment type of individual. You’re out there and it’s competitive and, yeah, you get worked up. I got to know Kenny pretty well. A more passionate supporter you couldn’t find.”
THE QUOTE
“The last 50 I was thinking, ‘F— me, I’m going to win this here’. It just went forever, the last bit.” – Jockey Mark Zahra drops one of two f-bombs in his post-race interview after piloting Gold Trip to victory in the Melbourne Cup. Stay classy, racing.
THUMBS UP
Victorian Premier Dan Andrews is clearly a reader of this column. After we suggested last week that billionaire tech guru Mike Cannon-Brookes should sponsor Netball Australia to fill the void left by mining heiress Gina Rinehart, the Victorian government snuck in first, throwing $15 million at the financially stricken sport. Well done, Mr Andrews. Buy the Dragons instead, MCB.
THUMBS DOWN
Two things stand out about the Crown Casino contractor who shot an Instagram video from inside Indian captain Virat Kohli’s hotel room in Perth. First, who does that? Second, how clean and well-organised was Kohli’s room, with all his shoes and clothes and caps and supplements and protein powders perfectly laid out? That is next-level OCD and I am here for it.
It’s a big weekend for … Australia, which takes on Afghanistan in its final group match at the T20 World Cup. You’ll give yourself an ice cream headache trying to work out all the different permutations of what’s required to make the semi-finals but, basically, Australia needs to win by a stack of runs or rely on either New Zealand or England losing. Captain Aaron Finch has a dodgy hammy and might not play.
It’s an even bigger weekend for … Nathan Cleary. In a changing-of-the-guard moment on Saturday morning AEDT, the 24-year-old will start at halfback ahead of Daly Cherry-Evans for the Kangaroos in their World Cup quarter-final against Michael Cheika’s Lebanon at the John Smith’s Stadium in Huddersfield.
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