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#1
12-23-2009, 01:39 PM
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It's difficult to do that when the top horses run 4-6 times a year. 
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#2
12-23-2009, 01:40 PM
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You need to turn gamblers into fans. Horse racing needs to lower the takeout. It is not a non-starter. It needs to be done across the board.
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#3
12-23-2009, 02:23 PM
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You have all kinds of little hurdles and a few big ones.
Easily the biggest problem though is that the sport is viewed as a suckers game that can't be beaten - a game played almost solely by degenerates and addicts. Once someone gets past that and decides they want to give the game a shot - they find out how very intimidating the sports is to learn. It becomes obvious that some of the people sold to the public as experts on the sport clearly aren't exactly serious handicappers ... I think a lot of people conclude that the sport is all about betting, at a high rake, on inconsistant animals that run in circles with stupid little men on them. A lot of people will still think messing around and doing that from time to time is pretty fun .. but it's not something they'll dive into like lame-ass poker. The hottest thing now right here is scratch off tickets - some fool with rotten teeth in his early 20's hits for seven figures on a scratch off ticket .. and you can't go into a Country Fair without seeing lines five deep at the stupid scratch off vending machine.
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#4
12-23-2009, 02:56 PM
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Yes, lower the take out needs to be done.
Horse racing is a skill game much like poker. The new players that get involved with poker have a chance to practice and polish thier game before they risk thier money and horse racing doesn't offer a way to gain experiance in a quick informal setting like poker. We all know that to win at horse racing you have to spend time with a race, i.e. ThroGraph, Sheets, Form and watching past performances and today the little Gobbers dont want to wait or work for anything so they pull the handle on a slot machine and some find poker a challenge. Few are willing to work at handicapping and most don't want be a fool and risk thier money when they don't have a clue for 5/2 or 4/1.
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#5
12-23-2009, 03:11 PM
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#6
12-23-2009, 03:23 PM
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I always diss Poker - but I've never really given playing it that much of a shot.
Smoke from cigs and cigars drive me absolutely nuts - I don't know if i'm allergic to it or what... but nothing is nastier and more certain to give me a headache.
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#7
12-24-2009, 08:44 AM
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Me AJs small raise preflop He goes all in and shows 5-7o and catches a 5 to put him a little ahead. Me AKs put in a small raise and he goes all in and shows 27o (NO ****) and hits a 2 on the river... Sheesh.
__________________
Game Over
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#8
12-24-2009, 09:07 AM
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#9
12-24-2009, 10:06 AM
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State of Racing
I still believe there needs to be better co-ordination amongst the various state racing jurisdictions. I realize that each state is its own entity which in itself creates multiple problems (medication, takeout, etc.) but it would be nice to see some effort amongst the states (especially those that are close to one another) not to write similar type of stakes on top of one another on the same weekend which has the effect of watering down the competition...
Licensing is a nightmare keeping up with each jurisdiction..... As Steve stated earlier the boutique model is quite attractive compared to the rest of racing. Saratoga, Keeneland are unique meets and the beauty of the venues along with the shortness of their meets and quality is what makes them special. Can that be duplicated elsewhere? Probably not but a move in that direction seems to be worth exploring... Baseball seems to have reinvented itself by getting rid of the large stadiums and replacing them with smaller more attractive facilities. Racing 4 days a week with fuller fields is more attractive than 6 days a week (California). We probably need to think about closing more racetracks and having less days... Purses. Churchill Downs is sort of dying here without passage of casinos. Belmont on a THursday in June has maybe 3,000 people on site. Philadelphia has purses that are quite attractive when compared to other sites. All of this needs to be sorted out and is part of the evolution process i guess. What is going to happen to Hollywood and Aqueduct/Belmont going forward? PSH
__________________
"Everybody's honest, when they can afford to be." Benny Binion
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#10
12-24-2009, 01:24 PM
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Real poker is a much more intricate game than Hold em.
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#11
12-24-2009, 01:25 PM
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#12
12-24-2009, 01:40 PM
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Racings biggest challenges to figure out, and frankly I don't think there is an answer, racing IMO will not make it long term other than a niche sport and gambling endeavor.
1. The takeout has to be lowered, you can't attract new gambling dollars when 25% of the pool is taken out on average, all people who gamble have become more sophisticated. The problem is the cost of doing business is such how can they lower them, it might take years to attract new fans to generate enough handle that say lowering them to 10% would do. 2. The full fields at tracks no one cares about is killing the premier tracks in the country...so it comes down to if you can get slot machines or not? Soon these tracks will just do away with the racing if they can, they are only going to shoot themselves in the long run while destroying the great tracks in the short term. 3. Racing cannot even get the best horses in each division to race against each other...half the tracks run on one type of surface and half on another. 4. Not everyone in every state can bet on horse racing, some can only do it at the track or OTB...its hard to believe that the lobby efforts in the sport can't figure out a way to make the computer the ATM of the race track. 5. Racing cannot even find a way to keep their male stars on the track longer than their 3 year old seasons, and if they do they run maybe 5 times a year. There should be a rule horses cannot be stallions until they turn 5, even if they are injured. 6. The medication problems are out of control and even the novice to a once a while player realizes that handicapping is more about figuring out past performance but which trainer is going to have the move up. Lax rules, testing and penalties only go to show how weak the racing bodies really are.
__________________
"To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize"...Voltaire
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#13
12-24-2009, 04:10 PM
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sounds like Poker Stars
__________________
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
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#14
12-23-2009, 03:49 PM
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Experiment a little with the takeout, have ONE Saturday a month at MAJOR tracks where takeout on ALL wagers is reduced to 5% (Not Turfway on a single PK4 to 4% has to be for all wagers). See what it does to handle. Then you will have your answer to the effect takeout has on the product. If gamblers think they are getting a fair shake they'll play, if they are being gouged 15%-26%+ on every wager they are going to look for a better game. IT IS AS SIMPLE AS THAT.
Fix the assinine IRS W-2G reporting requirements...$600+ (300-1) has been around for how long? It's been the same for the 30 years I've been playing. How come inflation effects everything else, but this reporting requirement never changes? If they don't want to change it, make the base bet $.10 for all exotics. Since the IRS doesn't allow you to net gains & losses throughout the year, but instead requires you to report all gains and then itemize losses, then everything should be done from a racetrack perspective to help the player avoid W-2G's. This is not done and any serious player will go offshore or stop playing. Fix the breakage, with dime super's being offered and the age of computerized/self service wagering this laughable as to why this isn't corrected.
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