how to lose money even when you have a licence to print it

You'd think running a tote business in a region with a strong racing product, plenty of retail outlets and high margins would mean large, guaranteed profits. Apparently not.

Off-track betting under fire for vehicle fleet

The betting operation, which is heavily indebted and government-controlled, has come under scrutiny by the state comptroller, Thomas P. DiNapoli, for having a fleet of 87 vehicles at its disposal, according to an article in The New York Times on Tuesday. The vehicles cost an average of $6,700 each to operate every year.

...

The betting parlors are floundering in fiscal mismanagement. Last year, they recorded a deficit of $17.8 million, despite handling $1 billion in wagers. On Tuesday, Governor David A. Paterson issued an executive order authorizing OTB to file for bankruptcy protection.

What the ....? 87 company cars around one of the world's most traffic unfriendly cities? Get on the bloody subway! Have they ever thought of looking at how similar businesses around the world make huge profits? Sure they don't control racing like TABcorp or the HKJC, but even the relatively-lame UK Tote makes considerable profit each year, and it has to face tough competition.

Not sure of the funding relationships in the USA and specifically, New York. Does this affect funding for the NYRA?

Comments

It's all gone Pete Tong at Betfair!

The Christmas Hurdle from Leopardstown, a good Grade 2 race during the holiday period. But now it will go into history as the race which brought Betfair down. Over £21m at odds of 29 available on Voler La Vedette in-running - that's a potential liability of over £500m. You might think that's a bit suspicious, something's fishy, especially with the horse starting at a Betfair SP of 2.96. Well, this wasn't a horse being stopped by a jockey either - the bloody horse won! Look at what was matched at 29. Split that in half and multiply by 28 for the actual liability for the layer(s). (Matched amounts always shown as double the backers' stake, never counts the layers' risk). There's no way a Betfair client would have £600m+ in their account. Maybe £20 or even £50m from the massive syndicates who regard(ed) Betfair as safer than any bank, but not £600m. So the error has to be something technical. However, rumour has it, a helpdesk reply (not gospel, natur

Spot-fixing - you will never, ever be able to stop it

According to this report , IPL tournaments so far have been rife with spot-fixing - that is fixing minor elements of the game - runs in a single over, number of wides bowled etc. The curious part of that article is that the Income Tax department are supposed to have found these crimes. What idiot would be stupid enough to put down 'big wad of cash handed to me by bookie' as a source of income? Backhanders for sportsmen, particularly in a celebrity- and cricket-obsessed culture like India are not rare. They could come from anything like turning up to open someone's new business (not a sponsor, but a 'friend of a friend' arrangement), to being a guest at some devoted fan's dinner party etc. The opportunities are always there, and there will always be people trying to become friends with players and their entourage - that is human nature. This form of match-fixing (and it's not really fixing a match, just a minor element of it) is very hard to prove, but also,

lay the field - my favourite racing strategy

Dabbling with laying the field in-running at various prices today, not just one price, but several in the same race. Got several matched in the previous race at Brighton, then this race came along at Nottingham. Such a long straight at Nottingham makes punters often over-react and think the finish line is closer than it actually is. As you can see by the number of bets matched, there was plenty of volatility in this in-play market. It's rare you'll get a complete wipe-out with one horse getting matched at all levels, but it can happen, so don't give yourself too much risk...

Sport is made for betting

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