I realize that some of you aren\'t interested in demise of horse racing posts but for players in Illinois our racing is in a sorry state. (No pun intended). Tomorrow at 9:00pm during the evening news on WGN there will be a story about Illinois racing and how its fate is in the hands of legislators. The tracks in Illinois are losing business to neighboring states who have slots as well as poker machines which are now in many suburban bars and eating establishments. It would make sense to allow slots in the tracks but they keep bundling this issue with a larger gambling expansion bill which includes a casino for Chicago.
Bill,
Having lived in Chicago from 1983-1989 It\'s very sad to see Arlington reduced to a leaky roof circuit track. I was there in the old plant, the tent meets and saw the current facility open in 1989. The summer stakes program and the festival of racing on million weekend was first rate and drew the top outfits. Horsemen loved to race there and out of towner\'s shipping in for stakes were always treated very well.
Even with political stooge relief it may be too late? The product simply cannot stand alone and be profitable anymore with very few exceptions. The slot party won\'t last forever either so I\'m afraid the future holds some major contraction nation wide.
As relevant as Arlington once was I really miss the Sportsman\'s bull ring where one could earn their PHD in trips and track biases!
Frank D.
Illinois situation pretty bad but with the exception of California, subsidies from slots keeping much of the game alive.
An example of the games current situation on display July 4th at Belmont where app only 7k people showed up for one of NYRA\'s \"big day\" cards.
Major contraction for racing may be a bitter pill but it seems inevitable and maybe for the best going forward.
Bill Stiritz would not have sold Fairmount to the Casino Queen unless he was very very confident slots would be approved (deal is contingent on slots approval). I\'m confident you will see slots in Illinois tracks very soon.
Whether that \"saves\" racing in Illinois is another story.
I still think racing should have never gone after slots, let the casinos have them. They should (have) gone after sports betting and kept is exclusive from the casinos. Horse racing is a sport... Tracks should be able to create para-mutual pools on any sporting event. Look at the explosion of the DFS (daily fantasy sports) model, which probably already out handle racing on NFL Sundays...
The fact that racing cannot stand on it\'s own any longer is an ominous sign.Sooner or later the politicians will make a money grab at racing subsidies, a matter of time.
miff Wrote:
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> The fact that racing cannot stand on it\'s own any
> longer is an ominous sign.Sooner or later the
> politicians will make a money grab at racing
> subsidies, a matter of time.
If that\'s true, it\'s only because they\'ve spend the last 40 years wringing the Gooses neck.
We have discussed the problems with racing for a long time. While other sports/gambling have promoted themselves wisely, racing has done as bad a job as possible.
If they tried to do a worse job, they couldn\'t.
Daily Fantasy is taking more and more of the younger audience away from racing. If they were interested in the first place.
You guys know I work in a casino that offers poker. I deal poker 5 days a week, and these guys are always asking me if I play fantasy sports. Some of them are making pretty good money doing it too. I\'m always being asked for roster suggestions. They often ask me what I did over the weekend. If I tell them I went to the track, it hardly registers. Few follow up questions or comments. Its as if I told them I mowed the lawn.
If I said I played poker, they will ask many questions. If its football season, the talk centers around betting and spreads. Baseball, basketball same thing. Constant talk about lines, totals, who do you like tonight, etc...
Racing? Yawn.
Its absolutely amazing to me how racing can\'t figure out how to market to this audience. These guys love to GAMBLE. Look at the late Pick 4 at Woodbine yesterday. Look at the Pick 3s in that sequence. There was a 52/1 shot in there, a 17/1. Massive payouts. The Pick 4 paid $92k.
We can\'t figure out a way to get people, that love to gamble, interested in that kind of money?
I love poker, football, baseball, etc.... and I love to gamble on all of it. My favorite? Horse racing, and its not even close. It has nothing to do with horseys running around the track, although I love to watch them run. Beautiful animals. Its about the gambling, pari mutuel style, where I get the chance to be better than the next guy.
