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Mr. Blonde
12-10-2002, 09:34 PM
I'm going to open a phone bet account, to get in some plays while at work

(shhh).

Which account is the best to go with?

Are there accounts that exclude some tracks, and if so, which accounts and which tracks?

Any help, as always, is appreciated.

Suff
12-10-2002, 11:29 PM
I have two... xpressbet.com and TVGnetwork.com


Expressbet...more tracks,, less fees, Itemized accounting of your wagers

TVG... NY LIVE!!! What can you do? If it was'nt for that I'd can TVg and use xpressbet.com exclusively. TVG... .25 cents per bet... xpressbet.. No charge... TVG.. Charge's for everything. But TVG has the partnerships.. and TVG has many more Internet tools on thier WWW site for handicapping if your into that. I do my own handicapping... and I hate the words "SPEED RATING' and "POWER RATING"... When a Public handicapper uses those two words in his angles,, I RUN FOR THE HILLS!!!!

Both are a pain in the ass to get started , ID issues.. State laws etc... but once you get um.... you can't live without him...if you bet NY,, you have to get TVG... or listen on the AUDIO feed from thier www site

Suff
12-10-2002, 11:37 PM
ohh one more thing... expressbet.com has Betty the voice activated wagering computer .. you just say BETTY.. she comes on. asks

What track?

XXX

What race?

XXX

What wager type?

XXX

Amount?

XXX

Then she reads it back to you... its easy and cool... Betty sounds cute to... Everytime I bet with her, I wanna stick it in her HARD DRIVE.......

rrbauer
12-11-2002, 12:08 AM
Being a California guy, you have limited choices. Sufferin' has mentioned two. YouBet is available to you and I would go there as a number 1 choice (I have all three plus one that I'm not supposed to have plus offshore) because you can bet more tracks and their video is better. IMHO.

smf
12-11-2002, 02:03 AM
MrBlonde,

HorseplayerInteractive, OJC's phonebet service will give you cash bonuses and/ or merchandise at the end of the year based on your betting level. :)

Can check it out here www.675bets.com.

Only drawbacks are the small menu of tracks, and the smaller pools. The pools are composed of Ontario tracks, otb's and the HPI customers, so you may get 10k (CDN) in the win pool for nyra, less for other US tracks.

If you bet Woodbine (t-bred), it's not a problem. The pools there are healthy enuff to absorb $400 bets and the like. Also, WO is an up and coming track in that the powers that be have recently made it clear they want to clean up racing in every way possible, and their breeding program is getting better. That means a better product in the near future. I was pleasantly surprised at their racing last season.

Bad news for you is, I don't think your state (CA) allows you to sign up w/ HPI. If ya have an uncle in another state.......

Schlagman
12-11-2002, 02:56 AM
I signed up with HPI while in California. Be aware that everything is done in Canuck dollars, so you need to adjust for the currency difference, eh.

Tee
12-11-2002, 04:26 AM
I use phonebet.com & am very happy with it, odds board/betting menu are very easy to work with & the video is very good.

rrbauer
12-11-2002, 10:47 AM
He's in Calif....can't use PB....I agree it's very good.

Mr. Blonde
12-11-2002, 04:03 PM
Sorry Guys, I haven't changed my profile.

I'm now in Phoenix, so I don't have those California issues any longer.

I'm leaning towards phonebet through Philly Park.
Are there any tracks that you can't play through them?

rrbauer
12-11-2002, 06:59 PM
http://www.racingchannel.com/restricted/MEN----T.HTM

Here's their lineup of thoroughbred tracks for today, Wednesday.

Kappa
12-12-2002, 10:29 AM
My 'bookie' of choice is PhoneBet, although I opened an account with TSN while PB was having a problem with the NYRA last summer. The one problem I find is their toteboard is off slightly, compared to a televised one (say TVG's cable broadcast). Outside of the 'heavy action' days like the Breeder's Cup and the Triple Crown days, access is immediate and my bets are entered within seconds. On Breeder Cup day, at 3 to 4 minutes to post, it took , maybe, 30 to 45 seconds for the bet to be accepted (still not bad, comparted to standing in line behind someone calling out a list of superfectas at post time!!)

Rick
12-12-2002, 11:27 AM
Mr. Blonde,

I just left Phoenix and I have bad news for you. Philly won't take Arizona customers and none of the others will that I know of. I had accounts with Ladbroke and Connecticut OTB (Autotote) that were both cancelled when the AZ Attorney General threatened them. You'll probably have to use an offshore place. Good luck.

Mr. Blonde
12-12-2002, 10:19 PM
Rick,

You've got to be kidding me.
A threat was all that was needed to cancel your account?

I'd love to know on what grounds this was done.

Suff
12-12-2002, 10:33 PM
Arizona? This is Fresh.... this whole things Gonna get alot uglier before it gets Pretty.





TUCSON, Ariz - Racing officials sparred on the issue of bettor poaching by account-wagering companies during a panel Thursday morning at the University of Arizona Symposium on Racing at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort in Tucson, Ariz.
During the panel, Jim Hannon, the director of simulcast operations at Balmoral Park in Illinois, accused Mike Weiss, the general manager of Beulah Park in Ohio, of stealing Balmoral's customers in Illinois for Beulah's account-wagering operation. Weiss responded by saying that Hannon's track was being compensated through the so-called "source-market fees" that have become the norm for account-wagering operations.

