CT and the million dollar race.....

[proximity]

well, i'm thinking of heading down to ct for the big million dollar race so i guess i must find it at least somewhat interesting and i'm sure a decent crowd will be on hand, but the purse is basically divided among a few lucky parties and that's it until next year.

as an alternative i think ct (and all racinos/tracks) should use this extra money to fund year long, on-track handicapping tournaments.

basic rules: (1) 1 entry per person (2) all bets must be placed on track at special contest terminals (3) each bet is scored as $2 to win (4) players must make a minimum of 50 bets per month for each of the 12 months (600 bets per year) (5) if you don't make 50 bets in a month, you will have (50-#bets made)X $2 deducted from your score. (6) only the player himself can make the bets (no signing up aunt agnes and making bets for her) and (6a) video surveillance audits of top monthly scorers to make sure person on entry is person making bets.

million dollar distribution: (1) 100k, (2) 90 k, (3) 81 k, (4) 72k, ..... basically .9 times the place above minus the hundreds..... down to (30) 2,000 and 31st thru 95 th would get $1,000.

updated standings would be posted throughout the racino.

[Saratoga_Mike]

well, i'm thinking of heading down to ct for the big million dollar race so i guess i must find it at least somewhat interesting and i'm sure a decent crowd will be on hand, but the purse is basically divided among a few lucky parties and that's it until next year.

as an alternative i think ct (and all racinos/tracks) should use this extra money to fund year long, on-track handicapping tournaments.

basic rules: (1) 1 entry per person (2) all bets must be placed on track at special contest terminals (3) each bet is scored as $2 to win (4) players must make a minimum of 50 bets per month for each of the 12 months (600 bets per year) (5) if you don't make 50 bets in a month, you will have (50-#bets made)X $2 deducted from your score. (6) only the player himself can make the bets (no signing up aunt agnes and making bets for her) and (6a) video surveillance audits of top monthly scorers to make sure person on entry is person making bets.

million dollar distribution: (1) 100k, (2) 90 k, (3) 81 k, (4) 72k, ..... basically .9 times the place above minus the hundreds..... down to (30) 2,000 and 31st thru 95 th would get $1,000.

updated standings would be posted throughout the racino.

Would there be an entry fee under your idea?

[Charlie D]

as an alternative i think ct (and all racinos/tracks) should use this extra money to fund year long, on-track handicapping tournaments.

.


Good idea proximity, have you put this proposal to any tracks??


Maybe instead of a million dollar race, CT could offer say a 3/4 of million dollar race and offer a 1/4 , 1/2 million dollar winning tourney prize too.


Where's mountainman??

His track is a racino, might generate some interest if he can get track to put up nice prize money for handicap tourney winner.

[Charlie D]

Maybe someone could get in touch with NJ Gov and propose a 3/4 of million a day prize fund for horsemen and 1/4 of million a day tourney for bettors instead of current propsal of horsemen get it all.


Wonder if he and horsemen would go for it.

[proximity]

Would there be an entry fee under your idea?

mike, i'd say some kind of nominal entry fee of at least $200-$300 would be a good idea.

overall though i was just trying to throw the basics of the idea out there:

*generating local interest

*promoting consistent on track attendance

*rewarding consistent handicapping proficiency

[Charlie D]

Entry fee needs to be free or very low otherwise you eliminate a lot of people from the event as UK racecourses have found out with thier ridiculously high entrance fees.

[proximity]

Good idea proximity, have you put this proposal to any tracks??


Maybe instead of a million dollar race, CT could offer say a 3/4 of million dollar race and offer a 1/4 , 1/2 million dollar winning tourney prize too.


charlie, to be honest i wouldn't even know who to talk to about something like this down at ct. but there may be people here who do.

also i'm not trying to promote single day tournaments, but rather reward consistency over time and promote on track attendance.

[Charlie D]

charlie, to be honest i wouldn't even know who to talk to about something like this down at ct. but there may be people here who do.

also i'm not trying to promote single day tournaments, but rather reward consistency over time and promote on track attendance.

