Regular readers of this article will know that around 90% of my betting takes place on rugby and it is a sport I have been investing in for over 20 years. 

In that time I cannot recall a game having to be abandoned due to poor weather but that is exactly what happened in this week’s Bulls v Western Province game and the end result was a fairly equal split of relieved and disgruntled punters. 

Western Province started fairly firm favourites and the handicap ranged from -7.5 to -10.5.  The Sharks had won their match against the Griquas earlier in the day so Province knew they needed a victory to top the log.  I stay in Johannesburg, around 60 kilometers away from Loftus and was amazed to see a total points line of 63.5 as it had been raining virtually all day with some massive cloud bursts. 

I went under 63.5 total points but my biggest bet was the Bulls to score 27 points or less as I had been very impressed by the WP defense and I couldn’t see the Bulls reaching 28 points in the rain.  Bookies were surprisingly slow to react to the weather conditions but eventually the points line came tumbling down to around the 50 point mark around kickoff.  The start was delayed due to heavy rain and lightning and those, like me, who were on the under points were just hoping we would get a game as it looked certain the bet would be a winner. 

The match kicked off and despite the conditions there was just one team in it and Province raced to a 34-7 half-time lead.  My Bulls points bet was looking good but the match points stake was very much at risk. I was still confident that both would land but the players never came out for the second-half and the game was abandoned.  This meant that all bets not already settled were void and I accepted the news like a veteran punter who realizes that there is no point getting wound up over these things.

Punters who were on the Western Province handicap were understandably upset that their stake was returned as there seemed little doubt that WP would win the game comfortably.  There have to be rules for these rare occurrences though and returning stakes is the only fair way to go about it.

Twitter: @BrentGraham

 
This article was written for the CitiGaming supplement of the Citizen Newspaper and was published on the 18th of October 2018.

Brent Graham is a blogger on www.goodforthegame.co.za and sends a  free weekly e-mail list just CLICK HERE to register