Why I stopped punting on horse racing

Why I stopped punting on horse racing?

The following stems from a personal experience, that I had the misfortune of experiencing. It is by no means intended to degrade, or damage the reputation of any bookmaker, or betting organization. The intention is merely to make punters aware of a legal clause that really caught me by surprise.

Earlier this year (2011), I place at Exacta bet at a bookie, paid in cash, received my ticket, and left the bookie establishment.
Later that afternoon/evening, I discovered that I had placed a winning bet, which paid just over R700.00 for one time, and since I had taken the bet twenty times, I was due to collect just over R14 000.00.

I returned to the bookie establishment, produced the ticket for payment, and was paid out accordingly. I tipped the person that placed my bet initially, deposited R2000.00 into my online betting account, and left with the rest of my winnings.

It was later, after I had spent the winnings, that I was contacted by the bookie establishment, and was informed that they had made a mistake. They claimed that although the bet paid just over R700.00 for one time, at the TAB, the bookie has a limit on their pools, and they were not supposed to pay out the full amount. It turns out that the person capturing the dividends on the bookie system, did not input the limit for the pool, and as a result, the system allowed full payment to be processed.

I was in the first instance shocked by this, but then informed them that the money had already been spent.

They have subsequently;

- Frozen my online betting account, and have taken the balance in the account (approx. R3000.00), and applied it towards the recovery of the money, which they now claim is my debt.

- Engaged attorney’s to recover the money from me.

I contacted the gambling board for assistance in the matter, but they were off no help, so I had to engage an attorney of my own to defend the matter.

As it turns out, they have every right to claim the money back, and to quote, “In law, you have been unjustifiable enriched (basically your wealth / assets have grown at the expense of ******, for which there was no acceptable reason for you to gain)”.
Punters need to be made aware that, even though they win money at the bookies, it might very well be taken back.
Simply put - When are punters allowed to spend their winnings?

I now have to add an additional account to my name, with the bookie’s attorney’s which I have to pay monthly, until it’s paid in full.
This is certainly an experience that I will not be forgetting in a hurry!!!
It seems that us punters are always at a disadvantage!!!
Kind Regards,
Dunraj (082 $$$ $$$$)
P.S. I have all the necessary documents, if this experience needs to be validated…

Enough to slash ones wrists with a rusted blunt knife. I will try to rather ignore this post to prevent the onset of rage , depression and the works . Somehow or other the customer is never right in this game.Is there no-one that can assist here????

who is the bookie? but it sounds like an 'open bet' issue rather than a horse racing issue.

If we bash TAB then we should expose this Bookie - His mistake and should have absorbed the loss - not the punters fault

With respect,the situation was not CAUSED by horseracing.It was CAUSED by placing a normally limitless bet,in a market with limits.
The thread should be headed "Why I stopped punting the Open Bet!"

I agree with Mr H.

Rob you may just reopen the open bet debate which misses the point. The real issue is around a punter being sold short.The punter took the bet in good faith and did not have the rules explained to him upfront. If anybody is liable for the over payment it should be the clerk that accepted the bet and paid it out!

Somehow I don't believe that this is the full story though. There must be more to it than this. I cannot believe that “In law, you have been unjustifiable enriched (basically your wealth / assets have grown at the expense of ******, for which there was no acceptable reason for you to gain)” is reason enough to rule in favour of the complainant surely. So you may not unjustifiably gain but you may be unjustifiably prejudiced by having legal fees etc to pay after the fact. We are talking about R14K and if this rule is applicable to this case then the reverse should also be applicable. i.e. When the bookie takes my cash and an error occurs, I want a portion of the winnings back - Think back to Idols 2008 and the Draw situation.

My rules of punting which bookies are not totally aware of is that every bet I place is a winner! I don't go back with an attorney and ask for half of my R10.00 back.

I've recently heard of bookmakers changing the odds on bets way after they have been struck. I know of two instances where people got emails after the markets moved in soccer stating that their bets had been amended to shorter prices.

What was the bookies limit for 1 exacta?...........

Al,this is a 2 part issue.......If you bet in a market with limits you must accept the consequences.....why does that miss the point?When an exacta pays as much as R700 another 20 tickets probably would have had an effect and is part of the gamble.You win some,you lose some.

(However,If I was paid out by an employee ,acting within the scope of his employment and therefore representing the bookmaker,I would not simply have accepted the interpretation that appears to have prevailed but that is a legal issue. IMO opinion it could be deemed that the bookmaker/employee's acted in a manner that waived the limits,which of course is their right(they are not compulsory)......It could depend on the the written word on the ticket.)

Perhaps you will agree that only participation in the "open bet" lead to this dispute though???????? otherwise this thread would not exist.

Mariner's point is one agree with entirely,and I think could certainly be legally challenged.If I am provided odds,offer my stake and it is accepted I believe a contract exists!
The practice of bookmakers changing contracts at will, stems back to the days when bets were not legally enforcable,so they made their own rules.

En wie k*k in die pomp? The punter:X

Why not name the bookie ?? If they had given me as much kak as they apparently gave you, the least I would do is mention who I was talking about. Is this the full story ?

why not have basic rules and regulations on the back of every bookmakers ticket as this would clarify everything...if the bookie concerned had any fcuking brains he would have met the punter halfway...