Whale's past post sets off alarm

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by cmfhb411

This has come up more than once in the past seven years.
How difficult could it be to make sure all wagering is closed before the first runner gets into the gate ?
It should be ridiculously simple. The starter doesn't let any horses in the gate until he gets confirmation that all wagering has closed.
The starter gets word from the stewards. The stewards don't give the word if they have ANY DOUBT of wagering being closed.
It should be set up where someone in the chain has to lose their job if anything like this happens again.
How ****** hard is this to understand ?

How difficult is it for you to understand that the tracks are trying to get every drop of handle that they can and the fact is that people bet at the last minute. I am not condoning it at all. But I can see the bitching now when you get shut out of a big score because they closed the windows a minute early, or there is a gate scratch that effects the race dramatically and you cant cancel your ticket or bet a last minute saver. I would think aggravation caused by closing the pools prematurely would far outweigh the aggrevation caused by the pools closing late once in a great while.

[Swale84]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

How difficult is it for you to understand that the tracks are trying to get every drop of handle that they can and the fact is that people bet at the last minute. I am not condoning it at all. But I can see the bitching now when you get shut out of a big score because they closed the windows a minute early, or there is a gate scratch that effects the race dramatically and you cant cancel your ticket or bet a last minute saver. I would think aggravation caused by closing the pools prematurely would far outweigh the aggrevation caused by the pools closing late once in a great while.

Agree with Chuck on this. There were numerous gate scratches at Saratoga this summer and at other tracks on a regular basis. Handle drives the game and having a favorite scratched at the gate after the windows closed would have a huge impact.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by cmfhb411

I understand that, if people want to bet and know wagering will be closed a couple of minutes before post time it won't take very long to get used to.
And getting shut out of betting wasn't a problem when I first started playing in the early '90s. Back then the majority of my play was at the NYCOTBs, when guess what ? ............

Even though this should disqualify you from any rational conversation I will try. The problem with the "deadline" of posttime being closed is that the actual posttime is dependant on several things. One being that in cases of long lines at the windows the mutual manager will often add a minute or 2 to the posttime to try to get as much money into the pools as possible. Another being delays due to inquiries, loose horses, bad gate actors, weather, etc. What do you do if a horse gets loose with 3 minutes to post? Make an announcement that posttime will be extended? What about the players at other tracks, simulcast outlets or betting from home? How do you notify them? Or do you just close the betting and let people stand there for 5 minutes with live money in thier pockets? It is not as easy as some people make it out to be, Dude.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by cmfhb411

Or do you believe we need more players complaining about seeing changes in the odds in the middle of watching a race ?

Will that be worse then the complaints of the bets not getting in?

[Riot]

Originally Posted by cmfhb411

Maybe the 1st week or two, but after that none of us would hear a peep.

I'd peep. I'd definitely prefer to retain the ability to bet, cover, cancel to break, versus having definitive odds and a closed window 1 minute to post. Too much happens in that last few minutes, too frequently.

The important thing is that no bets are made after the break, period. The odds adjusting to final in the next 10-15 seconds - that I can, and have, lived with nicely, simply through anticipation.

[Bobby Fischer]

Each track has a "stop wagering device"
In a good system this device would be tested, and monitered by a professional (seriously) it should be someone's responsibility. Ideally the tracks would be fined when the device malfunctions on/before a live race.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by Bobby Fischer

Each track has a "stop wagering device"
In a good system this device would be tested, and monitered by a professional (seriously) it should be someone's responsibility. Ideally the tracks would be fined when the device malfunctions on/before a live race.

What is the deal now (how does it work) at various tracks. I only partly heard that discussion on ATR ... is it a manual signal from the mutuals manager?

[Kasept]

Originally Posted by Riot

What is the deal now (how does it work) at various tracks. I only partly heard that discussion on ATR ... is it a manual signal from the mutuals manager?

Stewards first.. then Mutuels/Tote Company have backup stop..