Horse Racing's Premature Obituary
Ok folks, it's time to break out the shovels to bury horse racing, again! We came across an article on ESPN.com written by Bill Finley entitled "2005 was a lousy year for horse racing." In his article Mr. Finley cites 9 reasons why 2005 was such a bad year for horse racing in America. Although we agree with several of his observations, number 8 on his list, "U.S. Pari-Mutuel Handle Falls", should have been dealt with more objectively. Despite all the cries of gloom and doom that have been ongoing since the unfortunate decision in the fifties to reject television's offer to broadcast horse racing nationally, the sport has continued to grow. Second only to baseball in overall popularity, horse racing enjoyed 11 straight years of increasing handle (total amount of pooled wagers) before this bemoaned 0.5% decrease. According to Mr. Finley, "an ominous sign of things to come." Yes, horse racing does have its problems and challenges, but it also has a lot going for it. It's the only sport offering legalized wagering in the majority of the United States and across most of the world. Why it's even legal to bet on horse racing in China where basic human rights are hard to come by. The advent of simulcasting in the nineties made it possible for tracks to increase their own handle while boosting their revenues by accepting wagers on races from other tracks. Legalization of off-track betting facilities, phone wagering and internet wagering has created a climate where over 87% of the handle is now generated off-track. This may hurt race tracks' hot dog and popcorn sales, but should lead to increased profitability. Several states have enacted legislation allowing slot machines and other forms of gaming on-track. Tracks such as Mountaineer have used this additional source of revenue to improve their facilities, increase their purses and upgrade their overall level of racing. This legislation has also made it attractive for casino owners, such as Harrah's, to purchase and operate horse racing venues as a part of their business strategy. So what is wrong with horse racing? Well, for lack of a better answer… horse racing. By that we mean the tradition mired establishment of horse racing where "because we've always done it that way" seems to be the golden rule. Where did that harbinger of doom, the missing 0.5% of handle go? Our best guess is that you'll find that, and much more, going to the enterprising non-pool race and sports books that have cropped up to better serve today's horse racing fans. Most of these on-line books offer full track odds, signup bonuses, cash back on wagers, and give refunds for scratches, instead of forcing the bet to the track favorite. Oh, and did we mention that most don't impose taxes of any sort on winnings. In addition to offering the full menu of track bets, i.e., Win, Place, Show, Daily Doubles, Exactas, Quinellas, Trifectas and Superfectas, some have started offering additional types of wagers such as a two horse match bet. This, in our opinion, is the most significant opportunity for horse racing today. In an era where proposition bets on football range from the point spread to which way the wind will be blowing at half time, horse racing is missing the boat. They've failed to recognize what Las Vegas has known for some time, namely that gaming is entertainment and that the way to increase 'handle' is to offer more types of wagers. This year's Superbowl offered over 300 proposition bets resulting in a record setting day for the Las Vegas sports books with over 90 million dollars wagered. To put that into perspective, that's about .6% of the 15 billion dollars wagered annually on horse racing. Successful horse race wagering takes a degree of skill and research. Unlike most sporting match ups where you have a fifty-fifty chance of winning by random choice, with an average field of 8 horses, the horse player only has a 12.5% chance of winning by chance. Let's put fun into the sport for the casual fan. A two horse match up takes wagering on horse racing back to its earliest and simplest form; "I bet my horse can beat yours!" But there's no need to stop there, horse racing offers a myriad of options for wagering; which horse will be in the lead at each point of call, which jockey or trainer will have the most wins for the day, and how about betting a horse to lose. These are just a few options that come to mind. Horse racing's traditions give it unique flavor and character, but to be successful, it must be willing to evolve to catch up to the present and to meet the future. We most certainly hope that it does. About The Author: C Wayne is the Executive Vice-President of Picks and Plays, Inc. and an author and lecturer on gaming and handicapping. You are invited to visit http://www.picksandplays.com and receive free membership and a free daily report from the home of 'The Best in Handicapping'. |
Other Baseball Betting Articles
