From Tuesday, the fifty cent bet beloved by pensioners and the less affluent in our society becomes a thing of the past - if we front up to the betting machine in our local club or pub after the noon cut off time. The minimum bet allowable from noon onwards increases to three dollars.
The TAB is quick to point out that it has not entirely disappeared. A 50 c bet can still be placed if we use certain phone betting facilities - or make use of the " Easy Bet " self service terminals. It has just disappeared from the club or pub counter machines.
It seems that the TAB is anxious to remove these doddering, slow, old punters from cluttering up their machines to make way for the big spending elite who traditionally place their bets after the noonday gun has been fired. And of course hiking the minimum bet to three dollars raises the TAB profits six fold !
So the fifty cent punter has been shafted to either front the machines before the noon deadline - or get used to learning how to place a bet on a computerised self service terminal, much like those ATM's so despised by the elderly.
This new innovation seems to be a marvel of timing. It arrives as opponents of poker machines are trying to reduce the amount punters can put through those machines - and even be required to obtain a license to gamble on that form of winning or losing money.
In contrast, the TAB is spurning the old timers with their humble fifty-cent bets and demanding that they raise the pot to three dollars.
This may be a risky gamble on the TAB's part. They should remember that adage about demand being met by inevitable supply. We could see the reappearance of SP bookmakers from a past age, setting up shop in clubs and pubs to cheerfully service old people's desire for fifty cent bets.
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