MY MUM used to tell me, you only have yourself to blame.

It was a bleak and frightening message for a young child and I used to say things such as, "What if it isn't my fault?".

Mum, a Richmond supporter who smiled for the first time in 27 years last weekend (to be honest, it was a half smile and it only scored 6.5 out of 10 but it was still a smile), would look at me with eyes as dark as the shark and say, "Accept it like a man".

It didn't seem to matter to her that I was nine.

There was no margin for error when I was a kid and I learnt some tough lessons, tough and certainly unfair. And I didn't realise that these lessons would follow me for the rest of my life, despite my lack of comprehension.

It was like the other day when I put a bet on the Western Bulldogs to beat Essendon by more than 37.5 points at TAB Sportsbet at what seemed to be ridiculously generous odds.

However, after placing the bet I suddenly realised this was a half-time margin. I called TAB Sportsbet immediately and explained what happened but the woman said. "No".

I explained to her that the bet was made a minute ago, the teams hadn't been picked and the game was more than 24 hours away. But the woman said, "No".

It's not that they couldn't take the bet back, but they chose to be ass----s instead.

It's why we should choose our bookmakers carefully.

We use the TAB a lot in Victoria because of convenience and ignorance, but if you shop around you can generally find better odds.

Like for the Geelong-North Melbourne game, Centrebet has Geelong at $1.16 and North at $5.25. Sportingbet Australia has the Cats at $1.17 and the Roos at $5.15. TAB Sportsbet has Geelong at $1.15 and North Melbourne at $5 (strangely, both teams are shorter at TAB Sportsbet).

Of course, at Betfair you can get the Cats at $1.21 and the Roos at $5.50 (just between you and me, the odds are usually best at Betfair).

Betfair and Sportingbet Australia are currently in the Federal Court taking on the Victorian and the NSWs governments over advertising restrictions, which prevents them from advertising in these states.

Let's hope they win and this way we might see better odds for everyone.

Who knows, we might even find customers receive better service and, when you ring the TAB, the woman at the other end — who could only be a stone-hearted Richmond supporter — says something crazy like, "Yes".

As for premiership odds, you can find the Cats at $1.59 at Betfair, meanwhile TAB Sportsbet has them at $1.40.

Competition is good.

And let's hope North Melbourne provides the Cats with a bit of competition this weekend and that way North supporters might finally get off coach Dean Laidley's back (are they hard to please North fans, or what?)

Sportingbet Australia has North Melbourne at $7 to make the grand final.

This weekend could well be the grand final preview.