General question: What else do you wager on?
 

what else do you wager on besides horse racing?
(poker, roulette, craps, slots, etc...)

and is horse racing your first choice when wagering?

what draws your individual interest to horse racing?

does Hialeah Park still exist or was it demolished?

thanks to all who may answer.

cock fighting

no

big horse cocks

did you have a bad day?

What's a matter a guy can't like cocks?


But to answer your question,
Poker, Craps, Blackjack, Jai-Alai (absolutley love it)

Horse Racing is definitely first

I love the sport itself, plus trying to figure out the puzzle to selecting the right horses and make the according wagers on them. Besides there is nothing better than a beautiful day at the track (especially if it's Saratoga)!

Tried that once, did not get the bug. All I could think was "those cheating bastards". Plus, I could never tell if I was winning.

You can tell tonight though!!! How are you gonna sleep after that hit????

sleep? what's that?

had to laugh though when my wife said "everytime we have afternoon sex, you hit the pic 6", I was like **** I should be hitting one 7 or 8 times a week then. (I know too much info, been hittin a little of Spyders bourbon)

Oh boy do they cheat. I only went a few times but I thought it was great. I looked at it like it was professional wrestling with betting. But I remeber one time I had a guy bet in singles and he was dropping balls right at him. It was ridiculous how bad he was. Two games later the guy who I had bet was going to close the game out against the guy who I bet earlier who couldn't catch a beach ball. All of a sudden he turned into spiderman scaling the wall and climbing the net making every throw knocking my guy out and killing my bet. The cool part was that you were able to yell at the guys and everyone would hear you, because there was only like 18 people in the whole place. Ahh those were the good old days. My wife and I were DINKS. Double Income No Kids.

hilarious stuff....congrats again...looks like your afternoons are going to be good for a while to come.

thanks 9-1. football, horses, nooners, who could ask for more?

good stuff, I do remember the yelling, but it was kind of like betting on squash. how many of those frontons (sp?) are still open?

Jesus I would be happy with one of the first two. As far as the nooners go, it just doesn't happen in this neck of the woods. There's always someone running around. Come to think of it, the last time it happened we had a package 9 months later. Maybe that's the real reason. Reguardless we are strictly a night couple!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFQUb...eature=related

sorry, someone had to do it.

Hilarious and right on the money. I used to love going to Tampa Jai Alai, back in my SINWKS (Single Income No Wife or Kids). I knew the deal, but couldn't resist the $.50 beer nights. The more the beer flowed the louder the degerates got. The "players" had to hate those nights. I can only imagine the conversations in their locker room bitching about the drunks yelling at them. Back in the days before ADWs and simulacasting, it was the only form of gambling other than the dogs. Sadly, there is a Home Depot where the fronton used to be.

To answer the original questions.....

ok

What else do I gamble on?

1. Been married to a red head for 25 years
2. Have a son in his third year of second year in college
3. Own my own business

I play horses as it's the only thing I can gamble on where I have some amount of control.

Spyder

at our local bar we have 2 pools. One when the lake will freeze (I know boring) and the 2nd for when the first snowmoblile will go through. The first occured 1/2. Still waiting on the second but I have this Friday as my date. (also last 3 yrs the sled thru the ice contest has been an Illini going thru and a Badger collecting. Two on rented snowmobiles) Now guess what a sled at 50-80 ft. costs to retrieve? And it must be done cause there's a $150/day DNR fine until removed.

Ever wonder why the registration numbers always seem to be worn off? Now you know.

Oh an on my off days from the pools I play some horses

Horse racing is my first passion

Love to play poker, but no good local cash games, so I dabble a little online. Sadly, but fortunately, I live far enough away from places that offer poker games or craps. If I am in Vegas, 75% of my time is spent at the craps table or at Blackjack tables.

Sports betting no longer holds any appeal to me and hasn't for years. I would rather watch a monkey f*ck a football than bet on a bunch of guys throwing it around.

Horse racing is the only thing I gamble on. I don't even buy scratch tickets

I enjoy the handicapping puzzle and the sense of accomplishment when my pick wins

Horse racing is my favorite. It requires preparation though since I like to handicap like many of you do.

If I'm in a casino and have not prepared to do the races, I'll play Texas Hold 'Em in the poker room, or shoot craps. Slot machines bore me to tears.

Last year I spent time on video poker, blackjack, horseracing, and sports, in that order. My focus depends on what kind of edge I think I have. But I have an interest in horseracing whether I'm betting on it or not.

--Dunbar

Football, basketball, baseball, hockey, occasional soccer, canadian football, arena football, horse racing, dog racing, fishing tournaments, golf, craps, blackjack, and a poker game here and there....then there's my day job as a real estate developer.

I bet on the spelling bee once.

I was giving kids like the one in MaTH's avatar the horns as they appeared on TV... and shouting obscenities hoping they would foul up words I can't even spell. It was pretty sad actually.

