Is The Key To Getting New Players Into The Game Simply Education?

Barry why must I as a punter support the TOTE when they do absolutely bugger all for me?


The TOTE is an absolute disgrace, certainly won't attract new patrons to the game with there attitude to EXISTING punters..... They can't even get a simple ''telephone bet correct'' so god knows how they would be able to introduce such a system here....

I wouldn't bet on SA Racing if it wasn't for the bookies Barry.

well done, you are smelling the coffee. Now why can't the powers that be? anyone donating coffee machines?

Is it a case of needing more fish for the pools?

Greg, the best prize money on offer in Europe is in France, where the Paris-Mutuels were invented.

Tote works well in America and Hong Kong and Japan.

Agree it sucks in your country.

Tote in theory is best, but only if it is administered properly.

Bookies drain the sport everywhere.

Bookies where there before the tote Barry and hopefully will always be there,Where would Lord Derby have got his Bets on?

As long as the" tote " includes a fixed price section.

For the benefit of Saftote,that is what a betting exchange is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The GB will grant you a licence on the recommendation of the NHA because it was the NHA who have kept them out so far( De Kock according to the GB) although the NHA includes a rule allowing betting on exchanges,other than the LAYING of a horse by the owner/s

"P" reminds me of the old American Railways.....instead of embracing and diversifying into the inevitability of air travel,they fought it and got a stuff!

One of the most significant comments made in this thread which seems not to have really stimulated any response was by 2cents :

"Based on the number of friends/acquaintances I've taken to the track over the years I can accurately say that the majority of them weren't interested in gambling, Period.

The thought of losing their hard earned cash simply scared them". Etc.......

That's actually quite profound and mirrors what a number of individuals used to ask/tell me when I was more active in racing than I am now. They just didn't handle the stress of losing very well.

I believe that when we add up ( for example ) the 2010 Christmas retail figures we will get another answer - there just does not seem to be the same level of disposable income around at present. I work in the financial sector and I have never before witnessed quite the severe levels of quiet financial distress as is the case now. Whether we wish to admit it or not a large percentage of the population is presently living off the lethal credit card / bond cocktail. With no relief in sight.

The undoubted advantage that poker has at present is the 'neutrality' of the cards. It is ironic that the expression 'marked cards' comes from poker yet is seen more often in racing! We've all seen the connections in the winners enclosure celebrating a previously poor performers' sudden form reversal following a small change to equipment, training or feed. That's marked cards! As is the well backed favourite who finishes down the field - only for us to hear later that he was entered less than 100% fit. Marked cards again. And who wants to swallow that kind of treatment for very long?

Yet a large number of posters on this very site subscribe to the theory that owners ( and I'm one ) have some sort of divine right to 'first bite at the cherry' in the betting market. So clearly there are those who feel 'marked cards' or 'information privilege' is a good system.

Gambling Education 101. You have a significantly greater probability of winning if you are the casino than if you are the player, the odds are against the gambler. Same for horse racing, there are far more wealthy bookies and betting operators than gamblers. I believe most people cannot name a single person who has made a real fortune in playing horses, but most can name at least a few wealthy betting providers.

Unlucky_Dube

You are correct, but to be fair your comment about the casinos probability is more a function of large numbers that the odds in their favour. When you play casino games, your chances are very close to what they should be, by that I mean for e.g. red/black on the wheel is very close to 50/50 and you get even money, same for the other games and their odds. I believe the take out on the machines is also fairly low. It's very easy for a gambler to find themselves in front at a casino at some point.

The casino makes its money over time playing against tens of thousands of people playing thousands of times. So when you say "significantly greater probability of winning", you are correct if you also said over time and volume. But in that moment..player vs house..either could win. The problem is the player keeps on playing till he loses, so by definition the house plays till it wins, so it makes sense to never close. The player decides when to stop but most people just go that once too often...they were in front and didn't stop till too late.

The casino really makes money from lack of discipline of gamblers, or the entertainment value the masses getting by blowing their budget looking for a lotto type return. It does not make it's money because the cards are marked, or the odds are poor or they have a margin so big that they can't lose. Over time the roulette wheel makes under 3% in the long run as opposed to the tote which would take 17-24% off the table BEFORE the spin.

Ultimately the greatest businesses in the game is the lotto, the tote and the lurker...betting exchanges with the hidden takeout that grinds like sand in your engine.

I am a gambler but will never encourage anyone to gamble on horses , yet alone teach them until Phumelela get their act together and start being more honest .

I am a gambler as well . 90 % of my gambling is done on horseracing . I would not encourage anybody to get involved in punting , period .

I have taken friends to the races in the past and yes their biggest fear is loosing even the smallest amount of their hard earned cash.

Sometimes i sit back and think to myself "if i had not caught that very first bet i had , tasting that sweetness of the easy buck , would i have taken that second bet ?"

The answer is a definite no . Cause the people i had gone with that lost their very first bet and tasted that sour pill never ever went back with me .

I bet the majority of you guys had a winning first bet and that's what got us hooked !

Gambling on the horses is a skill and probably this is the reason why it`s still legal when other forms of Gambling online are outlawed?

Maybe if "newbies" realised this/made aware of this they would take more interest?

Poker is also a skill (although the US and SA governments do not think so) and this is why they have a flood of youngsters sitting all night on laptops grinding away at online cash.Seemingly only 5% of poker players are longterm winners and 95% are fish(losers),roughly the same % that are longterm losers on the horses.Notice the similarities? you put the work in you win!