Twin Spires - can't take all of my money?

[DJofSD]

I recently opened an account with Twin Spires. Except for a restriction by the finance institution that issued the credit card I used to open the account, up front, everything went smoothly. (Instead of being able to fund the account online, I had to actually make a telephone call to make the equivalent transaction via a Twin Spires representative.)

Yesterday, I decided to play a little AQU. In the 6th, I wanted to dutch 2 horses for a total of $20 -- $8 on the higher odds, $12 on the lower odds horse.

Well, to my surpise, after making the $8 bet, I discovered that $12 was not in the list of amounts that I could make -- $11, yes, $13, yes, but not $12.

I did send an email asking why is $12 not available. The response was "It is not available due to tote system restrictions."

On the face of it, this seems very strange. Any win bet over the minimum that is in $1 increments should be a valid wager including $12 -- unless you wager with Twin Spires.

Any one have an insights as to why such a stupid restriction is in place?

[cj]

Must be a software thing. When you click on "Other" for the amount, you get this message:

The following amounts are not allowed due to tote system restrictions: $11, 12, 21, 22, 23, 32, 33, 41, 44, 55, 66, 77, 88, 99, 110, 111, 220

I'm sure you realize you can just do $6 x 2.

[Jeff P]

Any one have an insights as to why such a stupid restriction is in place?I might be wrong about this, but didn't TVG sign a deal to obtain exclusive rights to $12 as an amount for win bets? :D :D



-jp

.

[DJofSD]

cj: yes, $6 x 2 would have gotten me what I wanted but in the moment when I made the wager, they we're loading and I used $10 instead just to get the bet down.

Jeff: I had not considered that one!

I'm hoping Ian will chime in.

Do other ADW companies have the same or similar restrictions?

[rokitman]

I might be wrong about this, but didn't TVG sign a deal to obtain exclusive rights to $12 as an amount for win bets? :D :D



-jp

. :D :D :D

A tote restriction on $12?! Why in h-e-double hockey sticks is that?!

[Pace Cap'n]

Reserved for check digits?

Not that I know beans about check digits.

[Steve 'StatMan']

That for error protection in the tote system - to protect the bettor, & esp the teller typing keys, so that they don't put through a bet and hit a stray key or a double key. Reduced the number of errors, and last minute tickets the customer doesn't want that the teller has to eat. Example, a $2 bet that ends up as $22 or $12 or $23 by mistake. I've had this come up with live tellers at the track, esp at AP, which uses Amtote, as does CD. Might be a 'feature' of Amtote.

[banacek]

I remember when I was playing at the track (or phone) that if I tried to be $11 or $22 or such, I couldn't. I always had to do it in 2 bets. They were worried about the teller accidently hitting the key twice I was told.


Of course it wasn't that long ago -ok it was - when I made a $30 double bet by buying 6 $5 tickets at the $5 double window and then had to got to the separate cashing window to cash. I always thought that the $6 combination ($2 wps) seller had the best job, was nowhere near as busy as the rest of the sellers.:)

[DJofSD]

I can understand if it is all about preventing an accident due to key bounce or the such. But in my case, I'm using the Twin Spires web site where my selection is from a pull down list. So, if it is a restriction built into the tote system deeper into the chain of systems than just my user interface, I can some what understand that -- the UI software is giving me the selections that are valid for what it is feeding. On the other hand, a good UI would have taken my selection of $12 and done a cj -- it would not be that hard to do.

[Premier Turf Club]

cj: yes, $6 x 2 would have gotten me what I wanted but in the moment when I made the wager, they we're loading and I used $10 instead just to get the bet down.

Jeff: I had not considered that one!

I'm hoping Ian will chime in.

Do other ADW companies have the same or similar restrictions?

There are settings at the tote that restrict certain wager amounts (adjacent #s like 12, 23, 34, etc. and dupes 11,22,33,etc.). We developed software to overide those so there are no restricted amounts on our site.

