Dramatic Argentina World Cup victory over France gives Kiwi punters $3 million reasons to celebrate

Argentina won its third World Cup title by beating France 4-2 in a penalty shootout after a 2-2 draw at the end of regulation time was followed by the scores remaining locked up at 3-3 as extra time expired on Monday morning (NZT).

More than $3 million was paid out by the New Zealand TAB in winning bets on Lionel Messi’s Argentina after a final that became an instant classic.

The biggest sporting event on the planet has also been a big attraction for the TAB with record-breaking interest from Kiwi punters, but not so much in the result, with just $2.3 million in bets placed, making it a significant losing event.

The 42,000 TAB customers who placed bets on the final broke the record for the highest number of punters to have invested on any single sporting event in the TAB’s 26-year history of sports betting.

More than $1m was paid out when the match was just 36 minutes old due to the TAB’s early payout promotion on head-to-head and the lift the Cup options when goals from Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria powered Argentina to a 2-0 lead, TAB NZ head of betting Nick Conway confirmed.

Had it not been for the early payout promotion, the head-to-head bets would have lost given the match was drawn at the end of regulation time.

That made for a not-so-nervous watch during penalties for backers of Argentina who took the lift the Cup option but it was surely an incredibly anxious time for bookmakers, who risked paying out on France’s lift the Cup option as well if they had have won the penalty shootout.