Joel Stein: "Now I get it"

[Port Conway Lane]

Originally Posted by pmayjr

But I try to emphasize to new people I try and teach the game to, that if you read a pp, and you see the one stat or angle that -gives you the long-shot winner, that good feeling you get is way better than getting a blackjack or hitting a flush on the river.

Bravo ! Good for you. You're doing your part. You know the old expression, you can lead a horseplayer to water....
Your job ends there, to an extent. More people like yourself need to expose friends to the game. However, you have to know which of those people are candidates.

1.Disposable income
2.Time
3.Gambling nature (Mandatory)
4.Puzzle solver (Will make your job easier,they don't need too much instruction and frankly, don't want it.)

In my somewhat limited social circle I know one person who I could invite to my home, show him the tools available and in 4 Saturdays he would be opening a Twinspires account having never set foot on a racetrack.

How do you educate people without them losing interest?

From my own experience I came to the conclusion that I needed to keep it simple. I drew an oval, marked the start and finish, pointed out what the "big number" and "little number" meant in the running lines and told them to ignore the rest. Once they understood where the horses positions were on the diagram during the running of the race it made it easier for them to understand the numbers.

As the day evolved I refrained from "teaching" too much unless they asked questions.

It's not an easy game and obviously positive results will beget more interest but I wouldn't put too much pressure on myself. I believe the true horseplayer you bring to the the track will get it win or lose.

[Calzone Lord]

Originally Posted by Port Conway Lane

1.Disposable income
2.Time
3.Gambling nature (Mandatory)
4.Puzzle solver (Will make your job easier,they don't need too much instruction and frankly, don't want it.)

Horse bettors don't have the greatest general reputations anymore.

My girlfriend had a 'New Girl' episode on, filmed at Santa Anita. Of course, the old guy (Dennis Farina) who takes the young people to the track is a crook, out to pull a con. He owes one of the kids $1,100 and cons another into buying a horse.

This is how Santa Anita described the scene:

Santa Anita Director of Community Services and Special Events Pete Siberell points out that an episode of “New Girl,” shot at Santa Anita last Nov. 29 and 30 by Twentieth Century Fox Television, airs at 9 p.m. tonight on Fox. The show stars Zoey Deschanel, and in the episode, actor Dennis Farina returns from his “Luck” gig for some comedy hijinks. Their bit in the saddling barn is pretty funny

[Rudeboyelvis]

This always devolves into the same discussion because, unfortunately, nothing is ever done to address the root causes.

1. The overall public's perception is precisely what Doug just described in the television episode; the game is full of crooks and con artists. Drugs are used to influence the outcomes of races and there are only degenerates that chase what boils down to a simple game of chance, unless you're on the inside. . It wouldn't be comedically translatable if that perception was inaccurate.
Everyone outside of the bubble of the game realizes this and the people inside the bubble refuses to accept it.
Of course we know that none of this could be further from the truth, but also everyone of us knows why that perception exists.

2. The educated gamblers, particularly poker players, that are way more savvy and knowledgeable, understand that the public perception is in no way remotely accurate and close to the general rule. They know that there is no way the sport could survive, thus are not scared off by it's perception.

What sends them running for the hills is the fact that roughly 20-25% of every wager goes to the house.

If your goal is to convince a new generation of intelligent gamblers to adopt this sport as a pastime, takeout has to be addressed, and not by 1-2% - anyone with half a brain will look for better odds elsewhere

The false impressions and perceptions are not really any different than when the game was in it's heyday. Casual gamblers will look for a convenient excuse not to bet, intelligent gamblers will flock to the sport if given a fighting chance.

[pmayjr]

No denying those views are out there. But the one positive, is if casual fans are at least coming to the track for the big days, watching the races on the big days, we hopefully at least sort of got a foot in the door?

[dellinger63]

Originally Posted by Rudeboyelvis

2. The educated gamblers, particularly poker players, that are way more savvy and knowledgeable, understand that the public perception is in no way remotely accurate and close to the general rule. They know that there is no way the sport could survive, thus are not scared off by it's perception.

What sends them running for the hills is the fact that roughly 20-25% of every wager goes to the house.

If your goal is to convince a new generation of intelligent gamblers to adopt this sport as a pastime, takeout has to be addressed, and not by 1-2% - anyone with half a brain will look for better odds elsewhere .

Conversely the uneducated player willing to accept the takeout is much happier buying a lotto ticket or punching a video slot machine than taking the time to handicap much less learn how to handicap.

I think the two traits needed in a person to cultivate them into a player are an appreciation of numbers and the belief (valid or not) at being smarter than the average bear. In a 'player's' mind the horses are more like cards and the race like the flop, turn and river. Once a player becomes a fan, the horses become more like athletes and the race becomes less like a deal. While horse racing overly focuses on recruiting new fans it neglects recruiting players.

A player doesn't need his face painted or to see clowns on stilts. He needs instruction and an incentive to learn. Instead of the paint and clowns give him a beer or coke (with a correct selection of course). It's the give a man a fish v. teaching him how to fish story.....