What is Racing's Biggest Current Hurdle?

[Indian Charlie]

Originally Posted by jms62

I'm having my doubts about poker being skill. I just got KO'd in a SitNGo final 2. I had a huge lead and these were my last 2 hands.

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.

Hold'em is for no talent, no skill hacks. Check that, there is some skill involved reading probabilities, but for the most part, you have to get really lucky and pull your ass off at some highly improbable moment to win in those tournaments.

Real poker is a much more intricate game than Hold em.

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Originally Posted by Indian Charlie

Real poker is a much more intricate game than Hold em.

Strip poker?

[Indian Charlie]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

Strip poker?

Yeah. That game is more fun to lose than regular poker.

Other forms that I think require far more skill are games like 5 card stud and draw, 7 card, etc.

Then there are games you don't ever see in casinos, more typical of a home based game, that are far far harder and minimize risks of losing from retarded blind draws such as in hold em.

Liars poker (or Indian poker) is just slightly less a skill game than hold em.

I've never understood the appeal of hold em, other than maybe it's a faster paced game where otherwise pretty dumb people can win lots of money.

The giants of poker from years past were much more colorful and interesting (and smarter) than the top players you see now in hold em.

Except maybe that one chick on TV who was in the SI swimsuit edition. She's interesting.

[10 pnt move up]

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.

[randallscott35]

Exactly right.

"all people who gamble have become more sophisticated."

They don't feel like pouring money down a drain.

[2Hot4TV]

Originally Posted by randallscott35

Exactly right.

"all people who gamble have become more sophisticated."

They don't feel like pouring money down a drain.

What is sophisticated about the slot players? they out number horse players and they dont seen to have a problem with throwing money down the slot, which could be the same as a drain.

Horse racing will never be the same game it was in the 70's and early 80's, it was the only game in town for California.

[randallscott35]

Originally Posted by 2Hot4TV

What is sophisticated about the slot players? they out number horse players and they dont seen to have a problem with throwing money down the slot, which could be the same as a drain.

Horse racing will never be the same game it was in the 70's and early 80's, it was the only game in town for California.

You answer your own question. Nothing is sophisticated about a slot player, that is a constant addiction. Not 25 minutes betweeen races. Mind you slots mostly pay out about 90% which makes them a better bet for a gambler...idiotic to play slots IMO, nothing sporting about it.

[eajinabi]

Get rid of the small tracks, Get rid of cheap races.

[free25]

I'm not sure anyone mentioned that our Stars Burn Out too quickly in this game.. The Crowds came out to SA for Zeyatta's BC Classic win and to the Haskell and Woodward for Rachel.... There has to be a star for the public to latch onto... Far too many horses are retired for the breeding shed too early.. It's the people with vision such as the Mosses and Allen Paulson who kept their stars in the game and gave the game something in return. I know that owners and breeders have rights but without the fans, the game is not viable...Make a rule that no horse under 5 yrs of age can be bred and reinvigorate the game with older stars that people have a chance to follow for more than a year and a half...The marketing comes naturally when we have something to market in this great game...