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On their knees for ole Frankie
http://www.drf.com/news/article/81251.html
How brown can this guy Murphy's nose get in this article? "Under Frank's Direction" "So Frank directed we make" "All this being done with Frank's encouragement" At least they made some changes, now if they could get 8.5 furlong races on the dirt, they would have some serious racing going on.... |
Scav
If Murph isnt the best at what he does I will kiss your ass. Not only that the guy is a top notch and treats people unreal. |
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Honestly, I think he has done nothing but good for the industry, where there are alot of haters of him, but his behind is going to be raw from all the kisses he has there |
No doubt Stronach has revolutionized the game. I long for the day that i'm notified through e-mail that i've been terminated. It is at that moment that I'll know that i've been touched by the hand of GOD.
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I'll tell you one thing " Frank " has done.....ruined Gulfstream Park for horseplayers.
Believe me, it wasn't easy. |
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3M or P&G it ain't.. |
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There is no where to sit for the most part, unless you pay $20 for an indoor simulcast carrel or the dining room minimums... The atmosphere is closed and claustrophobic throughout downstairs. Betting tellers are difficult to access unless you are in the upstairs dining rooms, and those are no bargain either... There's a taste of the new Gulfstream.. |
Other than that it's.....mediocre.
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I got to go to the old Gulfstream about three/four years ago and while it was a dump, it was very nostaligic, but was in extreme need to be updated. Their simucast hall was a bunch of 20 inch TV's that were 10 feet in the air, it was hilarious. Hawthorne was a palace compared to it
BUT, I have to say that it was absolutely awesome to be around an open air type track. Both Arlington and Hawthorne are 'closed' and air-conditioned where the old Gulfstream was complete open air, it was awesome and I am glad I got to see it. I am going their for FOY weekend, I am going to step up and purchase both outdoor seats and indoor simucast so I have some flexibility with what I want to do. |
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yeah, it is brutal....If his vision was that people were going to be at home wagering, then he would have a better site, at least from a functionality standpoint
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This game has changed and will never go back to the way it was as far as people attending the races. People used to attend races because it was the only way you could gamble on them, plain and simple. Now, you can wager from your own home. Its the way the entire culture of America has changed. We shop online, we stop at convenience stores and pay a 50% markup on a bottle of ketchup, we go through drive throughs, etc. Why do we do these things? Lack of time. When I was a kid my Dad worked for IBM. he worked either 7-3 or 8-4 every day and had weekends off. Thats how America was then. It ain't like that anymore. People are constantly on the go and just don't have spare time. They don't have an entire afternoon to spend going to and from and hanging at the racetrack. They just don't have the time. Racetrack attendance is never going to go up, it will only continue to go down. And quite frankly who cares? Its the handle and money bet that drive the game, not how many people are there. You have to take racing to the people by getting it in as many homes as possible and making online wagering as east as possible. They also need to build more Simulcast/Sports Bar/restaurant facilities all over the place. People dont wanna sit around a dreary OTB all day long, but they will watch soem races and make a few bets if they have all the football games going on around them with some decent food and beer. Some folks will walk into these places just to drink and eat and watch football or basketball or baeball and get exposed to the races by accident, and end up liking them. Its a soft sell, not a hard one. You simply won't get folks to just sacrifice their Saturdays with the wife and kids to go to teh track all year, its not gonna happen. But they may log on to the PC for a while and play a few races and then go out and mow the lawn or take the kids to a movie. Stronach knows this, and he knows that the bigger you build a track now, the more empty seats you are gonna have now and in the future. |
You know Oracle, the last time I was in Louisville I noticed that sports bar would have the games on and then also have TVG on. There were several people with their lap tops wagering, drinking and watching the game. Oh yeah, the name of the bar was Buffalo Wild Rings and Wings.
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When I speak about getting wagering into places like restaurants and bars, its because I've seen a few things that have made me think this is a really good idea.
You ever go to a Fridays or chain restaurant place where they have that trivia game you can play on the tv screen? And they have like the Monday night football thing where you can predict the plays and you use that little computer they give you? I myself live that trivia game, and I see people playing the MNF thing all the time. Its fun, and its not even for money. Usually you have to wait for someone to lave to get on of those little devices you play on,because they are all taken. Now thats not even for money!!! People play it because it passes the time and its fun and challenging. Imagine walking into one of these chain places where they give you the same little device and you can buy credit to bet and the races are on a screen or two? If people play the trivia and MNF thing why wouldnt they play races as well? Up here in the Albany area Capital OTB has started doing just that in soem bars and restaurants and its been a rousing success. Its not even smart to play up here doing this because you have to pay a 6% surcharge on your winning bets on gimmicks and 5% on wps bets. But people love it!!! One place in Amsterdam was so successful with it that the guy who owns it added on an expansion to the place that was bigger than the whole place was before he started carrying the races!!! I've been in some of these places and I can see why it works even though you have to be an idiot to take the 6% hit on money paid out. They don't have that stagnant depressing atmosphere that OTBS or tracks have. People sitting there eating and drinking and game son tv, etc and you can bring a wife or gf and she can eat or drink or talk to folks. This is something the industry would be wise to consider focusing more on. Imagine a TVG/Fridays type place alliance where TVG is on in teh bar area all the time and you could get little machines to bet on? You'd make new fans, I'm telling you. |
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I agree, I've seen people doing that in places that acrry TVG with laptops. But imagine if anyone could have a device when they walked in and bet? I'm telling you, it would be a crazy success. |
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