Twenty years ago today, sports betting - legally anyway - got under way in this country when the All Blacks took on the Wallabies at the old Athletic Park. What started out as another branch of the TAB has grown massively.
Sports editor Steve Hepburn discusses the odds with the TAB's Mark Stafford and how far sports betting has come in a generation.
Mark Stafford admits he probably has the best job in the world.
Sure, one not without its pressures, but one most - males anyway - would give their right leg, and probably arm, for.
"It is a great job, you can't deny that, so much fun. You're going into work every day to watch and talk about sport, working in a room where there are big-screen TVs, showing sport all day long,'' he said.
"You are living the dream job, really.''
Stafford, who fronts for the TAB on live sports broadcasts these days, first started as a bookmaker just after the TAB opened sports betting in 1996. He still does a bit of that along with media work for the TAB.
Those early days were light years from where the operation was today.
"It was a lot of fun and we used to think it was quite futuristic but when you look at it now it was quite archaic. You just lived it though. I went to work seven days a week. You just loved it. I was the only person doing rugby back then and you did it all.
"At the start we had five bookmakers. Now we have 30. We used to have a meeting every day and we would set the odds. We had 60 options we could offer. Now we've got 3000. We used to be open 10-6 every day. Just eight hours. Now we're open 23 hours a day.''
Sports betting started off with a turnover of $40 million in that first year. Now it is at $400 million and growing.
"Last year, sports betting worldwide for the first time overtook horse racing in terms of more bets being placed. That is not the case in New Zealand but it is growing all the time.''
Growth has been in double figures in recent years.
He pointed to the David Tua world title boxing bout against Lennox Lewis in 2000 as being the catalyst to give sports betting a leg up.
"Before that I think our biggest event was $700,000. That generated $2.1 million and you just watched the money pour in.''
Boxing is still a big draw but surprisingly basketball drew the most money last year - a staggering $79.5 million.
"It is broadcast through our website so people can watch it and bet. Plus there are seven or eight games going nearly every single day when the NBA is on so there is lots on.''
He said the biggest change had been in live betting.
People could bet on outcomes when the game was going and it had become more in demand.
Head to head, margins and first-try scorers were still the most popular type of bets while overseas, points starts were common.
The key to any betting event was being televised so people could watch their bet unfold.
Betting also helped sports as they received a percentage from bets placed on sport.
Basketball received more than $1 million in funds last year from the TAB while baseball is kept going in New Zealand largely thanks to money from the TAB.
There were fewer big bets placed these days as multibets gave gamblers a change at big money from a relatively small outlay.
Stafford admitted when he first started as a bookmaker it was tense at times.
"It used to be really stressful.
"You would literally lay awake at night and think about the odds,'' he said.
"Early on, you used to look at it day by day and see how you did. But you've got to learn to take a long-term view. Over a month or a year. I think we learnt so much in those first few years.''
The spread of the internet helped with information on teams so getting a sly bet on was unlikely these days.
Stafford said bookmakers were risk managers in a sense as they were out to make money for their employer.
"It is about how to react and when to react. What to do and what not to do. I think you have to be prepared that if a $20,000 bet comes along, are you comfortable with what side you're on'? If you're not then you should not do it.''
Being a rugby man, who does he think will win the Super rugby competition?
"I think the Lions will qualify top, just the way it has played out. But to win it they are going to have to beat two New Zealand teams. Even at home I can't see them doing that.
"I said last week the team which won between the Chiefs and the Crusaders would win it all. And the Chiefs do look pretty good.''
