Sam Houston Starts T-Bred Meet Nov 17

[JustRalph]

Just a Reminder.............

Sam Houston Starts T-Bred Meet Nov 17

Best of all...........

No PolyTrack!

[BillW]

Just a Reminder.............

Sam Houston Starts T-Bred Meet Nov 17

Best of all...........

No PolyTrack!
No ... Brazos River bottom sand :eek:

[jballscalls]

only 12 percent take out on pick 3's!!! They Are Off!!

[njcurveball]

I look forward to reading about your success in pick 3 wagers. I don't know any pros who win with a steady diet of these. I would like to hear about it.

best of luck to you,
Jim

[GaryG]

One of my favorite tracks to bet along with FG and Tam...good luck Ralph!

[jballscalls]

I look forward to reading about your success in pick 3 wagers. I don't know any pros who win with a steady diet of these. I would like to hear about it.

best of luck to you,
Jim

first of all, i am no where near a pro LOL i was just pointing out its a good deal. Besides, i'm not allowed to bet since i work at the track. oh well, saves me money

[banacek]

first of all, i am no where near a pro LOL i was just pointing out its a good deal. Besides, i'm not allowed to bet since i work at the track. oh well, saves me money

What are the rules for that? I remember seeing announcers bet when I was younger, but maybe they allowed that at the bush tracks.

[jballscalls]

What are the rules for that? I remember seeing announcers bet when I was younger, but maybe they allowed that at the bush tracks.

It is still done alot today. I personally wouldnt bet on a race i was calling just for professionalism reasons. In Oregon i'm not allowed to bet at all, as none of the racing officials are. In Ohio i think i'm allowed to, but never did, however i was told that past announcers had. I know first hand that some callers at the biggest tracks in the country bet, i think it just has to do with each jurisdictions rules and each guys desires to bet.

[boomman]

In my 25+ years of announcing I've only been in one jurisdiction where I wasn't allowed to wager, and that was in Texas in the 80's, (G Rollie White Downs) but when I went back to Texas at Retama Park a few years ago, nothing was said about not betting.. (I think they have now changed that rule, because the announcer is no longer listed as a racing official).. Although I'm probably the biggest betting announcer there is (I'm pretty certain of that), I agree with jballs that betting on live races that you are calling lacks a degree of professionalism, and is usually quite obvious to the listening public if an announcer has done so. I limit my wagers to simulcasting only, and that keeps me plenty busy enough!!! LOL

[njcurveball]

I believe it was the Meadowlands announcer who sued the track because they wanted him to handicap as part of his job. NOT BET, JUST handicap!

As for the pick 3, I think it is a terrible bet and costs tracks much more than they make. Same for the pick 4.

Someday track management will realize that to succeed they need people to cash bets and then "churn" the money.

Lowering the takeout, really only helps people who consistently win at the bet. Someone who wins one or two during the meet will make a few dollars more, but will still come out behind.

When you have a correct opinion on one race, you can hit the exacta, trifecta, or even the Superfecta. Having a correct opinion on 3 or 4 races is not only very hard, but you have tied up the money for over an hour.

This use to be almost no concern, but now you have simulcasting and in the span of an hour, that money could have been bet on 5 or 6 races.

With a $100 bankroll, I can either bet two pick threes OR 15 or 20 races to win. The track can handle $100 or over $1,000.

Someday they will figure this out.

Jim

[boomman]

Posted by njcurveball:I believe it was the Meadowlands announcer who sued the track because they wanted him to handicap as part of his job. NOT BET, JUST handicap! The gentleman you're referring to is John Bothe, and the reason that he sued the track was that he was a recovering compulsive gambler and this added job requirement was in violation of his recovery treatment program.. (He won the case, by the way)

As for the pick 3, I think it is a terrible bet and costs tracks much more than they make. Same for the pick 4. Disagree that these are terrible bets, but do agree that you should be on or near the professional level to make them...as for the tracks, just another source of takeout, can't see where it hurts them, as most "rookie" players that don't cash many tickets tend to stay away from multi-race bets anyway....

Someday track management will realize that to succeed they need people to cash bets and then "churn" the money. They are learning that in most cases, as fan education has increased dramatically in last few years, spurred on undoubtedly by the competition for the wagering dollar...

Lowering the takeout, really only helps people who consistently win at the bet. Someone who wins one or two during the meet will make a few dollars more, but will still come out behind. Totally disagree here...Lowering takeout ALWAYS helps bettors, handle in New York has gone up consistently across the board in the years since they put in affect the lower takeout-more money in bettors pockets=higher handle for track=win-win!!!

[Zaf]

Best of all...........

No PolyTrack!

:jump: :jump: :jump:

Thanks JR

Z

[kingfin66]

No, aren't you supposed to say, "The race is on?"

[kingfin66]

I know first hand that some callers at the biggest tracks in the country bet, i think it just has to do with each jurisdictions rules and each guys desires to bet.

Jason, it's a good thing that you don't have a desire to bet! :)

[njcurveball]

My point of an Announcer handicapping is that I always thought it was part of the job. I guess some are gifted with great eyeisght and verbal reflexes to just take the race as it comes.

