18/4/2003 edition

TAB Limited's "Spinner" Bet

TAB Ltd. have recently introduced a simple, numbers' game, "Spinner". We do not recommend playing it.

On the TAB Limited website they tell you that:

"Spinner is the new way of having a bet on horses, trots or dogs. Winning with Spinner is as easy as winning with Two-up - you always have a one in three chance.

However instead of Head and Tails, Spinner has Odds, Evens and Mixed. All you need to do is select whether you think the TAB numbers of the first two placegetters will be:

Both odd numbers (for example 1 and 3) - "ODDS", or
Both even numbers (for example 2 and 4) - "EVENS", or
One odd number and one even number (for example 1 & 2) - "MIXED"

The TAB Ltd. claim that "you always have a one in three chance" is not even correct. Treating Spinner purely as a numbers' game and assuming there are equal numbers of "odds" and "evens" in a race:

Here are the correct odds for a field of 8:
Odds - 1.93 out of nine, not three out of nine
Evens - 1.93 out of nine, not three out of nine
Mixed - 5.14 out of nine, not three out of nine

Here are the correct odds for a field of 10:
Odds - two out of nine, not three out of nine
Evens - two out of nine, not three out of nine
Mixed - five out of nine, not three out of nine

Here are the correct odds for a field of 12:
Odds - 2.05 out of nine, not three out of nine
Evens - 2.05 out of nine, not three out of nine
Mixed - 4.9 out of nine, not three out of nine

Here are the correct odds for a field of 14:
Odds - 2.08 out of nine, not three out of nine
Evens - 2.08 out of nine, not three out of nine
Mixed - 4.84 out of nine, not three out of nine

As you can see, the odds vary depending upon the number of runners in a race. TAB Ltd. should have told you that instead of the incorrect "you always have a one in three chance."

It's also interesting to note that the writer of the TAB Ltd. Spinner promotion may think the readers need further information to show them exactly what
1. "Both odd numbers"
2. "Both even numbers" and
3. "One odd number and one even number" actually means!
Surely "Both odd numbers" doesn't need to be illustrated with an example giving two odds numbers?
Click here to find out why Spinner is a terrible bet

This edition of Punt to Win:
TAB Limited's " Spinner" bet
Why Spinner is a terrible bet
Betting tips
Handicapping tips - weight and class
Money talks - Rosehill betting tips from the track
Money talks - Flemington betting tips from the track
Money talks - Doomben betting tips from the track
Money talks - Cheltenham betting tips from the track
Future winners - unlucky horses
Punt to Win 11/4/2003
Punt to Win index

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