11.4% takeout at Laurel?
 

DRF.com has a story that starts...

"Laurel Park in Maryland plans to cut its takeout during its 10-day summer meet to a blended rate of 11.4 percent, the lowest take in the country, officials for Laurel said on Wednesday. Laurel's summer meet runs from Aug. 10 to Aug. 23."

(But the link to the rest of the story doesn't work for me.)

Perhaps the Ellis experiment with the 4% takeout on the late Pick-4 is already having a ripple effect.

--Dunbar

I could have swore someone here predicted this could lead to a marketing trend amonst struggling tracks.:D

And Laurel is a struggling track ........rigormortis comes to mind!!!

Its sad
 

b/c I know my home tracks will never adopt lower takeout for different reasons.

Lone Star Park will never get it b/c they don't need to. The average a lot of handle for every card nearly 2 million and 1.6 mil comes from off track.

They've cornered the DFW Market.

Fairmount Park will never get it b/c they are competing with the casinos on the river which have dominated since 1990.

Frank Stronach and the boys at MEC are always in the giving mood......11.4% takeout or not the degenerates who want to play the slots and the horses will just head 60 miles north to Delaware Park or 60 miles west Charles Town

i wonder what kind of takeout there's gonna be at the Timonium meet?

-bt-

Unless that takeout applies to on track betting only I imagine the customer base they will be trying to appeal to is the off track betting one. I doubt people are showing up in droves to Ellis Park but a lot more people are betting their Pick 4's off track.

I rarely play the Maryland circuit, but I will certainly be participating during their 10 day meeting. The New York and So. Cal circuits will always handle big money, but for lower level circuits like Maryland, how else are they supposed to attract bettors. It's pretty obvious they are not going to get slots any time soon, so a lower takeout is really their only option. Lowering the takeout to such low levels across the board should get the attention of all serious players. They could see their handle triple if they can get the word out.

The link to the full drf.com article is now working:

http://www.drf.com/news/article/86758.html

Here are some details from the article:

"Laurel is actually cutting the takeout rate to 10 percent, but because of legislatively mandated contributions to a fund for the Maryland Million, a series of stakes for horses sired by stallions that stand in the state, the exact takeout rates for Laurel's three categories of pools will be 11 percent for win, place, and show wagers; 12 percent for exactas and daily doubles; and 10.75 percent for trifectas, superfectas, pick three, pick four, and pick six bets."

Gee, I can try to beat the 25% takeout on the tri at Saratoga, the 20% takeout on the tri at Del Mar, or the 10.75% takeout on the tri at Laurel.

Let's see how smart horseplayers really are. I know takeout isn't the only relevant variable, but other factors have to be huge to offset the difference between a 25% takeout and a 10.75% takeout.

Here's an important quote from the article:

""We're so far down the pecking order at that time [with Del Mar and Saratoga running] that I want to do something to bump us up," Raffetto said. "Everyone in the industry always says this is the right thing to do, everyone always walks the walks, and now we're going to try it.""

This is another experiment (like the Ellis Park Pick-4) that could help shape the future of betting. Raffetto goes on to say they will need a 10% increase in on-track handle and a 30% increase in out-of-state handle to break even. I hope they get it.

--Dunbar

The horseplayers MUST embrace Laurel during this period. This is a trial run for things to come. It's a ballsy move by Magna and MD racing, and I love it. You better believe I'll take a look at their cards at this takeout rate!!!

I've traded some emails with Ron Geary at Ellis. Their p-4 pool Saturday was $64,000, or 4x what it was the same day last year. I'll be shocked if it doesn't go over $100,000 this weekend. They are also seeing increases in the non p-4 pools which is the payback for them. Good for them. Laurel too.

Agreed. I will make every effort to play at least 5 of these cards. If this experiment works, who knows what's in store for takeouts across the country. I think everybody should make an effort to play at least one day seriously during this meet.

Shockingly, I haven't bet a dime since the Belmont, but you can be dang sure I'll be checking out some Laurel cards during this period.

New Math: 10%= 100%
 

Laurel's announcement that they will offer wagering with approximately a 10% takeout means there is a 100% chance that I will come out of temporary retirement to play the Laurel meet.

As Robfla can testify, I already came out of temporary retirement once for the Summit of Speed card. But that was ONLY because I live so close to Calder. Other than that, I have been true to my word....

...except for that really big carryover at Hollywood.

So, other than the carryover, the Summit of Speed, and the Laurel meet, I will have been true to my word.

