Gambling-Mad Aussies Flock to
Annual Cockroach Race

Mon Jan 19, 8:29 AM ET


By Belinda Goldsmith

CANBERRA, Australia (Reuters) -
Gambling-mad Australians, teased
for willingly betting on two flies
crawling up a wall, have expanded their
horizons -- now they're placing bets
on cockroaches.

A record crowd of
more than 7,000 betters is
expected to
attend the 23rd annual
Cockroach Races
in the east coast city of
Brisbane Jan. 26,
Australia's national day,
with some
bringing their own runners and
others buying
competitors there.

"More and more
people are coming to town
especially for
this premier racing event, where
everyone can be the owner of a
thoroughbred," said organizer Richard
Deery, general manager of Brisbane's
Story Bridge Hotel that hosts the
races.

As the story goes, the race dates
back to the day 23 years ago when
two old betters were sitting in the
bar arguing over which suburb had the
biggest and fastest cockroaches.

Australia is home to about 450
native species of cockroach, which are
not pests and are mainly bush
dwellers, and also has around six
species of pest cockroach, most of
them introduced from outside the
continent and that now plague almost
every house.

The two betters decided to race some
roaches the next day -- and
history was made.

Australians have the highest rate of
gambling in the world, a passion
dating back to when the first
convict settlers, shipped out from Britain in
1788, reportedly bet on cards and
dice.

By the early 1800s, horse racing was
the rage but this has now been
overtaken by the flashing slot or
poker machines that line the walls of
almost every pub, hotel and casino.
More than 20 percent of the world's
poker machines are in Australia,
about five times as many as in the
United States on a per capita basis.

GAMBLING NATION

National gambling statistics
released late last year showed Australians
gambled away a record A$15 billion
($12 billion) in the year to June 2002
-- nearly two percent of Gross
Domestic Product and slightly more than
the nation's defense budget.

Few Australians balk at betting. The
nation grinds to a standstill every
year for the Melbourne Cup horse
race and the nation's richest man,
Kerry Packer, is an unrepentant
gambler, known for spending millions at
the baccarat table. Packer probably
won't be spotted cheering on his
favorite roach, but Deery said
increasing numbers of people were
heading to Brisbane to bet on the 14
races that are run over the day with
contestants encouraged to train and
bring their own cockroaches.

Last year's winner, Osama bin Liner,
was lovingly reared by his owners
who turned up on the day in full
beards and headwear, dressed as the
world's most wanted man. Other past
winners include Drain Lover,
whose name plays on that of two-time
Melbourne Cup winner Rain Lover,
Millennium Bug and Guns'n Roaches,
whose contestants modeled
themselves on the rock band Gun'N
Roses, carrying their roaches in
boxes shaped like tiny guitars.

Deery said people who lacked time to
trap and train their own six-legged
runners could buy a cockroach from
the house stable for A$5 ($4) but
warned that demand always
outstripped supply. All funds raised go to a
local children's hospital.

The races are held on a circular
track with the cockroaches released
from an upturned bucket in the
middle. First to the edge is the winner.
The steeplechase event is a bit
trickier with the runner having to navigate
a circular fence -- well, a garden
hose -- to get to the edge.

Deery said the same cockroach can be
entered in any number of events
for a $5 fee, if you can catch it
after the first race.

"But for the animals it is
short-term success and glory as most don't last
to return the next year," said
Deery.

"They meet a varied end. One year
the steward threw a handful into the
crowd, while another year one better
was talked into eating one, all in
the name of charity." ($1=A$1.28)

Phil A won!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (the race, not the OZ Bucks) JLS