I get so frustrated reading these threads. Reading about idiots like the NYRA clowns effing up Saratoga.
It takes a special kind of stupid where, in a nation that loves to gamble, we can\'t get people to gamble on horse racing.
I gotta go deal some poker. \"Sure, go ahead and start Burnett, Padres can\'t hit much.\" I\'m sure I\'ll say this to someone tonight.
Job one is figuring out that fans are not customers, bettors are. Job two is figuring out what customers want.
FrankD. Wrote:
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> Bill,
>
> Having lived in Chicago from 1983-1989 It\'s very
> sad to see Arlington reduced to a leaky roof
> circuit track. I was there in the old plant, the
> tent meets and saw the current facility open in
> 1989. The summer stakes program and the festival
> of racing on million weekend was first rate and
> drew the top outfits. Horsemen loved to race there
> and out of towner\'s shipping in for stakes were
> always treated very well.
>
> Even with political stooge relief it may be too
> late? The product simply cannot stand alone and be
> profitable anymore with very few exceptions. The
> slot party won\'t last forever either so I\'m afraid
> the future holds some major contraction nation
> wide.
>
> As relevant as Arlington once was I really miss
> the Sportsman\'s bull ring where one could earn
> their PHD in trips and track biases!
>
> Frank D.
There was one Sportsman\'s spring meet where outside closers were so laughably dominant, Bozo The Clown could have generated a positive ROI.
Wasn\'t Bozo from Chicago?
Job Prelude:
Restructure executive compensation to be a function of revenue & profit.
P-Dub Wrote:
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> Look at the late Pick 4 at
> Woodbine yesterday. Look at the Pick 3s in that
> sequence. There was a 52/1 shot in there, a 17/1.
> Massive payouts. The Pick 4 paid $92k.
I think the 17/1 was Go Blue or Go Home. The G3 Shakertown at Keeneland has
turned into quite the \"key race\". Channel Marker, Undrafted, Power Alert, Go
Blue, Amelias Wild Ride have all won out of that race. Keep an eye peeled for
Something Extra (Shakertown winner),Tightend Touchdown, Zee Bros, Berlino Di
Tiger and Choctaw Chuck.
FrankD. Wrote:
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> Wasn\'t Bozo from Chicago?
Of course . . . we try to keep any attempts at humor relevant to the case at hand.
Tavasco Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Job Prelude:
>
> Restructure executive compensation to be a
> function of revenue & profit.
Fair point . . . but its unfair to any exec who has to futilely labor against any state legislature (guess who) more felonious than civic-minded.
richiebee Wrote:
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> I think the 17/1 was Go Blue or Go Home. The G3
> Shakertown at Keeneland has
> turned into quite the \"key race\". Channel Marker,
> Undrafted, Power Alert, Go
> Blue, Amelias Wild Ride have all won out of that
> race. Keep an eye peeled for
> Something Extra (Shakertown winner),Tightend
> Touchdown, Zee Bros, Berlino Di
> Tiger and Choctaw Chuck.
You can pick up Berlino Di Tiger in the 30k claiming races (@ 2 furlongs) at MNR...
What? There\'s graft in Illinois?
elkurzhal Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> richiebee Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> > I think the 17/1 was Go Blue or Go Home. The G3
> > Shakertown at Keeneland has
> > turned into quite the \"key race\". Channel
> > Marker, Undrafted, Power Alert, Go
> > Blue, Amelias Wild Ride have all won out of
> > that race. Keep an eye peeled for
> > Something Extra (Shakertown winner),Tightend
> > Touchdown, Zee Bros, Berlino Di
> > Tiger and Choctaw Chuck.
> > You can pick up Berlino Di Tiger in the 30k claiming races (@ 2 furlongs) at MNR...
That would represent my first wager ever on a race in WVA, though I must admit
to betting simo Spa races at the Wheeling Island Hotel/Casino/Racetrack...
The five winners out of the Shakertown were all in stakes races.
Frank, I started going to Arlington in 1976 and enjoyed the country fair atmosphere of the old place, and love the palace that it is today. Sadly rather than sitting outside and watching quality racing we\'re all inside playing NY or CA. There are a few good turf races but not much else.