The exchange illustrated a larger issue that continues to concern many racing officials. As account wagering has grown in popularity and reach, many racetracks have complained that the growth has come at the expense of live racing operations who lose their relatively more profitable on-track business to account-wagering companies that pay far less in fees to the host track.

Hannon said that account wagering is illegal in Illinois, prohibiting him from offering a competing service to Beulah's AmericaTab internet and phone service. Balmoral will begin to insert clauses into its simulcast contracts prohibiting the tracks from allowing Illinois bettors to open accounts, Hannon said, as a defensive measure.

"[Mike] wants to go into my state without putting up any of the money for the brick and mortar," Hannon said. "He wants to become a 50-50 partner in my operation. The problem is that account-wagering isn't legal in Illinois. We can't compete."

Weiss said that the racing industry has to embrace account wagering as a way of offsetting the declines in business that many racetracks have experienced over the past decade. He said account wagering allows the casual player to bet more often, increasing business overall.

"They're staying more involved," Weiss said. "They're watching the sport more closely."

The panel, scheduled on a light day in the Symposium program, was set up to examine the issues that affect small and mid-sized racing operations. The panelists said they had to be more creative than large racing companies like Churchill Downs Inc. and Magna Entertainment in order to drum up business in what are sometimes difficult markets.

"We are kicking pretty hard to keep our heads above water and keep ourselves visible," said Jeff True, the director of marketing and simulcasting at Los Alamitos, a multi-breed facility in Los Angeles.

The panel, moderated by Tom Dawson, a producer for Winnercomm and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, moved rapidly from topic to topic, with discussions on promotions, simulcasting, and marketing. Overall, the panelists spoke about constant struggles to find new ways to promote racing and get players to bet on their signals, with techniques that ran from the mundane to the sublime.

Beulah, for example, uses two buxom blond women called the Beulah Twins as handicappers to attract attention to its simulcast signal. The Beulah Twins have made promotional appearances at tracks around the country due to their popularity.

"I think of our signal as a silent movie," Weiss said. "You walk into any racetrack and there's no sound from the televisions. That was the idea behind the Beulah Twins. Get people to realize that we have full fields and that there might be some value there."

Since the Beulah Twins debuted, simulcast handle on Beulah's signal has increased 400 percent, Weiss said.

Rick
12-13-2002, 12:43 PM
Mr. Blonde,

That's right. It was several years ago. One of them, I think it was Autotote, actually sent a copy of the threatening letter to their Arizona customers. Unfortunately I discarded it long ago so I can't give you the exact wording. Later, I tried to sign up at Philly since their web site didn't say anything about excluding AZ. They sent me a letter saying they couldn't do business there. I used several offshore places after that and settled on eHorse. Ironically, I understand that Philly WILL take phone bets in Nevada but I haven't tried that yet.

sq764
12-13-2002, 02:22 PM
I live about 15 mins from the Philadelphia Park OTB and when I am around there I will deposit some money, but that is the only time. For as great a selection and ease of betting they offer, they still nail you with a $10.99 per $100 service charge for deposits.

I have written to them many many times inquiring as to whether they will ever offer free deposits.. no response.

I stick with HPI (www.675bets.com)

Kappa
12-13-2002, 10:03 PM
I live about 15 mins from the Philadelphia Park OTB and when I am around there I will deposit some money, but that is the only time. For as great a selection and ease of betting they offer, they still nail you with a $10.99 per $100 service
charge for deposits.

If you pre-register your credit card with them, you should only pay $2.50 per $100 deposited as a service charge. Talk to the business office.

Mr. Blonde
12-14-2002, 01:05 AM
Well, geez..........if no one will take my money..........

I'll probably sign up with YouBet, but this subscription business has kind of left me cold, although, the minimum wager threshold to get free access is certainly attainable.

I have YouBet installed at home , but have not used it since this new plan has been in the works.
The phone account betting looks O.K. I would just prefer not to have to use YouBet online at work.

I think my work might be scrutinizing websites visited by employees, and something called, "YOUBET" is just sceaming for investigation by some nosy IT cluck.

Tom
12-14-2002, 11:19 AM
They should change thier name to Productivity Improvment Center Services (PICS) - fly in under the radar. What is it with these companies anyway!? Don't they trust us? <G>

Zaf
12-14-2002, 03:25 PM
Originally posted by sq764
they still nail you with a $10.99 per $100 service charge for deposits.



That is hideous, I have 3 accounts , and I have never been charged a service charge to give them my money.

ZAFONIC

pasco
12-14-2002, 07:33 PM
hey mr blonde email me and I'll forward a phone betting

account that will take your $$ in the usa.I noticed you

don't have an e-mail account...pasco323@msn.com

Mr. Blonde
12-14-2002, 07:50 PM
If you would, paste a link here and I will check it out.

Thanks

pasco
12-14-2002, 08:52 PM
well here's what the account manager wrote to me.They have
a 800-win-line that you use to place your bets..The website
is prcharness.com they have flats and harness and dogs.the
only problem is when suffolk downs runs they have that track
and NY.or fla.But check it out they have all west coast tracks.
hope this helps...pasco

I received your email about out of State. Az is no problem at all. Just print the app. of the web site and mail it with a min deposit of $25.00
Plainridge Racecourse
301 Washington Street
Plainville, MA 02762
Att. WinLine
508-643-2500 ext 161
Thank you for interest.
If you need any help please feel free to call me
Domenic Longobardi
Account Wagering Manager