LOCAL RESULTS- PA's & Other Questionable Payouts?:S

Hello fellow punters,

I have started a new BLOG which I would like the lads (and the ladies) to read and comment on.

Due to my travels I probably visit more Totes in the Western Cape (and a few others around SA) than most other punters and everywhere I go the story is, rather predictably, the same- "It's not what it used to be"; "Things are not the same these days"; "I cannot afford it anymore"; "They're all bloody crooks"! (referring to the industry and racing authorities) etc., etc.,...

[To the 'Racing Authorities'] There are many disgruntled punters out here in the real world and many I know are walking away after 15, 20 or even 30 years of punting from this, previously enjoyable, past-time!? (I am a relative newcomer by those standards, but cannot afford all the 'knocks' I have taken in the last year or so! I used to catch the odd straight-line PA and occassional percentage of a Quartet, but NO more...)

Is it all 'above board' when even PA's are regularly paying four, seven, fifteen or even fifty three GRAND!?

This commentator thinks NOT!

Please 'Have a Go'?

I am new to the blog/forum-side of the web and hope this format I have chosen gives you guys a chance to comment like you do on the ABC forum? (I must say I am impressed by the Clans site & forum which was recommended by the nice folk at the Gallery in Milnerton- btw, I hear their Chicken Curry is very good too...)

Have a look at my link below, thanks

small punter

horseracingsa.blogspot.com/

Have to agree with you ,Small Punter, racing is not the same and will never be again in my lifetime at least, I think.
Very interesting blog!Do they still have punters in Western Cape?Reason being another clansman 2Oceansracing also wrote about visiting the totes and inquiring of punters of their needs.

I think what most punters want is the ability to have the horses run for them so that money could be made on a fairly regular basis.
Unfortunately the way things have changed, the only way forward cud be to follow your lucky numbers, magic letters , zodiac signs or consult the sangoma to throw the bones.Using a pin or needle to "pick " winners may also work for some!

Hi
imo, nothing is ever totally above board; racing is not the same...(applies to everything in life and not just horseracing)
but...the more people involved, the less chance of collusion...
I think everyone is out to make a buck and may thus use their inside info to their advantage...but that is their prerogative.
I feel that a lot of the manipulation is done by the "bookmakers" (for want of a better word) that price up false favourites and the masses then blindly follow where brave men fear to tread...
In retrospect a lot of cases may be made for the improved/poor runs of a horse.
My point...I feel I use more "skill" in this game than in playing the stacked percentages in a casino...
And I get to watch and pick and have an affinity for horses that I follow...
...and have interesting discussions with you and the Clan.(tu)

If you visit the Tote in Somerset West, it looks like an old age home. Horse racing punters under the age of 25 years at this Tote is less than 1%. Punters are constantly questioning the integrity of this sport.

Only been at it for 7years now...1st 3years i was a novice nw im a self proclaimed above average punter.I dont know how it was back in the day but ive learned that you ADAPT and CHANGE!If your old betting strategy doesnt work search for a new 1...do research...do something...but complaining wont bring you nowhere as no1 listens(atleast from my own personal experience).At this moment my trusty PA is WAY off the boil(use to be quite good at it)...these days i still make a profit on it but thats bcoz of 'lucky' wins when the pa pays alot...dont remember when last when i won the PA more than 5* a month...so what im i doing about it...im at the drawing board...figuring it out....sooner than later ill have my NEW winning pa system again...adapt and change!!!!

Stop trying to earn a quick buck. Pack your punting togs up and throw them away. Then ease yourself off the addiction(yes... addiction... gambling addiction pamphlets are in the tote for a reason), giving yourself some weeks. Spend more time with your family,reading, watching TV, walking the dog, instead of chasing 'formline phantoms'. Batman and superman are also phantoms.
Then watch your wallet get fatter, or at least not get thinner....and your trips to the ATM less and less.

Gambling, narcotics and prostitution are the big money spinners for any half decent Mafia. Some things don't change, especially old trades.
So if you feeling punch drunk, step out the stinky noisy and smoky haze of the Mafia ring where your worth is what you lose. Enter the fresh new clean world where all will be renewed. The old will be gone like bad dream.

How sad it is to walk into a tote and see men all hunched over their formguides. One looking more solemn that the next. Grandfathers that should be with their grandkids. Fathers that should be with their families. Phantom chasers. Family breakers. Losers.

Punt for fun with what you want to LOSE. Don't punt for profit. Stop expecting a profit and you won't be dissapointed. Like Hibs or Scotia has said. When you hand your money over it belongs to the bookmaker.

Lastly. You need two decent upsets to make any exotic pay. Stopping a horse must surely be easier than having it win? And the odds are way better and less outlay if you back exotics. Go figure...

if there is a payout - no matter how large or small - someone is winning - your turn will come just stick to what you do

I checked out the blog and saw some unfair generalization about. July day and in the press some guy said that not one favorite won on the day. Well I know of at least 2 favorites winning and the results on the day were no different to that of any other July day.

What dyed in the wool racing observers will notice is that abnormal results happen seasonally in the major racing centers due to the vacuum of better horses and horsemen going to KZN for the season leaving lesser performing horses in their home centers.

Any result other then the tote favourite winning is a questionable result to be honest but considering that it only happens 33% of the time makes questionable results more likely to occur.

It is also possible that more horses are being ''better bred'' with computer generated ideal sire & mare combo's and small yard trainers using better training methods ect, so the playing field is being levelled.

Which is one reason why 20/1's ect are often winning ect.

Just a thought.

I would contest the theory of both, the increase of better bred horses not even close and lesser horsemen suddenly improving on training methods highly improbable and if you are referring as I am assuming to those on July day each winner had merit and each of their trainers were as deserving

Its more a case of merit rating manipulation, and horses not being sent out to win everytime, creates false form, which combined with inaccurate odds supplied by bookmakers creates a breeding ground for innaccurate results.

Well said avanza!

You've certainly got me thinking...

the, even, smaller punter.