I remember Randall Meier trying to wire a field at Sportmans from the 8 path because the inside was dead. One of the gutsiest rides I can remember.
A trip to the SPA is on my bucket list!!! Good luck and looking forward to your pick 4 plays!!!
P-Dub Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> We have discussed the problems with racing for a
> long time. While other sports/gambling have
> promoted themselves wisely, racing has done as bad
> a job as possible.
>
> If they tried to do a worse job, they couldn\'t.
>
> Daily Fantasy is taking more and more of the
> younger audience away from racing. If they were
> interested in the first place.
>
> You guys know I work in a casino that offers
> poker. I deal poker 5 days a week, and these guys
> are always asking me if I play fantasy sports.
> Some of them are making pretty good money doing it
> too. I\'m always being asked for roster
> suggestions. They often ask me what I did over the
> weekend. If I tell them I went to the track, it
> hardly registers. Few follow up questions or
> comments. Its as if I told them I mowed the
> lawn.
>
> If I said I played poker, they will ask many
> questions. If its football season, the talk
> centers around betting and spreads. Baseball,
> basketball same thing. Constant talk about lines,
> totals, who do you like tonight, etc...
>
> Racing? Yawn.
>
> Its absolutely amazing to me how racing can\'t
> figure out how to market to this audience. These
> guys love to GAMBLE. Look at the late Pick 4 at
> Woodbine yesterday. Look at the Pick 3s in that
> sequence. There was a 52/1 shot in there, a 17/1.
> Massive payouts. The Pick 4 paid $92k.
>
> We can\'t figure out a way to get people, that love
> to gamble, interested in that kind of money?
>
> I love poker, football, baseball, etc.... and I
> love to gamble on all of it. My favorite? Horse
> racing, and its not even close. It has nothing to
> do with horseys running around the track, although
> I love to watch them run. Beautiful animals. Its
> about the gambling, pari mutuel style, where I get
> the chance to be better than the next guy.
>
> I get so frustrated reading these threads. Reading
> about idiots like the NYRA clowns effing up
> Saratoga.
>
> It takes a special kind of stupid where, in a
> nation that loves to gamble, we can\'t get people
> to gamble on horse racing.
>
> I gotta go deal some poker. \"Sure, go ahead and
> start Burnett, Padres can\'t hit much.\" I\'m sure
> I\'ll say this to someone tonight.
Good post P-Dub. I have friends that play daily fantasy and poker and sports in general. I got one very interested in racing last year. He loved it. He learned the game, etc. Then he took a deeper look at takeouts and quit the game completely after a few months. DFS, poker and sports are beatable. Racing...not so much.
Similar experience w/my brother back in the day. He was having good success betting football, mostly the college game, but seeing me occasionally turn small-ish bets into good payouts while he was grinding it out laying 110 to win 100 enticed him into giving racing a try.
Alas, the combo of the learning curve and the rake turned him off to racing. He told me that while even the worst football bettors he knew at least had the positive reinforcement of hitting games with relative frequency, a racing newbie can go forever and a day without so much as cashing a ticket. In fact, I had a friend in college who came up for Saratoga one Friday during the meet and proceeded take the collar on the 27 races he bet that weekend. Not surprisingly, he never developed a big interest in the game after that....
richiebee Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> P-Dub Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
>
> I think the 17/1 was Go Blue or Go Home. The G3
> Shakertown at Keeneland has
> turned into quite the \"key race\". Channel Marker,
> Undrafted, Power Alert, Go
> Blue, Amelias Wild Ride have all won out of that
> race. Keep an eye peeled for
> Something Extra (Shakertown winner),Tightend
> Touchdown, Zee Bros, Berlino Di
> Tiger and Choctaw Chuck.