It seems to me a better approach would be to handicap who you think is going to the lead, who you feel has a chance to close, which horses usually run very late, etc.

The best Announcers simply do not pick up the binoculars at post time. They spend 10 to 15 minutes memorizing names, silks, jocks, etc. Some races can have 3 red silks and one may have stripes, another may have a different cap, etc.

Harness is a cakewalk compared to thoroughbreds. It is actually a tougher job than handicapping in my opinion. You have thousands of critics and 2 minutes to get everything right.

Rarely do you hear how the Announcer split hairs and called the trifecta correctly. But often you will hear how he missed such and such moving on the rail, or how could he say one horse beat another.

I would prefer an Announcer not bet the races, but if it means he doesn't look at the past performances, than I would rather he bet them and have a much clearer picture of the race.

I also think my pick 3 and pick 4 points need to be a lil clearer. The "business" of running a race track is to take your commission from the bets. If the bets are placed and then the results are over an hour later, that money just sits there.

It is very similar to a poker game playing a hand and then taking an hour break to see who won. The house makes nothing in between.

At most tracks, you will see a pick 3 handle less than half any single race bets. Usually it is less than 1/3. These bets are not good for racing on either side.

Professionals can make much more money with three good opinions, playing three separate races. If you doubt this ask any of them if given three winners, would they play each race, or simply hook them up in a pick 3.

If serial bets were the Professionals choice, they would be playing many more parlays. Why let the track choose 3 races for you? Even with 12% takeout, you make more playing 3 strong opinions than 1 or 2 good ones with a race in between.

[boomman]

Posted by njcurveball:Professionals can make much more money with three good opinions, playing three separate races. If you doubt this ask any of them if given three winners, would they play each race, or simply hook them up in a pick 3.

If serial bets were the Professionals choice, they would be playing many more parlays. Why let the track choose 3 races for you? Even with 12% takeout, you make more playing 3 strong opinions than 1 or 2 good ones with a race in between.

Even if I have only 2 strong opinions in the pick 3, the 12% takeout and only paying the takeout once as opposed to paying a much higher takeout 3 separate times is preferable, especially if I feel fairly confident that I can beat the chalk in the 1st leg which subsequently leads to overlays.. As a professional player, I can assure you that pick 4's are the prefered choice of many pros as a comprehensive study I made for the last 3 years shows the average pick 4 returns 2.5x the parlay amount...couple that with one takeout (often a reduced takeout with a pool guarantee) as opposed to paying the takeout 4 separate times on a parlay and the choice is easy for me......And needless to say, if I don't have a strong opinion on that particular pick 3 or 4, there will be many others to choose from!

[njcurveball]

I would love to have the option of taking any professionals choices for pick 3s or pick 4s and using them in race by race bets.

The takeout means more to the track than the bettors! If it were something like 3% and you getting a 9% rebate, than you have a point.

Whether they take 12% or 25%, you still get nothing when you lose.

I like the statistics of this statement

the average pick 4 returns 2.5x the parlay amount

Unfortunately many of the bets that inflated this were not won by a bunch of people. I would love to see a 100 race study of all the odds of your winners and the pick 4 payoffs. I would be willing to bet that using a simple exacta or trifecta strategy will return much more.

Remember, you can hit 3 exactas, 3 trifectas, and 3 win bets before you even run the 4th race.

I know people here are into these bets, to each their own.

[boomman]

Posted by njcurveball:The takeout means more to the track than the bettors! If it were something like 3% and you getting a 9% rebate, than you have a point. You don't think that reducing a 25% takeout to 12% means anything to me as the bettor? You got to be kidding!!

Whether they take 12% or 25%, you still get nothing when you lose. If you aren't cashing tickets on a regular basis, take up a new hobby or dedicate more time to this one!!!

I like the statistics of this statement

the average pick 4 returns 2.5x the parlay amount-this is absolutely true on a large scale 3 year study, and although I keep my own statistics in a data base privately, I believe this info is available to you on www.equibase.com (http://www.equibase.com)


Unfortunately many of the bets that inflated this were not won by a bunch of people. I would love to see a 100 race study of all the odds of your winners and the pick 4 payoffs.See above I would be willing to bet that using a simple exacta or trifecta strategy will return much more. One thing I want to make sure you understand is that I don't make the pick 4 play instead of the exotics in that race, if I have a strong opinion, I make every play you mentioned, and am not afraid to do so. I have one bankroll for exotics, one for multi-race wagers, and one for "Whips" with each one being used separately on a 5% maximum per play basis....has worked pretty well, my 28th year!!

[njcurveball]

One thing I want to make sure you understand is that I don't make the pick 4 play instead of the exotics in that race, if I have a strong opinion, I make every play you mentioned, and am not afraid to do so. I have one bankroll for exotics, one for multi-race wagers, and one for "Whips" with each one being used separately on a 5% maximum per play basis....has worked pretty well, my 28th year!!

