Twin Spires -- what time is it?

[DJofSD]

Why is it in this day and age that Twin Spires has to use east coat time for west coast races? I'm looking at HOL tote action using Twin Spires and the post time for the Vanity is shown as 5:07.

Idiots.

[startngate]

Living in the Eastern Time zone, I assumed the times listed were reflective of where I was.

Obviously they are not, but what time zone would you have them use instead? GMT?

I think keeping all post times in one time zone makes a lot of sense myself. It would be too confusing otherwise.

For those with other accounts (TVG, YouBet, etc.) is it any different?

[DJofSD]

I don't know about other ADW providers.

Why the suggestion to go to GMT? To make it an equitable difficulty for all?

As far as I'm concerned the use of ET for races in a different time zone represents a lack of sophistication when it comes to computers, user relevant interfaces and delivering a product that has added value.

The more I use Twin Spires the more I realize they fall short of the mark.

Ian, does PTC do a better job in the area of zone appropriate post times?

[NoCal Boy]

Living in the Eastern Time zone, I assumed the times listed were reflective of where I was.

Obviously they are not, but what time zone would you have them use instead? GMT?

I think keeping all post times in one time zone makes a lot of sense myself. It would be too confusing otherwise.

For those with other accounts (TVG, YouBet, etc.) is it any different?

Youbet lists local times. I am in California and everything is in Pacific time.

[Premier Turf Club]

Honestly, no we don't. We just get what we get from Equibase. Believe it or not DJ it's harder than it sounds to do. The tote transmits GMT, I believe, that is converted to a single time zone.

[DJofSD]

Ian, thanks for the answer.

I guess I'm a more than a little surprised that post time can not be listed according to the time zone of the track.

[Tom]

It's Kentucky..they don't know what day it is! :p

[startngate]

Ian, thanks for the answer.

I guess I'm a more than a little surprised that post time can not be listed according to the time zone of the track.I'm sure it could be by doing the conversions from whatever time tote transmits (GMT according to Ian), but to what end? Having each post time be converted to a single time zone gives everyone the ability to easily figure out what time a race is going off. If you think converting Eastern Time (or GMT) to your local time is tough, try having to figure out the calculations for all the tracks across all the possible time zones. Don't forget the foreign races too.

Personally, I'm very happy they convert to a standard time zone. I'm lucky it happens to match the time zone I am in, but I wouldn't complain if it were another.

As far as sophistication goes, the only better way I see is if they used geo-ip (which isn't totally reliable BTW) to deliver the post times to everyone using the time zone they were logged in from.
Youbet lists local times. I am in California and everything is in Pacific time.NoCal, YouBet wouldn't be posting everything in track local time as DJofSD is looking for based on your statement. My guess is that YouBet just selected Pacific Time as their standard, which would make sense because their headquarters is in California.

My guess is that TwinSpires selected Eastern Time either because Churchill is located in Kentucky, or because their platform developer (BRIS) is located there also. Or it could just be a legacy choice from the AmTab days, as they were always Eastern on my WinTicket account.

[Tom H]

The Past perfomances I use are downloaded to a program supplied by my provider (Post Time Daily) that converts post times to local time and also allows the user to sort races by time or track. If a small outfit like that can give a free program that converts PPs to local times I can't believe it's that big of a deal.

[DJofSD]

Tom H - welcome on board.

I can't believe it's that big of a deal.

No, it's not.

Either change the information to reflect the time zone of the host track or provide a JAVA applet to adjust it according to the time zone of the user's PC.

[Steve 'StatMan']

When logging in to Youbet, they ask what state you are in - which gives them a good idea what time zone you are in, as well as whether or not it is legal to bet online in that state (if you enter it honestly or correctly.)

[rufus999]

Twinspires streaming video with that service is awful. Here's hoping they iron out the kinks. DRF gives adjusted times if you need them.:sleeping:

rufus

p.s. and while I'm on the subject of the sucking quotient of Twinspires... oh, forget it!

[Ron]

I thought this was odd and easily correctable so I emailed them:


Sorry but all our schedules are on eastern time.

Thanks!
Kate
Twin Spires Player Services
(877)774-7371

> Someone I know lives on the West Coast and he says all your post times on
> his wager screen show East Coast time. Is there a setting to correct
> this?

[Tom Barrister]

What's so hard about asking the user to specify what time zone he/she is in and then saving that in user preferences, so that all post times are in the user's time zone?

[cj]

What's so hard about asking the user to specify what time zone he/she is in and then saving that in user preferences, so that all post times are in the user's time zone?

Nothing. In this game, the customer is always last.

[shouldknowbettor]

Its pretty easy to figure out your timezone from either your PC or by allowing a user to set a preference to pick a timezone is really pretty straightforward. Anything else is just plain lazy I am afraid.