Sports correspondent & historian with Sideline Sid

While an avid horse racing fan since my early teens I am getting increasingly fed up with the incessant TAB ads extolling me to “Get Your Bet On”. 

The gist of the ads, are, when you have a hunch about something you should bet on it online with the TAB. 

Betting on thoroughbred racing goes back to the early settlers in the 1840s with the first recorded full scale meeting held at Epsom, Auckland, in January 1842. 

Early betting in the colony consisted of private wagers and sweepstakes with bookmakers licensed under 1881 legislation. The advent of the Totalisator in the late eighteenth century led to bookmaking being declared illegal in 1911. 

With Totalisator betting only available on the course, illegal bookies seized the opportunity to take mum and dad bets in nearly every town and city hotel and billiard hall in the country. 

There was a sophisticated network set up under the umbrella of the Dominion Sportsmen’s Association to share race meeting information and results. 

Penalties for illegal bookmaking were severe, and there was jail time for repeat offenders. Much of the Police focus of the day outside of violent crime was directed at illegal bookies and sly groggers. 

Off-course betting was finally legalised in 1951 with the establishment of the TAB (Totalisator Agency Board). The first two agency's were established in Dannevirke and Fielding and quickly spread through the regions. 

When I first began to sneak into TABs, being underage in the early sixties, they were austere places hidden away from the public view.  

The objective was to allow off course betting, not to encourage it. No advertising, no broadcasting of races, no seating (encouraging loitering) and no same day payouts.  

Racing played a big part of the fabric of New Zealand society in the 1950’s and the 1960’s. Major races such as the Auckland, Wellington and New Zealand Cups were big news, with punters big and small studying form for days leading up to the big races. 

Grandstands were full to overflowing on track with the patrons decked out in their finest clothes. Hats were a compulsory item for men. TAB’s saw long lines that could take half an hour or more to place your bet. 

Punters, both on and off course, were well informed and knowledgeable about the chances of their fancies. 

Major change came in 1974, with the first computerized betting platform, which dispensed with the handwritten tickets and introduced same day payouts.  

The introduction of Greyhound racing and Sunday racing, sports betting, exotic bets such as quaddies, all-up and fixed odds betting etc, has transformed having a simple win/place bet of my youth into a stratosphere of betting opportunities.  

My old-school concern with today's TAB focus, is that it is all about picking a lucky number to find a winner, rather than putting in the hard yards of studying the form guides as a way to success on the punt.  

History tells us if the pendulum swings too far in one direction there is likely to be an adverse reaction.  

It is likely that the proliferation of TAB ads that extol betting, will come under attention from our politicians to severely limit betting advertisements, as has happened over the ditch.