In Australia arguably the most feared punter over the past few decades is none other than Zeljko Ranogajec. He and his team of quantitative analysts contribute heavily to totes and betting exchanges here in Australia and all around the world.
Zeljko’s story is a fascinating one and extends well beyond betting on horses and controlling tote prices.
Born in 1961, his parents were Croatian immigrants and he went on to study Law and Commerce at the University of Tasmania.
Blackjack and card counting
It was in these early years that ‘Z’ started to count cards at the Wrest Point Casino.
He met his wife at the casino and soon moved to New South Wales to continue studying and where he subsequently would launch his professional gambling career.
Over the next few years, he would become blacklisted (banned) from basically every casino in Australia and the United States for his cards exploits.
In 2011, Zeljko was inducted into the Blackjack Hall Of Fame!
Punting Star: Sean Bartholomew
Horse Racing, Greyhounds and Harness Racing
Zeljko and his team are now famous for betting on just about anything they can find an edge in.
In Australia, that means playing into all of the domestic totes and receiving large rebates from S-TAB, NSW and UBet to level out the pools with their data models and ‘robot’ analytic betting techniques.
He employs hundreds of people ranging from on-track ‘runners’ to IT developers and data scientists to optimize his projections and ratings and consistently maintain an edge in all of the markets they play in.
The exact volume of turnover he does in Australia and on overseas racing currently is unknown but the numbers would be astronomical.
You’ve only got to look at the flood of money into Australian tote pools in the last thirty seconds of betting to get an idea for the type of money his operation can outlay on a given day.
In 2010, it was estimated in an article that appeared across NewsCorp websites and newspapers that he accounts for 6-8 per cent of Tabcorp’s $10 billion Australian betting turnover.
While the same article cited that Zeljko and his team accounted for almost one-third of the transactions on the betting exchange, Betfair.
The Taxman, the punting man and the quiet man
Over the years Zeljko has been investigated by the taxation office many times as they try to deem if they can tax his gambling income.
Remembering that in Australia currently, recreational gambling winnings are not taxable.
The eventual outcome in October of 2012, seemed to contradict years of legal precedent that gambling winnings are not assessable as taxable income.
Zeljko was trying to prove that his gambling exploits are not a legitimate business and therefore he wasn’t required to pay tax on his winnings.
The ATO disagreed and it is believed that Zeljko was made to return a hefty amount of his winnings to the Tax Office.
He’s known as a quiet, calculated and secluded punter who prefers to stay well out of the public eye and go about his business with relative secrecy.
He’s also known to target some of the most liquid events where the most recreational money is present in the betting pools and exchanges.
It is here where his biggest edge lies, but it’s certainly not the only type of racing that his team will bet on.
In fact, it’s believed that they bet on every single Australian horse race and the majority of Dogs and Trots races as well!