Gulfstream Tropical?

[FocusWiz]

I must have missed the memo, but last year, CHRIMs Track Code GPL was approved for this track and it is now being used for wagering. Is this a permanent name change or will they still use the Gulfstream Park (GPM) code for some races?

I apologize if the answer should be obvious, I am not familiar with this stuff.

[FocusWiz]

Still wondering how I am supposed to know this.

The prior Meet at Gulfstream ended yesterday, so today they are no longer Gulfstream Tropical (CHRIMs Code GPL). We are back to Gulfstream and CHRIMs Code GPM. Not sure how we are supposed to know this unless our wagers fail.

[Tall One]

GPL? What the hell is the L supposed to stand for? I hated they changed Calder's name, but what was wrong with GPW?

[FocusWiz]

Well, they are back to GPM today and according to Customer Service at XpressBet, they are planning to use GPT starting on 7/3. I truly appreciate the extra (Xtra?) effort they made to call me back and warn me of this impending change.

What they stand for?
GPLosers?
GPMorons?
GPThieves?

I have enough trouble with LOL (which I told my kids is an abbreviation for "I have found your comment funny enough to be laughing aloud.")

[FocusWiz]

Just an update....

I am not sure that this "GPT" code is real for 7/3. AmWager does not post the valid code in advance and none of the vendors seem to reject an upload code that they do not recognize as currently valid (they seem to accept uploaded files as long as the CHRIMS code will ever be valid. Neither "GPL" (the code good since the end of May) nor "GPT" (the code I was told by XpressBet to use for 7/3 and onword through September) appear on the list of currently valid codes at AmWager nor BetPTC.

Here are the list of valid codes for anything with "gulfstream" in it from http://www.chrims.com :Event Track Name State Tote Co Inception Date Retire Date Country
DGP Dubai Gulfstream Double FL AmTote 3/20/2015 Isle of Man
GPX Gulfstream / South America FL AmTote 1/1/2000 US
GPM Gulfstream Park FL AmTote 1/1/2000 US
GPL Gulfstream Park Tropical FL AmTote 9/17/2014 United States
GPW Gulfstream Park West FL AmTote 10/1/2014 United States
GW1 Gulfstream West Event 1 FL AmTote 10/1/2014 United States
GW2 Gulfstream West Event 2 FL AmTote 10/1/2014 United States
GW3 Gulfstream West Event 3 FL AmTote 10/1/2014 United States
GW4 Gulfstream West Event 4 FL AmTote 10/1/2014 United States
GW5 Gulfstream West Event 5 FL AmTote 10/1/2014 United States
SAS Santa Anita/Gulfstream - Luck Pick 6 CA SciGames 1/1/2000 US

[FocusWiz]

AmWager has it listed as one of today's valid codes:

Gulfstream Tarp,GPT

and I found this listed in CHRIMs too:GPT Team Wager-GP FL AmTote 1/1/2000 US
XpressBet lists all three (they do not seem to filter as to which of these is valid today):GPM Gulfstream Park
GPT Gulfstream Park
GPL Gulfstream ParkI am not sure that BetPTC ever documented the GPL code, but they still list only these as valid (in their "View a list of Track Codes" option):Gulfstream Park (GP) GPM
Gulfstream West (GP) GPWPerhaps they automatically convert these to the related Gulfstream code of the day (not planning to test that).

So while it is not guaranteed that this code is the one for today's uploads, it appears likely that it is. Last night when I uploaded any Gulfstream wagers I used every Gulfstream code I could think of including GPT, since the ADWs seem to just ignore the invalid ones.

YMMV

[FocusWiz]

Here's what I just tried.

I created a wager for the 4th race at Gulfstream, placing a $1 Wager on :4: to Win. I coded it three different ways; one for GPL, one for GPM, and one for GPT.

AmWager (the one that says only "GPT" is valid in their help) rejected the records with a "GPL" or "GPM" code in them and process the one with "GPT" in it. Had only the invalid codes been used, there would have been no indication that the file had been uploaded nor why some records were rejected.

Line 1 1 4 Card not found on 20150703 with course name Gulfstream Park and day eve flag L.
Line 2 1 4 Card not found on 20150703 with course name Gulfstream Park and day eve flag M.

BetPTC (the one that says GPM and GPW are valid) rejected the "GPL" and "GPM" codes with an "Invalid Track Code" error, but accepted the "GPT" transaction. After the upload, there was no trace of what happened to the invalid wagers.

Twinspires (which, like Amwager, only lists "GPT" as a valid code) rejected the "GPL" and "GPM" codes with an "track code is not listed in today's list of available track codes" message.

XpressBet (which shows all three codes as valid) accepted all three wagers. It placed the one with the "GPT" code, but the others simply remained with a "Pending" status.

[toddbowker]

BetPTC (the one that says GPM and GPW are valid) rejected the "GPL" and "GPM" codes with an "Invalid Track Code" error, but accepted the "GPT" transaction. After the upload, there was no trace of what happened to the invalid wagers.There would be no trace after the upload on our system, because it checks everything for validity (track code, pool code, bet type code and runners) and shows the user which bets are valid and which are invalid before the upload to tote.

When discussing tote codes, until fairly recently the first two characters were for the track, and the third code was always a wild-card that normally designated whether the performance was a day, evening, night, or twilight performance. That was expanded to include "special performances" (such as Breeders' Cup Day, or multi-day daily double and pick 3 pools). Since the 2 letter tote codes were running out, now some codes are using all three characters to define the track (The UK and Irish tracks for example).

