Who Are You Talking To John?

[Dunbar]

Originally Posted by randallscott35

Ellis and Laurel. 2 D+ racetracks. And also these were temporary situations. That's not how you create buzz.

The Ellis reduction was for the entire meet. Granted, it's a low level track. But if reducing takeout will only help at the top tier tracks, then let's narrow the focus when talking about what will "help" racing.

I came away from the Ellis 4% pretty discouraged with horseplayers. In general they'd rather bet into a 25% takeout at a track they're familiar with than take the time to follow horses at another track where the takeout is 4%. And even given that, couldn't the serious players muster some action for the Pick 4, even if they were just throwing darts? It wouldn't have taken much to have sent a better signal to other tracks that reducing takeout helps handle. A $100 bet on random horses in a 4% takeout bet costs $4 on average. But almost all bettors would rather kid themselves that they are beating the 25% takeout at the home track than throw a few bucks at a 4% pick-4.

Even if horseplayers are not smart enough to flock to lower track takeouts, the 2nd part of what Crist wrote still makes good sense:

"...not necessarily because players are consciously aware of higher returns, but because they find themselves with a bit more money on hand that they reinvest over and over. They stay in action longer, and they receive more positive reinforcement to keep playing the game because their money seems to last longer and go farther."

Casinos learned this long ago. If they kept too much of the slot money, then customers didn't win often enough and stayed away.

--Dunbar