By all technical definitions, the Shakertown may not be a \"key\" race, but 6
also rans from that race have now come back to win stakes, and Choctaw Chuck,
scratched at Bel today, missed winning a 100K stake by a nose at Presque Isle,
where the deer and the antelope play.
richiebee Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> richiebee Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > P-Dub Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> >
> >
>
> > I think the 17/1 was Go Blue or Go Home. The G3
> > Shakertown at Keeneland has
> > turned into quite the \"key race\". Channel
> Marker,
> > Undrafted, Power Alert, Go
> > Blue, Amelias Wild Ride have all won out of
> that
> > race. Keep an eye peeled for
> > Something Extra (Shakertown winner),Tightend
> > Touchdown, Zee Bros, Berlino Di
> > Tiger and Choctaw Chuck.
>
> By all technical definitions, the Shakertown may
> not be a \"key\" race, but 6
> also rans from that race have now come back to win
> stakes, and Choctaw Chuck,
> scratched at Bel today, missed winning a 100K
> stake by a nose at Presque Isle,
> where the deer and the antelope play.
Tightend TD just beat Jimmy C\'s horse at 12/1
Yes P-Dub he was the sixth winner from that race.
Very sorry to hear about Ken Stabler\'s death. Even though he torched my Jets
regularly, you had to love his game.
richiebee Wrote:
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> Yes P-Dub he was the sixth winner from that race.
>
> Very sorry to hear about Ken Stabler\'s death. Even
> though he torched my Jets
> regularly, you had to love his game.
Thanks Richie.
Very tough news yesterday. I have many childhood memories of him, one thrill after another. I spent many Sunday afternoons with my father at the Coliseum, watching those great Raiders teams.
Never seen a non-HOF player get so much attention upon their death. Paul Zimmerman can go Eff himself.
P-Dub Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks Richie.
>
> Very tough news yesterday. I have many childhood
> memories of him, one thrill after another. I spent
> many Sunday afternoons with my father at the
> Coliseum, watching those great Raiders teams.
>
> Never seen a non-HOF player get so much attention
> upon their death. Paul Zimmerman can go Eff
> himself.
Was being discussed on NY sports radio what a travesty it is that Stabler is
not in HOF. Also mentioned was Jim Plunkett, only two time Supe winning QB not
in HOF.
Paul,
Back in the 80\'s when I lived in Chicago I worked for Amtrak as a on board supervisor on the cross country trains. It was an awesome job as I was in my 20\'s,single bouncing all over the country and except for a few meetings and training classes I made my own schedule.
Before the Madden cruiser, John would travel from Martinez, CA to the east coast and all over during the football season by train. He was horribly pestered by fans and if you ever rode Amtrak more than a few times the menu in the dining car gets old quickly!!! He always ate with the train crews after the dining car was closed and we had some really good old school chef\'s mostly African American who whipped up their own creations off the menu for the crew members who all threw in a few bucks every trip for the goodies.
It\'s not a great surprise by his size, John loved to eat and hold court with the crews telling old football stories. During their run of losing great championship games 3 years in a row to the Dolphins and Steelers Madden was Lombardi like in their preparation for the 76 season. He pulled Kenny Stabler aside for a serious talk about leadership, setting an example and most of all keeping curfew. Kenny looked at him 100 % serious and said coach \" I can read the dam playbook just as well by the light of the jute box as I can by the lamp next to my bed\" Madden just looked at him shook his head and walked away!
That was Al Davis\'s crew back then just win baby.
Kenny had a wild honky tonk in Mobile, Al as well back in those days, Kenny Stabler\'s Diamond Back Saloon. During the 1984 Worlds Fair I spent a few months of Friday nights in Mobile and Saturday nights in New Orleans; OH MY.
Frank D.
FrankD. Wrote:
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> Kenny had a wild honky tonk in Mobile, Al as well
> back in those days, Kenny Stabler\'s Diamond Back
> Saloon. During the 1984 Worlds Fair I spent a few
> months of Friday nights in Mobile and Saturday
> nights in New Orleans; OH MY.
That should make for an interesting chapter in \"Tales of a True T-generate\" --
Frank D\'s days (and especially nights) on the Redneck Riviera.