by John Berry

A recent Mane Attraction featured some thoughts of the BDHC (Broken Down Horseplayers Club) members and some comments from both sides of the fence.

The racing clientele is aging with nothing being done to replace their wagering dollars as they pass on.

Oh, it’s still a viable, fun pastime and, for many, a very therapeutic and relatively inexpensive way to keep the mind active, but, with the exception of special events, “big” races and amateur events that bring new blood to the track, it’s been a losing battle.

The column put some stress on the takeout at the tracks, especially on exotic wagers — some 25 per cent to 35 per cent — but there remain some stalwarts that view takeout as a trivial matter.

BDHC member Tommy Brown Eyes, a 40-year veteran of the game, probably put it best when he said, “I hardly notice the takeout when I make a wager. What matters to me is that, if my horse is, say, 7-2, I am going to get $9 and change for my $2.

“It’s a challenging game… one I love and takeout means little to me.”

Tommy Brown Eyes has plenty of company on that thought, evidenced by the simulcast crowds at some racinos, but others see it a bit differently, especially the bigger bettor.

Willoughby said, “If I was a $2 or $5 bettor, I wouldn’t care too much about it either… but, here I am at simulcasting with my friends, I enjoy their friendship and company, and I do all of my bets here, but not through their windows here. I make my bets on the phone with my account where I get a very nice rebate on my bets.

“When you bet $20 or $50 trying to catch an exotic hit, which I do… I always go for the gusto… my rebates [10 per cent-12 per cent] make the difference of being a winner or a loser in the longer term. It’s that simple.”

Regular BDHC member Smitty has chimed in with this tidbit which, he said, could “put a nail in racing” if it grabs hold and spreads throughout the exotic wagering menu at all tracks.

“Whenever there are carryover days in New York, NYRA bumps the takeout by 9 per cent — that’s 9 per cent more than the typical high take already,” Smitty said. “Recently, I believe that there was an extra takeout of over $37,000 removed from the pool… and horseplayers’ wallets.

“Since the Pick-6 carryover was $55,000 and change and
they took $37,000 of it away from the BDHC bettors, they, in effect, took over 60 per cent of the carryover away. That’s robbery!

“It’s no wonder the game is shrinking from its own greed… and at the expense of the bettor’s stupidity or unawareness.”

Our man Dixon chimed in claiming ignorance on the issue but admitted that this really doesn’t apply to him since, “I don’t play Pick-6… too expensive when spreading through that many races. Heck, even a 2x3x2x3x2x3 costs a pretty penny [actually $216].”

True, carry-overs are few and far between, but the stench from the greed does not sit well with the veteran high ticket player.

Harold The Lefty, a $2-$10 bettor, hasn’t changed a thing in 50 years and ‘dittos’ the thoughts of Tommy Brown Eyes.

“I play… I have fun… I win a race or two… I lose a bunch of ’em… just a hobby which I really like,” Harold The Lefty said. If I win a few bucks, it’s nice… If I lose a few, so what. It’s cheaper than seeing a movie and buying $11 worth of popcorn.”

M.P. also takes the stance of Tommy Brown Eyes.

“The vast majority of the players here could care less about takeout,” M.P. said. “We are so into trying to catch a winner and don’t even think about the takeout when making a bet.

“Of course, some of us are smart enough and are limiting the number of tracks they play at to the ones with the bigger handles — the ones where you can bet $50 and not ‘hit’ the board so hard.”

When asked about which tracks are in play, he said, “well, it depends… there are more thoroughbred tracks that can support a bigger bet but, as far as harness [tracks], The Meadowlands is far and away the best.

“The beauty of The Meadowlands is that the win pools are big enough that a $100 bet won’t juggle the board much, and their other pools — not place and show — like exactas, [trifectas], [superfectas], you only try and hit it for the minimum bet so there’s still some value there. It’s all about value. 

“We’re still a spectator sport — although the sport, itself, doesn’t see it that way — and make races that aren’t very appetizing to bet. When you see a five- or six-horse field, it’s a no-go for most of us here.

“You can bet Indiana [Harrah’s Hoosier Park], Cleveland [Northfield Park] and The Meadows, especially on Saturday.”

The problem with Harold The Lefty and M.P. is, the
sport needs a million more like them, and they aren’t around.

Yet another BDHC punter said, “They have so many different exotic bets with high takeouts and the pools are stretched very thin and, in some cases, even a $20 win or, even, an exacta bet can have a big effect on the next flash of the board when the board updates the odds and probable payoffs.”

That was evidenced during this conversation when his $20 win bet played a role in knocking his horse’s odds from 5-1 down to 9-5.

“See what I mean?” he said.

On the other side of the coin, rebates can be very lucrative with one punter saying, “If you have a decent volume player, the rebate might be as high as 13 per cent. It all depends on the takeout so, if a track offers an exotic bet with a luring 12 per cent takeout, then the rebate might be only 2 per cent or so.”

On the sophisticated side of the ledger, the modernization of sports betting may influence horse racing (note: horse racing, not the pari-mutuel form).

The future looks to modernize with “AI” forms of betting such as robotic betting and quantitative strategies.

According to Symphony Solutions, a program may be at hand and programmed to place bets automatically based on quantitative analysis which, in turn, is based on data which provides the framework and strategies while the robotic betting would provide the automation to execute those strategies in an efficient manner.

Much of this, of course, is way above the brain power of this Mane Attraction author, whose limit is hardly above a 20 cent superfecta, 2,4,5 with 2,4,5 with 2,4,5 with ALL!

Yup, all that action for $7.20.

MAY THE HORSE BE WITH YOU