CHRB and the best thing they ever did

[senortout]

As noted(thanks, PA) on this website today. Outlawed player pools on wagers made on California races. More states(well, all states) should follow suit!

What a ridiculous concept in the first place. No actual input from you as a person who knows something about handicapping...no you relinquish your money(they never turn you down, do they?) and let em fritter it away on their massive wagers. At say $10.00 invested, you actually have little to gain on a players pool total investment of say $30,000 now, do you? Excepting of course a lottery like return, in which case, buy lottery tickets. Defeating everything the average handicapper believes...that on a good day he can handicap and wager with anyone, and be rewarded for his own inspirations. A disclaimer, I have never participated in this farcical wager, for more reasons than mentioned here. Good job, CHRB!

[johnhannibalsmith]

I'm going out on a limb and thinking their motive isn't to protect the naïve from themselves or playing the state lottery would be a capital offense.

[senortout]

Your limb is quite solid, and will never split from your added weight. Of course, I realize that it was never the intention of CHRB to please the wagering public, far from it. This was purely accidental, this favor they bestowed upon us. Mayhaps in future they might intentionally do something to aid us, as well. (lowering takeout, perhaps?)

[rrpic6]

This is actually VERY OLD news. California's State Supreme Court ruled against any type of pooling money from an individual account to a corporate account back in 2005 or 2006. Any time the Breeders Cup has been at Santa Anita you may recall not seeing any promos for the Twinspires Players Pools.

RR

[dirty moose]

So your telling me you'd rather have 30K less money in a P6 pool, cause a bunch of people pooled they're money together? If it's such a ridiculous thing, you should either not participate (which you say you don't) or let them keep making and possibility throwing they're money away.

I don't play with the twinspires pool anymore, they can't hit anything. I do play with a twitter pool and we have cashed before.

So the "average handicapper" whatever that means, should welcome all this extra money into the pools! Think of it as dead money if you'd like. I just don't understand why you wouldn't welcome more money into a pool....

[senortout]

Well, you got that part right, Moose. But since I also contribute zero into that sucker play, I really don't care one way or the other how large it is, or isn't!

[horses4courses]

Well, you got that part right, Moose. But since I also contribute zero into that sucker play, I really don't care one way or the other how large it is, or isn't!

I have criticized the pooled wager ventures at TwinSpires for years.
They are as dumb a wagering investment as somebody can ever make, imo.

It goes back to the dreaded "gambler's psyche" when it's about cashing
on big events, and being even a very small part of taking down a huge pool.
Bragging rights.

Attracting small players for these pools preys on that mentality.
"Yeah bro, I got a piece of that $1 million PK6 on Derby Day"
Truth is, he was lucky to get 5-2 odds on his $20.
For these pools, that would be a very good day.

They are a marketing tool, pure and simple.
You won't lose your ass on them, but you won't make money in the long run.
Best ignored, imo, as I think they do a disservice to the regular player.

Should they be illegal?
That may be going too far.

[Tom]

Why not let the players decide if they want to participate or not?
What harm is this pool doing to anyone?
I think the dumbest idea ever was the pick 6, but others like it.

[thespaah]

As noted(thanks, PA) on this website today. Outlawed player pools on wagers made on California races. More states(well, all states) should follow suit!

What a ridiculous concept in the first place. No actual input from you as a person who knows something about handicapping...no you relinquish your money(they never turn you down, do they?) and let em fritter it away on their massive wagers. At say $10.00 invested, you actually have little to gain on a players pool total investment of say $30,000 now, do you? Excepting of course a lottery like return, in which case, buy lottery tickets. Defeating everything the average handicapper believes...that on a good day he can handicap and wager with anyone, and be rewarded for his own inspirations. A disclaimer, I have never participated in this farcical wager, for more reasons than mentioned here. Good job, CHRB!
Please permit my ignorance. What is a 'players pool'?

[horses4courses]

Please permit my ignorance. What is a 'players pool'?

