MIFF?

[miff]

JB,

Welch report for SPA meet like $39, I heard. Check DRF site, surprised this is not being advertised more,unless I heard wrong

Mike

[Lost Cause]

Great post Frank...everything you said is why I seem to have problems with the meet..the only thing I am positive ROI on is throwing the outside post horses in routes as Miff pointed out..

I\'ll just try to pick my spots but it\'s hard when all that pool money is in the P4\'s

Good to know i\'m not the only one..

[PapaChach]

I have a problem there as well.

I started keeping records in 1994; between \'94 and \'07 I had 9 winning Saratoga seasons including a run from \'03 through \'07.

Haven\'t had a winning season since. A few guesses why, which may or may not apply to others:  

- Could be this is about the time (since \'07) when the overall racing quality began its serious, steady decline. During my good run at the Spa the bulk of my success came in quality turf allowance and stakes routes. With more and more cheap grass races (and more and more grass sprints), maybe I don\'t have the number of opportunities I once did. Playing maybe half the days of the meet, with a moderate bankroll, it often only took getting two or three of these races really right to put me over the top.

- The mental effect of wagering at \"Living Room Downs\" all year. Over the past few years I stopped going to \"parlors\" on weekends and started playing at home. If I\'m going to be home on a Saturday I\'ll take a bit of time early in the morning to figure out which races look interesting, and it\'s very easy to pop on to the computer, check odds, track conditions, etc., and make a decision on whether to make a play. I\'m not immersed in it all day and the atmosphere at home (despite the presence of four children) is pretty mellow. I guess this is a long-winded way of saying that in the past few years I\'ve come to feel extremely distracted and overstimulated at the track, much as I love being there. I don\'t bring a laptop or device with me so I find myself wandering around looking for TVs to show exacta prices and such, all with my fourteen year old son constantly asking if I can play him a 3-7 exacta and pleading his case for the fourth chili dog of the afternoon. I absolutely adore being at the Spa but ironically when I\'m there I feel like it\'s hard to concentrate on...betting. Going to (mostly) the old 711 Teletheatre was not the same as going to the track but it did acclimate me to dealing with distraction (conversations, checking TVs, etc.). Feeling overwhelmed, distracted, etc., obviously does not generally lead to good wagering decisions.

- Losing my $h!t mentally at the end of the meet. Am I the only one out there who, as Travers Day approaches, starts behaving like pari-mutuel wagering will cease to exist as of Labor Day? My discipline, normally a strong point for me, often goes out the window the last week of the season. I\'ve seen modest profits become deficits over that last week several times, and a couple of times have seen deficits move into the immodest territory.

Would love to hear thoughts from folks who\'ve been doing well at the Spa the last few years. I know in the end it\'s all money no matter where you cash but given how much I love the place it\'s a little sweeter winning there.

[Boscar Obarra]

I\'d like to see 1 minute for the boys and 5 for maggie. The one minute might be a bit much, but anything less would be rude.

[Boscar Obarra]

off topic, but wtf was that in the 9th at BEL ?

 I think some whale was told the wrong ortiz.

[moosepalm]

Boscar Obarra Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I\'d like to see 1 minute for the boys and 5 for
> maggie. The one minute might be a bit much, but
> anything less would be rude.


I\'d just like to have them install a sound system so I could hear what she is saying.

[Boscar Obarra]

Since I\'m permanently ensconced  in Living Room Downs, audio is not an issue.

 If its really a problem, NYRA has a live audio feed that could be accessed with a laptop, not sure about a smartphone.

[moosepalm]

Boscar Obarra Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Since I\'m permanently ensconced  in Living Room
> Downs, audio is not an issue.
>
>  If its really a problem, NYRA has a live audio
> feed that could be accessed with a laptop, not
> sure about a smartphone.


It\'s really a problem, as are nearly all acoustics at the Spa, and it shouldn\'t be.  I have an iPad, and can utilize it if necessary, but it requires moving in and out of web sites, which would be a minor pain in the butt.  However, most people do not have an iPad or laptop.  This is the most esteemed track in the country, and it should be all about maximizing the experience for the customers (yes, I know, \"Clueless Clowns\").  Maggie is perhaps the biggest asset they have in the NYRA broadcast, and she is inaccessible to the majority of paying customers. Is it technically impossible to have an acoustic system in an aging facility with many outdoor speakers which can provide audible sound for the masses?  I have no idea, but it would seem to be at least a step or two below rocket science.