Oh, I also played horses for about 20 minutes between poker tournaments at Gulfstream Park on Sunday. But that doesn't really count.

you are only fooling yourself:eek:

You call it retirement Justin. I call it sabbatical. I've been on "sabbatical since the day after the Belmont Stakes, except for one Saturday where I stumbled across an easy-bet location for about a half hour and I also chased a Pick-6 carryover at Belmont a few weeks ago. The sabbatical is over on Wednesday, July 25th at 1:00 P.M. when Tom Durkin says with the Spa crowd.."And they're off at Saratoga!!"

you will have to pardon those of us that don't give a crap...

I was good til Father's Day...then the "wheels" fell off! :mad:
we're limping into the Spa with the phone-a-bet account, but things could turn around fast! :) or not :(

Agreed. *Merge*..

I will no doubt fit betting Laurel into my schedule.

Hopefully I can find time to get some sleep in over the next couple months.

I will absolutely be playing this track heavy. If bettors don't support this, they are crazy. Not only that, I would imagine Laurel will really try to get a lot of use out of the beautiful turf course they renovated a few years back.

Except that a number of off-track units aren't taking the bet due to the fact that they stand to lose money after application of their sub-license signal fees..

...which is a real shame. What these ADW people don't realize is the $1-2 they would lose on a $100 P4 (4% takeout - ~5-6% signal fee) is MORE than made up for by additional wagering on the card. It's common business practice in retail to have "loss leaders" which is precisely what Ellis is doing here. If you could find a list of outlets that aren't taking the bet I'll write a letter on behalf of horseplayers to them.

It is a shame and I'll also write and call those non-participating outlets as well. With 80-90% of total handle off-track I guess for this to really work well they are going to need to amend the signal fee contracts, in effect splitting out the p-4 from other wagers.

Another wagering pet peeve of mine: you cannot play .10 supers from any facility that offers the wager or .50 pick 5's from Monmouth at NYRA- minimum bet, a buck. Their excuse- "it takes too long" (meanwhile there were 20 open terminals right next to where I was having the discussion :rolleyes: )

Seriously, do the OTB's have the power today that they held 5-10 years ago with the internert? I have not been to an OTB in several years. Most of the tracks are going to their own ADW system anyways.

yea the 11 % is good. a short 10 days, will they do it on the other meet.
going against toga and del mar in august is tuff.

NYRA is taking the Ellis pic-4, so everyone heading to Saratoga this summer ought to make a point to invest at least a few dollars into that pool.

Put it another way, do the racetracks have less power than they did 5-10 years ago? Interstate wagering and ADW wagering now account for 80%+ of handle at 90%+ of meets (SoCal and Belmont handle more ontrack, 30-40%). From what I read, ADW wagering is the sole growth segment of the three. When Keeneland tried a couple years ago to lower takeout on exotics, a number of Mid-Atlantic tracks dropped their signal citing they would lose handle on their product to Keeneland's more attractive pools. Keeneland backed down. The biggest problem is that the 'signal fee' contracts between host tracks and those importing the signal (Interstate/ADW) generally provide for the host track keeping only 20-25% of total takeout vs 75-80% to those not actually running the races. Here's an example.... On a typical Saturday afternoon at Palm Beach Kennel Club they handle about $200,000 on-track for their own races. They also handle over $400,000 on Gulfstream. NYRA and Santa Anita combined. Their expenses on that T-bred handle are modest and yet they keep 75% of the takeout, making it more profitable than their live handle on their own product. It does not make sense, at least to me. The problem dates back to when simulcasting started in the '80's and people managing racetracks made the incorrect assumption that interstate wagering would be "found" or extra handle and their own on track handle would not be cannibalized. They could not have been more wrong.

Sniff...sniff....LicK......Lick...Good, the A-Hole is clean.

Don't mess with the colon...your life could depend on it!

I know first hand. :(

It was my impression of an anal douchebag. Do you know anyone like that?

In addition to my boring "sabbatical", I'm also trying to dry out from the wild reunion week so I'm a little "touchy." You know the desire to rip someone's throat out at the drop of a hat. Ever felt that way before?

"Dry out" :eek:

It was a good weekend, we're not as young as we use to be! :D

and to answer your next question...YES, but I doubt they will show thier face! ;)

I'll chime in! :)

Things are cool. I'm looking forward to Opening Day Festivities. I haven't heard from the gang on E-Street in awhile. Got some great pictures of the reunion. I'm getting giddy, might have to tip a few back tomorrow.

I'm here...stick to the topic damn it

Can I bet the Laurel card with COTB phone account?


(Very thirsty...will have lots o' beer Saturday)

What..are you buying a purse on Saturday or are you hosting the party instead of the wife? I don't use brisnet, youbet, or any of those. I use
"betwithYac".

In between "smokes", drives the old guys crazy! :eek:

Anyday is a good day for lots o' "cold ones"! :D