Sportsbet has a reputation of making early payouts from time to time as a marketing promotion. You may recall they paid out all bets on Federer to win Wimbledon prior to the first round in 2009. Federer did win that tournament, but this time, Sportsbet will be regretting having jumped the gun! After watching Day One of the 3rd Ashes Test, Sportsbet elected to pay out all single wagers placed on England to win the Ashes series as well as all single bets on England to retain the Ashes. This applies to wagers placed prior to 11.30am AEDT on Friday, the 17th of December. Sportsbet CEO Matthew Tripp said: “Unfortunately for Australian Cricket fans the writing is on the wall and we can’t see the Aussies coming back from here. We’d be paying out soon enough anyway so punters may as well have their cash now in time for Christmas.” These payouts amount to over $400,000!
For those who don’t follow the cricket, since Day One, the tide has very much turned in Australia’s favour, who now look to wrap up a victory in the third test on day four. This will level the series at 1-1. With two Tests to play, the Ashes is very much again back in the balance.
Should Australia draw the series, then Sportsbet will be hurting on the series winner bets, and should Australia win the series, then Sportsbet will be in a world of pain! This will make things interesting for punters, because Sportsbet may have to adjust their odds to entice punters to back an England victory. We may see a slight discrepancy between their odds and those offered by rival bookmakers.
While the Sportsbet management are mainly Australians, they’ll be cheering England on for the rest of this series!