10 Centers at the BC

[TravisVOX]

Will CD offer the cheaper priced supers/tri's on BC day? Has anyone heard?

[leonid]

no, they are not going to blow-up the nationwide wagering system on the biggest day of the year.

[TravisVOX]

I am a huge advocate of these wagers, and the system can certainly handle it. They attract more money to the pools. For example, last night Remington Park had their big night and I found myself betting nearly every 10-cent super and I pumped money into the pool that would most certainly not have been there had the minimum been $1. I know I would not be the only example of this, but for someone like myself, who was stuck at home because we race today, I found myself playing ponies for fun because of the small minimum investment.

[Zman179]

I am a huge advocate of these wagers, and the system can certainly handle it. They attract more money to the pools. For example, last night Remington Park had their big night and I found myself betting nearly every 10-cent super and I pumped money into the pool that would most certainly not have been there had the minimum been $1. I know I would not be the only example of this, but for someone like myself, who was stuck at home because we race today, I found myself playing ponies for fun because of the small minimum investment.

That's not quite correct. While handle has indeed increased in super pools at smaller sized tracks, the 10¢ super has resulted in lower wagering totals in the exacta and trifecta pools. A couple racing executives have even used the term "cannibalization" to describe the trend. It's good for the fans, but bad for business.

[JustRalph]

It's good for the fans, but bad for business.

spoken like a "true racing exec"

[TravisVOX]

That's not quite correct. While handle has indeed increased in super pools at smaller sized tracks, the 10¢ super has resulted in lower wagering totals in the exacta and trifecta pools. A couple racing executives have even used the term "cannibalization" to describe the trend. It's good for the fans, but bad for business.

Through yesterday on comparative days, Keeneland is averaging $6,810 in additional handle per day on their last race superfecta. While that number does seem almost pointless to mention, they took a huge hit on opening day. In 2005, their opening day handle on the super was $134,876 opposed to just $83,757 this year. I would say it's safe to assume the new surface created resistance at first, which can be the cause of such a drastic decrease.

Date Race Pool Date Race Pool Diff %
7-Oct 10 $134,876 6-Oct 10 $83,757 -$51,119 62%
8-Oct 10 $93,212 7-Oct 10 $116,036 $22,824 124%
9-Oct 9 $76,742 8-Oct 9 $96,176 $19,434 125%
12-Oct 9 $85,255 11-Oct 9 $116,987 $31,732 137%
13-Oct 9 $100,033 12-Oct 9 $81,989 -$18,044 82%
14-Oct 10 $113,695 13-Oct 10 $107,475 -$6,220 95%
15-Oct 10 $116,871 14-Oct 10 $145,804 $28,933 125%
16-Oct 9 $87,662 15-Oct 9 $114,326 $26,664 130%
19-Oct 9 $58,208 18-Oct 9 $65,570 $7,362 113%
20-Oct 9 $89,333 19-Oct 9 $84,132 -$5,201 94%
21-Oct 10 $102,314 20-Oct 10 $131,168 $28,854 128%
22-Oct 10 $135,948 21-Oct 10 $132,451 -$3,497 97%
$1,194,149 $1,275,871 $6,810 107%

[Tom]

Heck, ten centers on doubles, exacta, tris, sup, pics, - make every possible wager venue avaialbe on BC day. What better way to get new people interested in betting horses.

Which sounds more likely to get a newbie interested:

We can go in on the P7 - I need $560 from each of you guys.
We can go in on the P7 - I need $5 from each of you.

Every leg they are alive, we got a new bettor fermenting,

[Pace Cap'n]

If dime supers are not offered on BC day, it may be due to a fear of clogged betting lines as folks are trying to figure out the last six horses to use underneath, while standing at the window.

[Steve 'StatMan']

I wonder if having 10 centers on the last one is good, but having them throughout the card is a problem.

People who might have baseballed an exacta ($1 3-horse box for $6) or $1 tri 3-horse box for $6 might pick one more horse for the 4-horse super box, but at only a dime, churn $2.40 and get their action.

The grandstand used to have a lot of seniors that bet very small amounts of money. Some I knew only bet $1 exacta boxes every race, handling only $18 to $20 for the day, but not going hog wild on their fixed incomes, either. Maybe similar things happened with the exa & tri players.

I know of a few novices that were making several single combo 10 cent supers (normally at the SAM's, thankfully). But they had their racing thrill for as low as $0.10 to $0.80 a race. They might have at least bet $2 before. They weren't showing off any $1 and $2 tickets those days, did they just stop betting their old bets?

AP went to a 50 cent trifecta this season. Did more 3 horse box guys just cut their handle from $6 to $3 a race than added an extra triecta wager?

I don't know the answers. Don't know if one could tell from the betting data alone. I like the smaller wagers, in theory. Hit a number of $0.10 supers that I never would have bet for $1 combos. But I don't have the confidence nor the bankroll to go deeper into the $1 supers like I would in the $0.10 supers (sometimes I'll bet a $0.20, $0.30 or $0.50 super.) Whether or not they are good for industry all-day, every race, or not, I don't know.

[Pace Cap'n]

How to make a teller happy on the cheap...

Buy a dime super ticket--1/234/234/234, say run it again, and flip one to her/him.

[TravisVOX]

Final numbers are the last race superfecta's increased by 12%, or $191,915 for the meet.