Greyhound Racing

[westcoastinvader]

Originally Posted by Cardus

If I like a dog to win, I'll place my win bet as soon as the windows open for that race. The board will read "1/5," but it will scare people away from playing it. Its odds will float.

I have a left over voucher from my last trip to Orange Park. I'm returning to the area in September or October for a few months. I'll be there again.

Cardus, Interesting perspective, I never thought of that.


My favorite dog of all time was Derek's Cadillac. I was there for four or five of his 16 wins in a row some years back.

His Dad was Irish Cadillac. Irish Cadillac would pick a fight mid race and try to bite another dog...muzzle and all.....and still come back to win.

I spent a single New Year's Eve at the dog track in Hollywood FL.

The doggies came out in tuxedos before the feature race. No lie!

Those dogs have personality, and I DO love to watch them run.

Thankfully, there are groups working diligently to help guarantee a humane aspect to what has in the past been an ugly part of the sport.


I guess it's a good think Michael Vick has never owned greyhounds......

[bigjag0716]

I played it up in Reno a few times. The teller there told me not to even try to handicapp the race, just go by the odds. I usually just boxed 3 horses....oops, I mean dogs in the exacta.

[mes5107]

Originally Posted by Cardus

For the Wonderland Derby (3/8ths), the lead outs (?) all wore tuxedos! I loved it.

When I first started working at Plainfield, we had a couple of tuxedo races each year. I believe one was called the Blazing Red Memorial. I was 16 when I started working there and didn't really know much about it, but I ended up working there for 7 years and learned a great deal about greyhound racing as I moved up the racing official ladder.

As was mentioned before, the break and the run up to the first turn is key. Each track has its own post position bias. The stats are usually available on the track website. Most often, the 1 hole is best. I tend to give a good deal of consideration to grade drops, for example a dog who has been racing in C the past couple of races in now down in grade D against weaker competition. A double grade drop (A->C or B->D) is even better, though sometimes it is clear that the dog's ability is dropping as well. Times are good to look at, though the trip factors hugely into the final time. Replays are a very good handicapping aid, if available.

[GBBob]

Originally Posted by unassailable08

you've been reading Prof Jones is book how to win at greyhound racing.

I'm following similar patterns that he talks about.

Haven't bet the greyhounds since, but I will be soon enough.

Aaron

I'll ask my Hound when I go upstairs about what to look for. He's asleep in our bed now. Turned 9 yesterday

[SentToStud]

Originally Posted by unassailable08

you've been reading Prof Jones is book how to win at greyhound racing.

I'm following similar patterns that he talks about.

Haven't bet the greyhounds since, but I will be soon enough.

Aaron

Professor?

I was in the neighborhood and wanted to be a horse at Santa Anita so I went into the Hollywood Dog Track. Saw a few likely felons and assorted petty criminals but noone who looked like a professor. The Professor must have been on sabattical that night. Very scraggly crew there. On the other hand, Palm Beach on a Saturday is packed with people playing Gulf and NYRA. Totally different crowd at PBKC but anyone under 60 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

[hi_im_god]

Originally Posted by westcoastinvader

Have you ever been a bowler?

If so, you may know some bowlers are "spot" bowlers. They make the roll strategy "simple" by picking a spot on the set of arrows that is most likely going to result in their particular roll style hit the desired spot on the standing pins.

That's a way to handicap greyhounds, to some degree. Particularly in a 5/16 race if you can simply handicap the 3 or 4 dogs to come out of the first turn and still be near the lead you could have a pretty good chance in quinella, exacta and trifecta wagers.

Any dog that has a chance of closing from beyond the top 4 after the first turn usually shows pretty clearly in the form and can be factored/played accordingly.

I pay close attention to past performance in terms of a dog liking an inside or outside route, and then look at speed and endurance. If a dog looks like it likes an inside route, and has the speed to clear the first turn in front.....and doesn't show a tendency to tire.....that's a solid play.

Of course the #1 dog has a statistical advantage in most cases because normally there will not be a dog on the inside of it on the front stretch to drift out and knock offstride. On a similar note, I do look for likely collisions that could happen on the first turn due to multiple dogs likely wanting to be in the same place at the same time.

I've played dog tracks from Florida (every one, including the old track at South Beach.....long gone), Wisconsin, Arizona, New England and I think every state that has/had 'em including West "by golly" Virginia.

I've done pretty well over the years. Oh, and by the way, don't bet every race....of course. Pick your spots. And if you play win-place-show watch the pools closely. Normally not much $$ there and it's amazing how low of a "win" wager can make the odds board change.

I miss the dog tracks. Wish we had 'em out here in California.

this is probably a better strategy than what i was do.

i always bet the gray.

i win some but it never seems to cover the takeout.

[Thunder Gulch]

A dogtrack regular was discussing his strategy with me that made some sense. As everyone keeps harping on, dogs are all about the trip and those in the clear have big advantages. That's why the 1 and 8 win more than their share since they will only have competition on one side and can avoid a pinch. The break is critical. Anyway, the theory is to track the tendency of a given dog to break "in", "straight", or "out". He knows them well enough to see if a dog breaks the say way over and over. By tracking these tendencies, you can identify the ones that will break into each other and the ones that will get the clear run. For example, you look at the 3 and see he goes straight, while the 2 usually goes in and the 4 goes out. That will give him a couple of paths of clear space. On a negative, find a favorite that will likely have problems with an adjacent dog and bet against. Obviously you have to track the dogs and watch some tape to pick up on this, but since they race every few days, I would think the initial homework could sustain itself for awhile at a given racetrack.

[golfer]

The MAIN problem with dog racing is the small pools, thereby smaller payouts relative to the difficulty in coming up with the winning numbers. The only "life changing" score available in dog racing is the twin tri or tri/super wagers, which are nothing more than lottery tickets. A friend of mine, an extremely intelligent guy, has spent years trying to beat the dogs, it is extraordinarily difficult. I used to play the dogs as well as the horses, but it just takes too much time to handicap the dog races (for me, anyway). I have given up.

[westcoastinvader]

Originally Posted by golfer

The MAIN problem with dog racing is the small pools, thereby smaller payouts relative to the difficulty in coming up with the winning numbers. The only "life changing" score available in dog racing is the twin tri or tri/super wagers, which are nothing more than lottery tickets. A friend of mine, an extremely intelligent guy, has spent years trying to beat the dogs, it is extraordinarily difficult. I used to play the dogs as well as the horses, but it just takes too much time to handicap the dog races (for me, anyway). I have given up.

At the right tracks, I've done pretty well over the years boxing two dogs with four others in the tri's. $24 wager. Lots of at least double digit collecting action, and a good amount of triple digit collecting, and a fair share of signers.

Now, I say "the right tracks" cause the pool is everything.

I was at the Phoenix dog track last year and I swear there were less than 50 people in the place. No fun betting there.

But, I do enjoy watching their live races on the internet occasionally. Even with no wager.