Precisely which nullifies DO's SP overround argument as the SP overround is brutal but you've had many many hours to bet a race at much lower overrounds prior to the horses going in the stalls. At big festivals, especially Cheltenham, you can bet to near enough 100%, you almost can't lose with bookmakers if you're savvy enough on these meetings.
Yes, I can't argue with that. I'm entirely aware of it as I do my best to exploit it all the time.
That isn't my argument.
You'd do your brains, as would I, as would 99% of punters.
I wouldn’t do my brains, I don’t think. It’s a Saturday-TV-races-festival type of thing for me.
My first priority is to try and find the winner, then find the value (ideally re the winner!), then watch and see how I get on.
If I win (and I do in the long term as plenty of people know) on the day then I’m content. It’s like doing a crossword or Sudoku. Solving the puzzle is a big part of the buzz.
I'm a bit mystified ..in fact staggered tbh..why anyone would choose to give up a freedom of choice that currently exists and suffer because of giving it up. Its clearly better for a punter to be able to cherry pick which prices he takes or doesn't throughout the day rather than not have that option.
You joking here DO aren't you?
I’m not convinced I (and I’m being totally subjective here) would suffer. You guys that take it more seriously might. It’s still a hobby. I’d maybe bet more selectively and to smaller stakes but any serious money I have goes into property, not punting.
If you want to do the experiment DO..just calculate all your future bets using the Tote returns and compare them to what you get by looking around for best price
I’m not sure I could be asred to do that, EC1. I do sometimes check what the Tote paid on a bet I’ve won. I won’t go back through the last few weeks as I’ll be accused of aftertiming by the usual snipers but you know what I’ve been backing. I don’t mean to sound cheeky but if you’re in a position to check you’ll have a picture. I honestly don’t know whether I would be in front or not (ie based on the prices I got and the Tote returns).
As I said earlier, this isn’t really my argument. It isn’t about the how the betting markets compare; it’s about the good of the sport.
If going to a near tote-only situation allows the industry to raise prize money to a minimum of, say, £10000 for even a seller, then maybe a £100k race or two every week, I think that would be brilliant.
It might not ultimately work in practice – I really don’t know – but I am willing to see the experiment put into place.
Others on here will know the figures better than me. But I can’t help thinking that if the bookmaking industry across the country takes in, say, £100,000 on one ordinary race, imagine if that money went straight into a pool instead. That’s £800,000,000 (bare minimum) coming into the industry in the flat season alone. The ‘take’ could be reduced to 10% and it would still bring in £80,000,000 at the very worst. How much do bookies currently put into the sport?
Bring entry prices down and more people will attend. More money will come in.
By all means, fellow forumites, tell me this is pie in the sky but please provide concrete evidence to the contrary and be constructive otherwise debating the issues becomes pointless for me.