TwinSpires is the only ADW I know of that offers them.
Since I don't bet there anymore, I haven't seen their offerings this year.

For example, with a big race day (Derby Day) approaching, they will
advertise that they are opening a Player's Pool to accumulate a certain
dollar amount (say $20K) to play some major money on the PK-6.

Their panel of "experts" decide on the ticket strategy, and the horses used.
Any players contributing to the pool do so in units (usually $10/unit), and
any returns are broken down per share.

It's the ultimate in backseat betting..... ;)

[Stillriledup]

TwinSpires is the only ADW I know of that offers them.
Since I don't bet there anymore, I haven't seen their offerings this year.

For example, with a big race day (Derby Day) approaching, they will
advertise that they are opening a Player's Pool to accumulate a certain
dollar amount (say $20K) to play some major money on the PK-6.

Their panel of "experts" decide on the ticket strategy, and the horses used.
Any players contributing to the pool do so in units (usually $10/unit), and
any returns are broken down per share.

It's the ultimate in backseat betting..... ;)

The thing they do that's bad is that they will put in the biggest caveman ticket they can afford......buying as many combos as possible...not exactly the best strategy in all cases.

[AndyC]

As noted(thanks, PA) on this website today. Outlawed player pools on wagers made on California races. More states(well, all states) should follow suit!

What a ridiculous concept in the first place. No actual input from you as a person who knows something about handicapping...no you relinquish your money(they never turn you down, do they?) and let em fritter it away on their massive wagers. At say $10.00 invested, you actually have little to gain on a players pool total investment of say $30,000 now, do you? Excepting of course a lottery like return, in which case, buy lottery tickets. Defeating everything the average handicapper believes...that on a good day he can handicap and wager with anyone, and be rewarded for his own inspirations. A disclaimer, I have never participated in this farcical wager, for more reasons than mentioned here. Good job, CHRB!


I guess I am missing your point. You are happy that a government agency is stepping in to micromanage how people can or cannot be involved in bets? And people wonder why racing is declining rapidly in the US.

[horses4courses]

The thing they do that's bad is that they will put in the biggest caveman ticket they can afford......buying as many combos as possible...not exactly the best strategy in all cases.

Ticket strategy is so subjective.
That's the biggest problem with the whole deal.

The guys who handicap the races for them do about as well as you could
expect. It's how they allocate the pool money on different tickets
that raises the question marks.

[Stillriledup]

As noted(thanks, PA) on this website today. Outlawed player pools on wagers made on California races. More states(well, all states) should follow suit!

What a ridiculous concept in the first place. No actual input from you as a person who knows something about handicapping...no you relinquish your money(they never turn you down, do they?) and let em fritter it away on their massive wagers. At say $10.00 invested, you actually have little to gain on a players pool total investment of say $30,000 now, do you? Excepting of course a lottery like return, in which case, buy lottery tickets. Defeating everything the average handicapper believes...that on a good day he can handicap and wager with anyone, and be rewarded for his own inspirations. A disclaimer, I have never participated in this farcical wager, for more reasons than mentioned here. Good job, CHRB!

If they spend 30k on a pool wager, they need to sell "shares" of 1k or more each.....it makes no sense to put in 10 bucks of a 30k caveman ticket.

[thespaah]

TwinSpires is the only ADW I know of that offers them.
Since I don't bet there anymore, I haven't seen their offerings this year.

For example, with a big race day (Derby Day) approaching, they will
advertise that they are opening a Player's Pool to accumulate a certain
dollar amount (say $20K) to play some major money on the PK-6.

Their panel of "experts" decide on the ticket strategy, and the horses used.
Any players contributing to the pool do so in units (usually $10/unit), and
any returns are broken down per share.

It's the ultimate in backseat betting..... ;)
Ahh. Thanks for the response.
I would imagine a person with certain tastes would be interested in participating.

[thespaah]

The thing they do that's bad is that they will put in the biggest caveman ticket they can afford......buying as many combos as possible...not exactly the best strategy in all cases.
"Caveman ticket"..Now that's a new one on me.