I think I see the problem, I am talking from a general put your right foot here in the batters box little league advice and you are thinking I am telling Ted Williams how to hit.

You have basically just confirmed my point above. You make all of the plays AND the serial bet. In that case, it gives you coverage you would not have. That is a professional mindset.

I am sure you have worked out winning strategies for all of your bets. I am also sure you are aware that 99% of the other people on track have not.

I congratulate you on your success. I know of very few people who are not professionals that hit these bets consistently. They are lucky to hit five of them in a month. If their return blossoms to $2,000 (5 * 400), instead of $1,500 (5 * 300) due to the track take, it still doesn't make them a winner.

Now guess what they are going to do with the extra cash? Bet more on their other losing bets. The track take helps to give more back to the bettors, it doesn't help people like this keep more in their pockets.

I do not like your point of people who don't cash tickets taking up a new hobby. That would make this game way too hard to make money! You WANT the people to continue playing when they are losing. Same as with poker.

The house wants the money to flow to get their cut. The winners at the table want the losers to stay.

Hmmmm, now I get why you are hyping these bets.

Good show old man! :D

Mums the word! I guess you know exactly how much these bets make you!


I wish you continued success!
Jim

[boomman]

Jim: Thanks for the kind words, and believe it or not, even though I do collect my fair share of the dead money in the pools, I hate to see people just throw their money away and make no effort to get better. I guess my feeling is that since 98% of the people will lose anyway (and I talked about that in the title of one of my books I wrote on handicapping) it's not really going to affect my profits much to be an ambassador for the sport and do everything I can to help folks. That's one of the reasons I began responding on this forum, to try and provide a different insight and prospective into the sport that I love......

[njcurveball]

Well I am sure you would run the track and find out how to get the most money "on the table", same as poker.

I cannot understand how Track Management thinks charging $3 for a program helps their bottom line. I hope (at least here) people will agree that with information people win more bets. By winning more bets, people bet more. That is the bottom line.

I can tell some people here are true professionals and enjoy reading their posts. I may sometimes voice a strong opinion, but when faced with a stronger truth, I will learn quickly.

It sounds crazy to most people, but if someone is not showing a profit. The should simply get a notebook, handicap 50 horses and bet them all $2 to win. They may find quickly where they have strengths and weaknesses.

That is off topic here, so let me end by saying I like the Sam Houston meet. I will probably venture into a few pick 3s. They won't be close to the main course, just a lil taste where I think I can get a good return. The 12% will certainly increase the value of the winning tickets and that will help my bottom line.

I wish everyone a winning meet there,
Jim

[JustRalph]

Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Weekly Sam Houston Race Park Racing Notes


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Charming Socialite -
Sam Houston Turf Sprint Cup


SAM HOUSTON RACE PARK (Tuesday, November 14, 2006) – The 2006/2007 Sam Houston Race Park Thoroughbred meeting begins on Friday, November 17. The first card of the season drew 102 horses with nine main track events and a stakes caliber field of turf runners on the Connally Turf Course in the fourth race.

“We are pleased with the number of horses and quality of our opening night card,” said Eric Johnston, Sam Houston Race Park racing secretary. “To draw full fields with just 70% of our stable area filled is a great way to kick off the meeting.”

Opening weekend continues on Saturday, November 18 with the first stakes of the season, the $45,000 Houston Chronicle Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at a distance of six-furlongs on the main track. The nominees include some talented fillies including Wrenice from the barn of Randy Mayfield. She made her debut last summer at Lone Star Park, running second in the $111,330 TTA Sales Futurity and winning the $125,000 Pan Zareta division of the Texas Stallion Stakes on July 8. The draw for the Houston Chronicle Stakes will take place on Wednesday, November 15.

Post time for Sunday, November 19 is 5:00 p.m. and live racing will continue each Thursday – Sunday evening in November, with the exception of Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 23, in which there will be no live racing. Live racing schedule and post times are as follows:

Friday, November 17 First live race – 7:00 p.m

Saturday, November 18 First live race – 7:00 p.m

Sunday, November 19 First live race – 5:00 p.m

A complete list of racing dates, stakes and the first condition book is available on the Sam Houston Race Park web site, shrp.com.

Texas Champions Day to be Held at Sam Houston Race Park

Sam Houston Race Park is proud to host Texas Champions Day, powered by Dodge, a celebration of the most remarkable horses, breeders, owners and trainers in Texas. The Saturday, December 2 event shines the national and local spotlight on the most exceptional Thoroughbreds in the Lone Star State.

Texas Champions Day will feature eight stakes races and purses of $500,000, a significant boon to the owners, trainers and jockeys in Texas.

The evening of the Texan experience will begin with a live concert with The evening of the Texan experience will begin with a live concert with Rick Trevino. Trevino is well known for super hits such as, “She Can’t Say I Didn’t Cry,” “Just Enough Rope,” “I Only Get This Way With You,” and “Honky Tonk Crowd.” The country artist will perform from 5:00-6:30 p.m. then Patrick Murphy will provide musical entertainment between each of the ten live races.

Nominations close on November 22 for Texas Champions Day.