Pinnacle closing races early

[Tom Barrister]

What's going on at Pinnacle? I've tried making bets at Pinnacle with 2 minutes to post, and it says the race is closed. No problem getting the bet in after that at Xpressbet or Youbet. This has happened all morning and has happened a lot in the past.

[GameTheory]

So they have time to lay-off your bets?

[lsbets]

That's happenned to me a lot at Pinnacle during the week and with the smaller tracks. My guess is once they feel they are too exposed in a race they cut it off.

[cj]

Mondays and Tuesdays seem the worst to me. I haven't really noticed it is all smaller tracks. For example, I can always bet Tdn and Suf as they load in the gate, but Pha and Del are notorious for being shut down early.

[Valuist]

I've never had a problem w/NY tracks but if you don't bet with at least 1 minute to post for Kentucky, you can forget about getting it in.

[Jeff P]

This has happened to me off and on for quite some time now. Worse- there have been situations where they have even selectively accepted and rejected wagers made in the same race. There have been times where I have submitted a two horse win dutch bet along with an exacta part wheel, all in the same race, with 3 or 4 minutes to post, only to see them accept all wagers on horse A, but return a race is closed or connection error for wagers involving horse B. The situation where the rejected horse results in woulda had it cashed bet happens often enough to make me suspect that they do this deliberately. I can't prove they do this deliberately, but... If they are tracking the action of certain account holders, and enough of the right account holders send it in on a given horse, then it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out they might want to limit further action/exposure on that same horse or race. A race is closed or connection error message is probably the easiest way for them to do this. The player is misdirected into thinking it is an IT problem, and tries to resubmit without success until the race goes off. Meanwhile, the site continues to function and accept wagers for all other races/tracks.

Like I say, I can't prove it. But I've seen it happen often enough to me, and have had some pretty heavy hitters relate specific instances/horror stories of how it happened to them, to draw the conclusion rightly or wrongly that they do this deliberately and that it smells.

-jp

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[lsbets]

Here is an excerpt of an e-mail response from their customer service department after I got shut out of a race at BEL this spring with about 5 MTP:

"However, Pinnacle Sports attempts to leave races available as close to post as possible. Please note there is no exact time before post when races are taken down. For risk protection, some tracks may be taken down earlier than others."

The key is in the last sentance. For risk protection they take down certain races. Remember, Pinnacle is a bookie, not parimutual. Your best interest is the last thing they are concerned about.

[rokitman]

That surpirse early closing crap cost me quite a bit of money a few weeks ago. A lot more than my rebate would have been for the month. I'm done with them. To me, the only thing that operation has going for it is the rebates. Other than that, it is a comprehensive pile of crap. Balky interface (I have the latest Java and have no problems elsewhere), random missing bet types, random missing tracks, random closings. I say "random" but I know it's not so random at all. All done to play the players. But I don't get played, man. I'm WAY too cool for that. Just ask my mommie.

[GameTheory]

This morning I tried to bet on a horse in the Calder 6th and got a connection error (repeatedly). This was no where near post-time -- the 1st at Calder was just getting ready to go. However, I was able to make all my other bets for other tracks and races. I complained and got a reply back a short time later that basically said nothing -- must have been a connection issue even though it was only that one race that was having trouble. So I logged back in and then was able to make the bet (which was good, because it was a winner at $12.60).

Do you suppose they look at the current % of wagers bet on each horse and so if they were over-exposed (percentage-wise) on that horse even though it was two hours before post they would cut off bets on that horse until the "book" on it evened out? Or maybe they were just picking on me because I have a winning record with my account?

[Pace Cap'n]

Do you suppose they look at the current % of wagers bet on each horse and so if they were over-exposed (percentage-wise) on that horse even though it was two hours before post they would cut off bets on that horse until the "book" on it evened out?

I think you just hit the nail on the head.

[Jeff P]

Originally Posted by GameTheory

Do you suppose they look at the current % of wagers bet on each horse and so if they were over-exposed (percentage-wise) on that horse even though it was two hours before post they would cut off bets on that horse until the "book" on it evened out? There have been times where I have encountered the exact scenario you descibe: The site won't take the bet, there's still plenty of time until the race goes off, and the track in question is listed on their track menu. Once, out of frustration, I picked up the phone and called them - and was transfered to someone who manages horses, and got the bet down over the phone - on a $33.00 winner!!! Ever since then, whenever the site acts up, I've taken to simply picking up the phone and calling in the bet, providing there's enough time. So far, each time I've done that, I've always been able to get the bet down. And I've never had a problem or mixup with them for bets made over the phone. Just be sure and have them read the bet back to you before you hang up. Of course I've had to pay for international calls and bets phoned in carry a lower rebate than internet wagers. But I much prefer that to getting "shut out." I'm also happy to say that the ones I've cashed doing business with them over the phone have more than paid for the calls.

-jp

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[Valuist]

I have been shut out myself by them but the bottom line is, if you're aware of it, you just have to bet earlier. Its as simple as that.