Baseball Gambling Baseball gambling is considered to be one of the sports in which bettors are surer to win profit. Because of the great amount of baseball gambling games that are played over the season, handicappers have a lot of data to analyze and fix the baseball gambling lines.Like any other sports gambling activity, baseball gambling ...How to Play Omaha Poker - A Beginner's Guide Texas Hold’em and Omaha Poker resemble each other in that it is a game played with five community cards but there are differences between the two games, the major difference is that the hands in Omaha are usually much better, since you get to choose from 9 cards in total.Omaha poker is fun, easy to play and here we will cover the basics ...Greyhound Racing Basics In Egypt the greyhounds were mummified and buried with their masters. The Egyptians viewed them as supreme among all animals. The greyhounds also find place in the literary works of Shakespeare, Chaucer and Homer.In England, greyhound was considered as a status symbol back in 10th century. Only noblemen were permitted to hunt with them. L ...Baseball Tradition Baseball holds a special place in the hearts of many Americans. Regardless of the international appeal of the sport, the United States sees it as a favorite pastime. From street games of stickball or afternoons playing catch in the backyard to professional Minor Leagues and Major League Baseball, people of all ages love this sport.Baseb ...Softball Bat Reviews Normally, softball bats are made of metal, hardwood, or any other material approved by the American Softball Association. Usually, a softball bat weighs around 38 oz. (1kg), with a diameter of 2.25 inches (6 cm) and less than 34 inches (86 cm) of height. Generally, all softball bat manufacturers are required to certify their bats with “1.20BTF” ...Kansas Casinos There are five Kansas Casinos gamblers can enjoy while visiting the state. Kansas casinos are located in Horton, Mayette, Powhattan, and White Cloud and tourists should make a point to stop in one or more of the Kansas casinos during their stay. Likewise, in addition to the five Kansas casinos, tourists may also enjoy paying a visit to Kansas' W ...The MIT Blackjack Team Story What's the first thing that enters your mind when you think of MIT, the world-renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology: engineering genius, mathematical wizard, visionary, geek, hacker? If you chose any one of those, you would be correct. Mix them all together, add some smoke and mirrors, big-time anonymous investors, a dash of anarchy for ...Lynn Swann For Governor Lynn Swann, who played football for the Pittsburgh Steelers has decided to run for governor of Pennsylvania in the states elections later this year. This will be the first race for political office for the former football star. His celebrity has been helping a little on the road to the governor’s seat. But he still has a long way to go. Swann ha ...Baseball Betting If you enjoy sports betting you probably know that baseball betting is truly an art. You can’t just decide that you like the Yankees and bet on them to win every game. In baseball no team wins all of its games and to engage in informed baseball betting there is a lot of research to be done. For example, what do the odds makers say about the line ...Blackjack Success – Secrets to Win Big Blackjack is a game in the casino that gives you choices and the dealer none at all allowing you to achieve success at blackjack.Blackjack gives you a chance to tilt the odds in your favor and WIN.You can win and consistently so, but you must know the secrets of the game. Here they are, and if you follow them, you can win and achie ...Casino Card Games There are three types of casino card games -- Poker, Black Jack and Baccarat. These games are played in almost every casino around the world. Though, some people play for leisure, there are those who gamble and bet. There are different types of Poker, Black Jack, and Baccarat. The card games played in casinos usually involve a lot of money on be ...Online Poker Tournaments - What to Expect Online poker has recently been gathering a lot of interest lately. When you come and visit the online world you will be able to notice that there are more and more sites offering online poker tournaments that anyone can join into anytime. If you want to get better at playing this card game, practicing online may give you just the edge in honing ...So Here's To You, Joltin' Joe, But Who's The Rookie Leaning On The Bus? In the fourth grade, a boy named Willie McTavish moved from Scotland to Auburn California, which was my home town. Miss Arbortree, our teacher, appointed me to show him around the school grounds, and to make him fell at home. I don’t know why I was selected, unless it was the plaid shirt I was wearing that day.Willie was a very nice boy, ...Sports Handicapping Sports handicapping services are made up of many professional handicappers. Handicappers are persons that make a living selling their picks to sports bettors. But what are picks? Picks are predictions of the results of future games made out of deep analysis of many factors.Many sports bettors have choose to pay for sports handicapping. Be ...Boston Celtics 2006-07 Preview Yet another mediocre team in the Atlantic division, the Celtics have some of the best young talent and depth in the Eastern Conference. The problem is that they do not have much else aside from Paul Pierce in the present to win games. Doc Rivers has his work cut out for him to make the playoffs in the upcoming season, and angry Boston fans are e ...Play Omaha Online Do you often find yourself wishing you could play poker with a different set of people that just your weekly pokers pals? Not that those pals aren’t great but they want to play Texas Holdem and you’d rather play Omaha Holdem? Have