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Punters turn to AFL

Punters turn to AFL

27/08/2007 5:43 PM

It appears frustrated punters are turning their attention to the AFL in the wake of the cancellation of nearly all Australian race meetings on the weekend following the outbreak of equine influenza.

Victorian TAB Sportsbet's Gary Davies reported on Monday that betting on the AFL jumped 20 per cent on the weekend at a time when punters were unable to bet on either thoroughbred or harness racing, except for a handful of meetings in far-flung locations such as Darwin and New Zealand which were unaffected.

Davies said he had no doubt the huge increase in football betting was due to the fact that punters were unable to bet on the races.

"It was one of our highest turnover weekends on the footy ever," he said.

And Davies said he expects a similar jump in the usual betting turnover on this week's US Tennis Open, which begins in the early hours of Tuesday morning (Australian time), as punters look for other options to place a bet following Monday's announcement that racing will not resume in Victoria until next Saturday while in New South Wales - the centre of the outbreak - there is unlikely to be any racing until Thursday week.

And with the huge surge on AFL betting and following a dramatic round 21, there have been some major changes to the 2007 premiership market.

Despite suffering its first loss since round five, the Cats remain solid premiership favourites at $2.10, although their price has drifted slightly from last week's quote of $2.

And despite beating St Kilda on Friday night, the Eagles have also drifted from $3.75 to $4.25 following the hamstring injury sustained by key forward Ashley Hansen and with skipper Chris Judd still struggling due to his on-going groin problems.

But the Eagles remain second favourites although Port Adelaide is the big mover after beating the Cats and Hawthorn in successive weeks.

Port has been backed from $9 into $7.50 to win its second flag in four seasons, which is the shortest quote offered on the Power this season.

Hawthorn has also firmed from $13 to $10 following its 84-point demolition of the Bulldogs but Sydney is the big drifter - out from $8.50 to $18 after losing to Collingwood, a result which ensured the Swans cannot finish any higher than seventh meaning they will have to play all their finals in September on the road.

 
Photograph Copyright : Getty Images

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