Just write out your proposal and send it to track, they should then pass it on to right person and they'll either chuck it iin trash or reply.


If you want and if your lucky, you can walk into a Vegas Casino and win a big lump of money any day of week. You should be able to do similar with racing imho, hence the day tourney proposal thing.

I doubt anyone would go for such a thing though, as these people don't think these type of initiatives generate interest, but they do.


ATR run a handicapping comp on fridays for viewers (Plasma tv prize) and they have found it generates good interest.


You can you imagine interest if prize was say 1/4 of million bucks.

[Charlie D]

Proximity enters weekly comp and wins 1/4 of million, proximity tells his non capping mates about it, they think WOW, i think i'll give that a go, one of proximity's mates wins, he tells his non cappin mates, they join in and so on


The ball is now rolling and gathering speed.


The lure of small outlay, big payout is very attractive to most people on this planet as the lottery people and casino's will no doubt tell you and if you can hook and net a small % of ALL of these fish your business will survive and thrive.

[Warren Henry]

Why not use the million to reduce takeout significantly over some worthwhile period of time. A single million dollar race will not significantly grow their business. A million dollars of reduced takout might.

[proximity]

Proximity enters weekly comp and wins 1/4 of million, .

as much as i could use an extra 1/4 million, i'm more interested in promoting excellence in the skills of handicapping and betting.... and proficiency in these things is something that is best measured over longer periods of time than lucky days or weekends.

i'm also trying to promote competition at the local level, while getting away from the "winner take all" mentality.....hence each placing being relatively close (.9) to the placing above it.....

[proximity]

Why not use the million to reduce takeout significantly over some worthwhile period of time. A single million dollar race will not significantly grow their business. A million dollars of reduced takout might.

the takeout is something that should be reduced anyhow..... and over a period of time we shouldn't need a million dollars (or any amount of money) to finance this reduction as it would only generate increased revenues relative to payouts(probably until you get down to around 10% or so)......

[Charlie D]

Warren

Don't be silly, these tracks are not interested in such a proposal.

[Charlie D]

as much as i could use an extra 1/4 million, i'm more interested in promoting excellence in the skills of handicapping and betting.... and proficiency in these things is something that is best measured over longer periods of time than lucky days or weekends.

i'm also trying to promote competition at the local level, while getting away from the "winner take all" mentality.....hence each placing being relatively close (.9) to the placing above it.....


I understand what your saying proximity, but racing needs new blood and i think a small outlay, big payout idea would be a way in attracting the 1000's of Poker players to take up capping and none cappers may also give cappin a crack too if such a thing were promoted correctly.


The prize is the bait and if you can hook and then net, you've got more players playing who will be adding money in pools, more going to track and spending, taking family and friends who also spend.

[proximity]

one quick story about this track that kind of ties in with the "word of mouth" theme that charlie d was getting at.

last week i was down there for what i called a "mental health" day.... just something to break up my handicapping routine.

anyhow i was standing around and looking at the tvs when a younger player startled me with a question i wasn't prepared for:

"excuse me, how do the odds work?"

well, as those of you who read my posts know, i'm not barry meadow or dick mitchell, BUT at least i was there to answer the best i could, telling the kid about how the money bet by the crowd sets the odds, takeout, how the track makes money..... which prompted even more questions about show betting.... that i was glad to answer as best as i could..... i was just glad that i was there to help promote this great game.

[takeout]

well, i'm thinking of heading down to ct for the big million dollar race Better check the weather forecast first. Traveling any distance to CT when the track might be wet is the very definition of gambling.

[proximity]

Better check the weather forecast first. Traveling any distance to CT when the track might be wet is the very definition of gambling.

i was actually happy that they cancelled on friday night. i finally got a winner there and they took away my chance to lose it back!!

first winning night in awhile!!:jump:

[adwplayingfool]

I'm an hour from CT and will probably be out there for the race, hope they have a good field this year. I agree that they should give something back to the players, especially considering a lot of guys who enter will bring wives who will lose a wad in the slots while the tourney takes place. It is a win win.