[Topcat]

PapaChach Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have a problem there as well.
>
> I started keeping records in 1994; between \'94 and
> \'07 I had 9 winning Saratoga seasons including a
> run from \'03 through \'07.
>
> Haven\'t had a winning season since. A few guesses
> why, which may or may not apply to others:  
>
> - Could be this is about the time (since \'07) when
> the overall racing quality began its serious,
> steady decline. During my good run at the Spa the
> bulk of my success came in quality turf allowance
> and stakes routes. With more and more cheap grass
> races (and more and more grass sprints), maybe I
> don\'t have the number of opportunities I once did.
> Playing maybe half the days of the meet, with a
> moderate bankroll, it often only took getting two
> or three of these races really right to put me
> over the top.
>
> - The mental effect of wagering at \"Living Room
> Downs\" all year. Over the past few years I stopped
> going to \"parlors\" on weekends and started playing
> at home. If I\'m going to be home on a Saturday
> I\'ll take a bit of time early in the morning to
> figure out which races look interesting, and it\'s
> very easy to pop on to the computer, check odds,
> track conditions, etc., and make a decision on
> whether to make a play. I\'m not immersed in it all
> day and the atmosphere at home (despite the
> presence of four children) is pretty mellow. I
> guess this is a long-winded way of saying that in
> the past few years I\'ve come to feel extremely
> distracted and overstimulated at the track, much
> as I love being there. I don\'t bring a laptop or
> device with me so I find myself wandering around
> looking for TVs to show exacta prices and such,
> all with my fourteen year old son constantly
> asking if I can play him a 3-7 exacta and pleading
> his case for the fourth chili dog of the
> afternoon. I absolutely adore being at the Spa but
> ironically when I\'m there I feel like it\'s hard to
> concentrate on...betting. Going to (mostly) the
> old 711 Teletheatre was not the same as going to
> the track but it did acclimate me to dealing with
> distraction (conversations, checking TVs, etc.).
> Feeling overwhelmed, distracted, etc., obviously
> does not generally lead to good wagering
> decisions.
>
> - Losing my $h!t mentally at the end of the meet.
> Am I the only one out there who, as Travers Day
> approaches, starts behaving like pari-mutuel
> wagering will cease to exist as of Labor Day? My
> discipline, normally a strong point for me, often
> goes out the window the last week of the season.
> I\'ve seen modest profits become deficits over that
> last week several times, and a couple of times
> have seen deficits move into the immodest
> territory.
>
> Would love to hear thoughts from folks who\'ve been
> doing well at the Spa the last few years. I know
> in the end it\'s all money no matter where you cash
> but given how much I love the place it\'s a little
> sweeter winning there.

Cannot overestimate the necessity of remaining sane for the last two weeks of the meeting, as the last two weeks of said extravaganza have been \"the stuff that dreams are made of\", so, so often.

    -- A New York Phillie

[Fake Maven]

I love Saratoga..it\'s my favourite meet of the year

Finally got to the Spa for the first time in my life last summer...(I\'m old enough and have been playing long enough so that \"for the first time\", is meaningful).

Long story short...played for four days and got my head handed to me in a basket...too many distractions! I felt like a tourist in a museum, etc. etc.

Last day, half way through the card, I sit down in front of the simulcast screens....my only \"hit\" at the Spa was a pick three at Arlington.

[Edgorman]

Chicago is nice in the summer. You should consider a trip there

[miff]

Politically appointed Albany stooges in charge of NY Racing overwhelmed by something so simple!

Steve Crist:
Pick five wager hamstrung by red tape
 
Will there be a new, low-takeout pick-five when Saratoga opens? Fans are clamoring for it, track officials want it, but the heavy hand of government bureaucracy may thwart it.
 
The short explanation is that the New York Racing Association has received approval to offer the bet, but for technical reasons it would have to be conducted under the pre-1996 rules for multirace bets, which did not include a provision for what happens when a race is switched from dirt to grass because of heavy rain after the wager has closed. When that happens in a pick four or pick six, the race is declared an "all," since it would be unfair to stick bettors with selections made for the wrong surface.
 
Obviously, the same should apply in a pick five, but unless someone in government steps in with some scissors to get through procedural red tape, there could be a nightmarish situation – surface-switched races declared "alls" in the pick four and pick six but not in the pick five. This would create chaotic confusion among bettors and justified howls of unfairness from the betting public. It is unclear if the track would even want to offer the wager under those conditions.
 
There is absolutely no difference of opinion that this would be an intolerable situation and that  there has to be a way around it. We will know by next Friday whether common sense can be made to prevail on the smallest and simplest point, or whether the dysfunctional relationship between racing and government in New York has reached perhaps