Sport is made for betting

Californian racing authorities, in their infinite wisdom, decided that to fix all their funding issues they should screw the punter for even more money by increasing margins on most exotic bet types. A basic understanding of economics will tell you that increasing price will reduce turnover and thus players will have less to bet with next time. But, to get into the hierarchy of Californian racing and the government bodies who approved this staggering concept, an understanding of economic theory won't get you a job - you might actually be able to talk sense. HANA (Horseplayers Association of North America) and others called for a boycott of West Coast racing once the increase was implemented on January 1. Here are the figures for the first ten weeks or so of the year. California Horse Racing Boycott - Handle Losses Exceed $100 Million Follow the link for the full data, but from selected stats... Santa Anita - Handle (turnover) per race down 11.9% Golden Gate - Handle per r...

Sorry for being so late.. R6 - 1,2,3,4 R7 - 2,3,6 R8 - 1,3,4 Favs and some value in there as well... UPDATE Copped the winner (#3) in the first leg (matched at 100 on Betfair), but unfortunately the fav got flattened in the second leg, so we came 2nd and 3rd in that. 16/1 shot won that, whoever lands this pool will get a massive collect! FINAL UPDATE Got the last leg as well (#4 at 8/1). Pick 3 paid $14971 for a $2 unit. So close, but naturally it would have been about 1/10th of that if we'd got the middle leg. Backed the two winners so can't complain too much. Bring on the next one I say! Fonud out tonight that Stan James and BoyleSports do not offer the exotic pools such as Pick 3, but Ladbrokes do. VCBet also do, but darned if I could get it to work....

Tomorrow the attention turns to Tampa Bay for the racing Buycott on US Racing. Here's the drill from the Horseplayers Association of North America (HANA). If you're in the UK, you can bet with most bookmakers as they bet directly into the American pools. In Australia, you can bet via a UK bookie or via the service from Racingandsports . Take advantage of the free formguides and ratings on the HANA site. Don't bet blind, it's not a donation. And don't just bet into any pool, it's a specific pick 3 (treble) starting from Race 6. With a big pool involved, there could be some decent value pop up. Punters deserve respect from the folks controlling racing and betting. Too often we are pushed and shoved around because most punters are apathetic. Without showing resistance, what is to stop tracks/bookie/totes pushing their margins up and service levels down? This is one time it's actually worth supporting the Yanks! :) I'll have a look at the fields tonight/ear...