Beyer on slots

[karlskorner]

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/sports/columns/beyerandrew/

[Bob Harris]

Good article...thanks for the link, Karl.

Has anyone read anything regarding the impact that free admission has had on handle on the few days it's occasionally promoted at certain tracks? Does attendance and handle go up?

If I owned a racetrack I would certainly consider offering that before I invited in slot machines. I can't imagine the casinos here in Nevada charging people to park and then again to enter the building.

Racing's main competition is saying "Hey people, come on in! Free parking, free admission, free drinks, cheap food and entertainment!"

Racing says "Hey people, come on in! But first, I need 6.00 for parking, 8.00 for a seat, 6.00 for a Form and program and if you'd like to eat here we can probably rustle up a hotdog and beer for another 7.00!!"

I mean, 25-30 bucks before you place your first bet is really silly when you have so much competition for the gambling dollar. Believe me, Dave S and I didn't move to Nevada because of the rolling green meadows!

[Jeff P]

Here in Arizona casinos with slots are allowed provided they are located on Indian reservations. One day last fall, some friends of mine persuaded me in joining them for a day of waterskiing on nearby Saghuaro Lake, instead of my usual afternoon trackside. On the way home from the lake, one of the girls we were with persuaded all of us to stop at a place called Ft. McDowell- an Indian Casino.

I couldn't believe how crowded it was inside. People were literally jam packed almost elbow to elbow. It was a Sunday night and you literally had to wait in line to even get on a slot machine for less than a dollar per handle pull.

Knowing that it would be impossible to get any kind of an edge against the machines, I gave the cashier three dollars for a cup full of nickels- my stake for the night. After waiting almost 15 minutes I finally got a seat at a nickel video poker machine.

The game was five card draw. The machine would pay off two and sometimes three nickels for every one that I played whenever I ended up with a pair of kings or higher. Then it happened. I was given three queens and two eights off the original deal. I had a full house. Any idea on what I got paid? The machine made a few siren like noises and some of its lights flashed. And then it spit out five (count 'em- five) nickels into the tray.

I remember once looking it up in a book on poker. Something like one in every 97 hands from the first five cards dealt results in a full house. By my estimation, at fair odds, the machine should have kicked out my original nickel and then 96 more. Even if the house had a 20 to 25 percent edge the machine should have paid roughly 75 to 80 nickels. But it didn't. It paid out five stinking nickels. It was then that I understood fully the overwhelming odds in favor of the house.

These machines were literally stealing everyone in the place blind. And yet people were lined up all over the place two or three deep just for the chance to get on one of them.

Contrast that to the race track- In horseracing, anyone who truly takes the time to learn how to handicap and really understands the intricacies of the game can gain an edge. Yet if you go out to Turf Paradise, even on a Sunday, the place, although busy, is nowhere near filled to capacity. And once there, you'll generally see an older crowd. If you go to an Indian Casino, where the house always has a crushing edge at every machine in the place, you'll find the place packed with young gamblers- the very crowd that the horse track no longer attracts. It is a sad observation to have to make.

I feel that the racing industry has to do more than just offer slots to the public. Yes, the revenue could be a boon. But as Beyer points out it won't be a cure. What really needs to happen is that the racing industry somehow has to educate the public that an edge can be had by an astute horseplayer. If that one secret were ever to get out the tracks just might become the place for the young crowd to to be again.

[ranchwest]

If the racetrack had any sense, they would design a betting machine that worked like a video poker machine and situate it at a desk. Then, free admission, free parking, free drinks. They'd make a mint.