you ever considered trying to play Omaha online? If not, it’s time you did.To play Omaha online all you reall ...Background Research for an Online Casino If you want to gamble online, you've probably noticed there are thousands of online casinos! So how do you know which one to pick? Well, it helps to be your own detective. Here are some things you should look for before you register with an online casino:CUSTOMER SUPPORT: Be wary of any site that only offers an email address or web form f ...Basketball Odds If you enjoy betting on basketball games you certainly look at the basketball odds before placing your bet. These basketball odds help you decide if you want to risk your money on the team that is favored to win the game or the team that is considered the underdog. However, since odds can be constantly changing, you’ll want to know more before m ...Beware Gambling Can Increase Your Debt Problems Are you the type of person who likes to take a gamble from time to time on things such as the result of a horse race? Would you say that you have an addiction to gambling? Do you lose more money than you win when gambling? Are you in debt? Are you hoping to reduce your debts by gambling? In this article, I write about a friend of mine who tried ...Softball Bats A softball bat is usually made of metal, hardwood, or any other approved materials. Its weight is around 38 oz. (1kg); it is 2.25 inches (6 cm) in diameter; and the height is less than 34 inches (86 cm). Technology has contributed a lot in the manufacture of a variety of powerful bats, which, in turn, has created some serious safety problems for ...OPS Will Help You Increase Your Profits When looking at baseball statistics, on-base percentage and slugging percentage are two very powerful numbers to look at. Putting them together and we get a combined statistic termed OPS. It’s nothing fancy but it can be a very useful tool when handicapping. Hitting home runs is nice but getting on base and knocking them around produces even mor ...American League Baseball Teams: 2006 Season Preview The two most storied teams of all American League Baseball Teams are the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. The New York Yankees have been consistently winning the American League East for the past several years that they are generally considered a lock to make the playoffs.Only one team is usually ever good enough in the Wes ...Major League Baseball's Interleague Play Draws Record Crowds For some reason or another, Major League Baseball seems to have a very bias fan base. For big games such as Boston vs. New York Yankees the crowd is always huge, yet when there is an interleague game such as the White Sox vs. Cubs there is a severe drop in the numbers.Well now that the first weekend of interleague game play is under the ...Football Gambling Today Football gambling can be very lucrative for gamblers. This can depend on how well informed the gambler is and how much information the gambler has about football and the propensity to make good and well informed decisions. If the gambler is smart and capable of making smart decisions, football gambling can be a very profitable activity. Howev ...Choosing Your Type of Online Gambling Website When you hear the words "online gambling," chances of you think of casinos and games like poker, Blackjack and slot machines. But there are lots of different types of online gambling websites. When you're ready to choose one, make sure you pick one that fits your needs.ONLINE CASINO: Online casinos are, basically, the counterparts of real ...Keys For Your Selection of Betting Sites Ever since online betting sites have become hot favorites of the millions of luck seekers of the internet world, the selection of reliable and trustworthy sites is becoming a major issue in the field of on line betting. On the spot conventional betting provides the bettors a fairly good knowledge of the betting facilitators and the advantage of ...Benin Casinos The search for Benin casinos starts and ends in Cotonou, the vibrant coastal city on the Gulf of Benin, which, although it is not the official capital, is the seat of government. Benin shares a coastline with its two major neighbors, Nigeria and Togo. Like many of the countries of West Africa, it has a relatively small coast and a vast hinterlan ...Always Play To Win There are a number of people involved in the world of gambling but surprisingly, these people are still unable to turn valuable knowledge into a consistent stream of gambling profits. Sadly, they will never be able to.They just want to play to “have fun”. Fair enough you may think, but what is so fun about losing money? Furthermore, what ...MGM Mirage to build a city on Las Vegas Strip Plans include a 4,000-room hotel and casino, three 400-room boutique hotels, 1,650 condominiums and 550,000 square feet of a retail, dining and entertainment area.The "Project CityCenter" as MGM officials call it, will stand on the 66-acre site located between Belaggio an ...Cincinnati Reds Handicapping: 2006 Season Preview If you followed my free baseball picks, you would have noticed that the Cincinnati Reds were my handicapping cryptonite. It seemed that whenever I picked them to win, they would lose. I was 8-14 (-6 units) betting on them in 2005.The Reds typified the kind of a team an astute handicapper would want to bet on given the right situation. 1) ...
|