Thats good to know. If either of them ever make it in I will have you over. It will be good practice for the real thing!
Do you do school plays? The kid up the block who we don't like is in one this week. It is a non betting entity but I would make it worth your while.

Sad, but very very funny.

There's an interesting book on betting Jai-Alai. "Jai Alai Wagering To Win", by Don Lostritto (1985). He calculates the inherent bias that the play format imposes on certain exacta combinations. (Even if each player has a 50% chance of winning every point, some exactas are far more likely than other exactas.) If you bet Jai Alai, I'm sure you already know that; but you may not know the degree of the effect. For example, if everyone is of equal skill (and no one is cheating), then it's 10 times more likely there will be a 3-1 exacta than a 6-8 exacta.

--Dunbar

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...

..

I used to have a sheet of like 100+ trifecta combos to play EACH game. ( the tellers hated me ) The numbers would hit like 75% of the time and pay 150-250. This was years ago when there was actually money in Jai Alai pools. The numbers NOT on there were like 8-7-6, 8-7-1, and other numbers that based on the rotation rarely came in, but when they did, usually due to a playoff or extremely long or short game, the tri's would pay 700+. There were quite a few people playing "the numbers".

Used to be a fun sport to watch and bet back in the early 80's

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Dishlickers allways no 3,Ants walking towards a crack,Female Breasts weather they are fake or not,Rugby usually for beer.
Also had a bet on weather Mr kennedy would beat the undertaker.

The book I mentioned has tri prob's, too. The most likely tri's (under the assumption of each player having an equal chance to win every point) are 142 and 241 at 0.94% probability. Next is 152 and 251 at 0.84%. And 413 and 423 at 0.81%.

The least likely tri's are 487, 567, 578, 678, and 687 which all have less than 0.005% chance of coming in. (they are listed as 0.00% in the book.)

As you realized back then, there's a humongous built-in difference in each tri's likelihood. The likely tri's were 100-200 times more likely to come in than the least likely tri's (under the same assumptions) A lot of players just played their favorite numbers, and in most cases I think it had little to do with the built in bias.

--Dunbar

caveat: Even though the approach is clearly correct, I've never checked the fig's in the book. It wouldn't be hard to check them, though.

I only bet on the horses.

No football, casinos, etc.

Don't follow any other sport and don't follow other horsie stuff (dressage, etc).

Racing, period. :)

I had a friend once (RIP), who used to take mexican jumping beans (the real ones) into the bar with him and bet on which one would make it outside the circle first. Before he went, he would always take out the liveliest ones for himself. He made quite a bit of money. You'd be surprized how many people are willing to gamble on jumping beans. He was the finest jumping bean trainer I ever knew.

First choice when wagering? Good question. I love thoroughbred racing and undoubtedly get the greatest enjoyment and escapism by watching the races and betting some $$. For me, a great thing about betting on racing is that I can enjoy it with a $10 bet, or a $300 bet. And I probably enjoy it to almost a similar level with no bet, if I'm at a live track.

But first choice for wagering to make $$ would be blackjack. I'm only a three to four hour drive from Tahoe or Reno so do get to play several times a year. I don't play the Tribal casinos. I know things have changed, but in prior years blackjack rules were different in many of those casinos. Fewer double downs, etc.

Things have changed with the years, but a few years ago when dog racing was very well attended in Florida.....and I lived there.....I won a very high % of the time. Now with smaller pools and a changed game, the opportunity is different.

I went to my first thoroughbred race track as an infant, and truly have never had a day at a race track I didn't enjoy.....even if I walked out as a loser.

I used to attend Northfield when I lived in Ohio, and attended Pompano in Florida. These days, no way do I bet horses pulling a sulky.

The only time these days I play pro sports is around the Super Bowl when I'll toss some "BS" bets on several angles just to make the game interesting. Other than that, betting on pro sports just isn't fun for me. I learned years ago that I enjoy a game far more when I can just watch as a fan as opposed.....for example...... to watching some NBA team commit a bunch of last minute fouls that make or break a point spread in a game where the winner has essentially already been decided.

I consider myself extraordinarily fortunate to have been a regular attendee at the Hialeah meets of the late 1970's and early 1980's. The nostalgia and reputation was very much in place, and the racing and crowds were still great....and the track an absolute marvel.

Horse racing is by far my favorite. Will play hold em every now and then, but damn it gets boring. Never liked the slots. Never understood how people can sit and push buttons for hours. No thinking, no fun..

Used to bet on football till I found out I had just as good a shot by flipping a coin then actually trying to study a particular game.

The whole "horse racing" experience whether at the track or watching on tv is second to none.

Oh, and probably the thing I love about horse racing the most is that it's not a game for the lazy. You prepare yourself and work at the capping and most of the time you are rewarded. You slack off and bet numbers, and you won't be around long.

I have.......
 

Played slots, I don't play them enough to say they are boring. It's a fun thing when I go visit my sister, we go to Charles Town racing and slots. Other than a small weekly football pool at work (which I created and run), Horses and a bit of harness are first with me.