(see attached)

:jump:

Ian

[Tom]

That for error protection in the tote system - to protect the bettor, & esp the teller typing keys, so that they don't put through a bet and hit a stray key or a double key. Reduced the number of errors, and last minute tickets the customer doesn't want that the teller has to eat. Example, a $2 bet that ends up as $22 or $12 or $23 by mistake. I've had this come up with live tellers at the track, esp at AP, which uses Amtote, as does CD. Might be a 'feature' of Amtote.

What century are these moron living in??????
That is the stupidest reason I ever heard for incompetance!
Instead of "foolproofing" the betting, why not just replace the "fools?" :lol:

[DJofSD]

An additional response from Twin Spires.

That rule is established by the tote company we use, Amtote. I believe it
is because tote companies will sometimes not allow amounts that are easily
punched in incorrectly by tellers. This looks likely because the amounts
not allowed are 11, 12, 21, 22, 23, 32, 33, 41, 44, 55, 66, 77, 88, 99,
110, 111, 220.

[Premier Turf Club]

Again, there are work arounds.

[dartman51]

At PhoneBet.com, which is through Philly Park, the choices are $1,$2,$3,$4,$5,$10,$15,$20,$25$50 and so on. You just have to work around it.

Dartman

[rrbauer]

At PhoneBet.com, which is through Philly Park, the choices are $1,$2,$3,$4,$5,$10,$15,$20,$25$50 and so on. You just have to work around it.

Dartman

You have the ability there to key in a different amount as the base bet. I've done it thousands of times.

[rrbauer]

There are settings at the tote that restrict certain wager amounts (adjacent #s like 12, 23, 34, etc. and dupes 11,22,33,etc.). We developed software to overide those so there are no restricted amounts on our site.

(see attached)

:jump:

Ian

These restrictions are the type of typical racetrack/adw gobbledygook that prevails there. If they don't want to institute some change, it's the tote company's fault; and, the tote company ballyhoos the "feature" as a fail-safe mechanism. Their computers can send a signal back to a teller-operated terminal when a bet such as $12 is entered and allow the operator to override the restriction on the bet being entered if $12 is the correct bet amount. This industry continues to reside in the darkness of maintaining the status quo.

[rufus999]

I've been having all sorts of problems with Twin Spires. I inherited it by default through BrisBet. The system is erratic at best. Tote updates, screen freshenings, and wagering all hang. Live video feed streams break up and crawl, browser incompatabilities galore. And just to add insult to injury, my automatic Twin Spires membership is invisible to everyone but me and the postman. I think my bonus points (which I have never seen) have been hijacked by some insider. However, it still remains a free service, so I stick with it.

rufus

[green80]

having the same problem with twinspires

[Javagold]

how can the Supertote now be down for 3 days !!

if i didnt know better, i would say this is just anothjer screw job by those liars at Tracknet

[Tom]

It is free - what possible incentive do they have to fix it. It's not like Twinspires cares one hoot about the bettors - they obviouslly do not.
Watch this disappear within 6 months.

[Steve 'StatMan']

I see DRF's live tote is working - on their home page, click first on Tools.

Oh yeah, maybe that helpful tidbit will add a little more incentive too. :D

[dartman51]

I have been using Twin Spires ever since TSN switched over. The only problem I have had to date is the occasional refresh problem. Video and everything else working fine. I use FireFox web browser, don't know if that makes any difference.

Dartman

[stuball]

I have been using PTC and Twinspires for betting. Just recently got my new Vista puter...problem is when I log into Twinspires and select my tracks..then click start it cycles and
remains on same screen...I have found if I hit the wager now tab and then start it takes me to the toteboard...I wonder if this is a Vista problem...actually not a big problem. Just an extra click to get what I want but wondered if I was the only
one with this quirky reaction .. may be the security on Vista
causes this...???????

Stuball :)