Big bookie Matthew Tripp doesn't usually have a worry in the world as he ambles down the main street of Darwin on a Saturday morning.
He'll grab a coffee, buy the paper and chat to a few locals before waltzing back to the office. It is a routine as he prepares himself for the afternoon onslaught.
But on a balmy morning in September, Tripp's phone rings and the normally relaxed stroll ends abruptly with the bookie stopping dead in his tracks. "I want to have $1million on the Hussler,'' the voice down the phone line says.
Tripp pauses, his mind processing the very thought of possibly winning or losing more than some people ever earn in a lifetime. "I think we can do business,'' he finally says.
For the next five minutes Tripp paces up and down the street negotiating a price with his client. After some debate, they come to an agreement. Tripp recalled this week how he accepted the bet at $1.65 - risking $650,000 to possibly win $1million.
Weekend Hussler, Australia's best horse, won the Underwood Stakes with ease and Tripp was forced to hand over the cash.
"I have a very good relationship with that individual client. He rings me when he wants a bet, we negotiate a price and we go from there,'' Tripp said. "That was the biggest single wager I have taken this year, but there have been smaller bets that would have resulted in bigger payouts than that one.
"I would be lying if I said I don't get nervous but that's my job, how I live my life - sometimes we win, sometimes we lose.''
This is now a common occurrence for heavyweight corporate bookies who have made staggering fortunes by changing the face of Australian punting. Like the time when Michael Sullivan took on champion Lonhro at his final race start in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes in 2004.
He accepted a bet of $5million on the black flash at the short quote of $1.20. Lonhro lost and Sullivan won. In less than a decade, these super-bookies have built a $4billion betting empire from their remote outpost in the Northern Territory.
Their growth has been so spectacular they are seen as a real threat to the once impregnable TAB.
They dine at the best restaurants. They play golf at some of the world's most exotic courses.
Their presence has transformed the Darwin Cup carnival into one of the most glamorous events on the social calendar because of the sport stars and A-list celebrities brought to the Top End by high-flying corporates.
Not even the global credit crunch has slowed their huge growth. The punters are the big winners as the corporates try to outdo each other and offer the best odds.
At the top of the pile is the experienced Con Kafataris' Centrebet and Sullivan's Sportingbet. The pair turned over a whopping $1.3billion and $1.35billion respectively last financial year.
Centrebet, a publicly listed company, started operating in Poland this year. It plans to expand into another European country next March. Sullivan wrote 165,000 tickets alone on Melbourne Cup Day last month and his business continues to grow at 20 per cent a year.
Closing in on the leading pair is Matt Tripp's Sportsbet. Tripp's company sponsored the Australian Masters Golf tournament in Melbourne last weekend and is expected to turn over more than $1.5billion next year.
"Four years ago we turned over $50million. This year we're aiming for $1.5billion, but that mark could even reach $1.6billion,'' Tripp said.
Michael and Alan Eskander's Betstar, Mark Morrissey's Betchoice and Sean Bartholomew's RacingOdds.com are also some of the other heavy hitters who continue to trade in the millions in sports and racing.
In a showdown that is as fierce as it is unsustainable, these Northern Territory-based companies havetaken on the TAB and offer unprecedented rewards for punters' loyalty. Free bets and holidays have been offered as part of an advertising blitz since rules in NSW were relaxed in September.
Billboards and full-page newspaper ads have been taken out as companies try to win new customers.
Bookmaker Tom Waterhouse is one of the leading bagmen in the country and on track to turn over $250million. But not even his personal milestone would make a ripple with his corporate cousins.
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