The multiple codes for Gulfstream have to do with the licenses they acquired from Calder. For example, GPT is Gulfstream Tropical. Has to do with keeping the meets separated for regulatory purposes. I'm just glad they did away with the GP1-6 codes they were talking about at one point.

In order to make it easier for our customers, we now just switch the codes in our database so the proper code is always just under Gulfstream. We also do this each day for the New Zealand tracks, whose codes change every day.

[FocusWiz]

The multiple codes for Gulfstream have to do with the licenses they acquired from Calder. For example, GPT is Gulfstream Tropical. Has to do with keeping the meets separated for regulatory purposes. I'm just glad they did away with the GP1-6 codes they were talking about at one point.

In order to make it easier for our customers, we now just switch the codes in our database so the proper code is always just under Gulfstream. We also do this each day for the New Zealand tracks, whose codes change every day.Thanks for the information. It would be nice if your system tracked the errors as AmWager and Twinspires do, but I understand your reasoning for just ignoring them.

I am sure you are correct, but CHRIMs seems to mistakenly think that GPT predates the Calder acquisition (as shown by what I posted) and both you and BetAmerica refer to this as "Gulfstream TARP" (AmWager uses mixed case and calls it "Gulfstream Tarp"). GPL was the code used when you called it "Gulfstream Tropical" for the prior meet.

The information I posted the other day was directly from your list of valid codes. It showed "GPM" on that day (even though you only accepted "GPT"). Thank you for updating that page.

[toddbowker]

Thanks for the information. It would be nice if your system tracked the errors as AmWager and Twinspires do, but I understand your reasoning for just ignoring them.Not sure what you mean, as our system tells the customer exactly what is wrong with any invalid bet. In this situation, our error message says "Invalid Program". It also corrects bets with scratched horses if the remaining combinations are still valid after the scratched horses are removed. As far as I know, ours is the only system that validates all of the bets prior to the customer submitting them to tote. We do all these checks to give our customers the ability to fix their file before attempting to send it to tote.
The information I posted the other day was directly from your list of valid codes. It showed "GPM" on that day (even though you only accepted "GPT"). Thank you for updating that page.Leading up to 6/30 they were using GPL. Florida has a State fiscal year of 7/1-6/30. The main Gulfstream code (GPM) was used on both 6/30 and 7/1 because of that. On 7/3 they changed to GPT.

Note - GPT is the code that will be in use until 9/7 according to our last update.

I'm going to have to look into why you saw the incorrect code. In theory, the only way for you to have seen GPM on 7/3 would have been if you looked at our track list prior to our changing the code, because when we change the tote code, it updates the track list automatically. We normally update the tote codes around 6:30am ET the morning if there are any changes, although it was a bit later that morning because of a software update. You also shouldn't have been able to place the bet using GPT if the code was still GPM in our system. Am wondering if there was a cached page either in your browser or on our web server. Will have to ask the developers. Thanks for letting me know.

[FocusWiz]

It was probably less than an 15 minutes before I posted that thread. I went to each site in turn, cut and pasted the available valid code information and then posted it. It probably was around 7:15 AM.

My concern (which is what I originally called XpressBet about) was that I generally will upload transactions early in the morning from processes that I run overnight. Not knowing what the codes might be changing (they were GPL, then GPM, then GPT within a few days which is still better than the nonsense they did last year), until the next day generally means that my wagers will be formed with the wrong codes until I figure out that the change occurred. If I were to upload them through a batch file, that just sends the valid wagers (I have yet to figure out how to make a macro read the screen and tell me the errors it found), I would have no idea why the GPM codes never got there until I tried it manually (which is how I discovered it in the first place last year with the GP West random code of the hour).

You are likely correct that BetPTC is the only service that handles uploads the way you described. Each one that I have tried does it differently. As I indicated, XpressBet accepts them blindly and AmWager just rejects them with an error message with no option to fix them. While each has its benefits and drawbacks, I do like the Twinspires model where they end up in an Invalid Queue where I can find them later along with their error message indicating why they were wrong (and the ability to fix them). That way I do not need to be at my PC when the wagers are uploaded to see the error. Six of one...a half-dozen of the other.

Thanks again for the information.

[toddbowker]

We got a handy chart from Gulfstream today. Hopefully this will help:

until 9/7/15: GPT (Gulfstream TARP)
9/11/15 - 10/3/15: GPL (Gulfstream Tropical)
10/7/15 - 11/28/15: GPW (Gulfstream West)
12/5/15 - 5/8/16: GPM (Gulfstream)
5/13/16-6/26/16: GPL (Gulfstream Tropical)
6/30/16: GPM (Gulfstream)

[FocusWiz]

We got a handy chart from Gulfstream today. Hopefully this will help:

until 9/7/15: GPT (Gulfstream TARP)
9/11/15 - 10/3/15: GPL (Gulfstream Tropical)
10/7/15 - 11/28/15: GPW (Gulfstream West)
12/5/15 - 5/8/16: GPM (Gulfstream)
5/13/16-6/26/16: GPL (Gulfstream Tropical)
6/30/16: GPM (Gulfstream)
Thank you so much for posting this! I tried to call them to find out what they thought they were doing a little over a week ago but could not get anyone to answer the phone.

[FocusWiz]

My spreadsheets now are able to select the appropriate code by date for the near future (and I learned a new way to do lookups at the same time!!!).

Now if I could only pick some winners.