A leisurely day at the the track

[pktruckdriver]

This is for those who go to the Track for recreational enjoyment and have a set budget they wish to stick to, say 20.00 a race or 100-200 for the entire day.

Me, I used to do the 20.00 a race to start the day with.

This was when daily double's were the 1st 2 races and the last 2 races of the day.

I would start with something like this

A/BCD BCD/A 1.00 EXACTA

A/BCD/BCD 1.00 TRIFECT

AB/ AB DAILY DOUBLE 2.00

And then hope and pray I hit enough to play the rest of the day, and if I miss then I try another 20.00 wager in the next race, or so and if I lose 2-3 races then I am done for the day.

My 2nd Race

A/BCD BCD/A 1.00 EXACTA

AB/AB/AB 1.00 PICK 3

E (longshot play) 2.00 WPS

There must be others who do this , or something similar, it would be nice to hear what you do when playing for fun, and enjoyment and have a certain amount you can play per race , and or play that day .

This was years ago when racing was fun and I would know right away if I would do well and play all day, or that it was not my day and watch and roam around to the paddock, finish line, grab lunch, and enjoy the track .

Let's hope this post will bring back to those memorable days of yester-year, and you can share the fun.

Patrick

[Robert Goren]

Anybody who tells you that they go to track for fun is lying to you and maybe to themselves as well.

[BlueChip@DRF]

Anybody who tells you that they go to track for fun is lying to you and maybe to themselves as well.

I go to the track because I find the intellectual environment there stimulating.

[pondman]

Let's hope this post will bring back to those memorable days of yester-year, and you can share the fun.

Patrick

I was a SA rat. There was a time when you could bring in an ice chest, lawn funiture, and a big umbrella. We were the people who set this stuff up in the middle of pouring rain.

I was never someone who bet every race, but looked for that big one. I had it drilled in to me. But the downside to this is: what do you do in the mean time? About the only thing to do was drink, eat bad food, and chase woman-- which in itself can kill your bank.

[the little guy]

Anybody who tells you that they go to track for fun is lying to you and maybe to themselves as well.

It would be impossible for you to be any more ridiculous.

Anybody that says differently is lying to you and themselves as well.

[Wagergirl]

Anybody who tells you that they go to track for fun is lying to you and maybe to themselves as well.

I go to the track broke, and get guys to buy me a soda while I watch the horses run.

well at least when Portland Meadows is running.

[bigmack]

It would be impossible for you to be any more ridiculous.

You clearly haven't read much of his other work. He's certifiably unhinged in all matters.

[Beachbabe]

Anybody who tells you that they go to track for fun is lying to you and maybe to themselves as well.

Just because they call it "fun" doesn't mean they're not trying to win some money.
"Fun" and "handicapping/betting" are not mutually exclusive.

[mannyberrios]

It would be impossible for you to be any more ridiculous.

Anybody that says differently is lying to you and themselves as well.
You think so, you have to read some of his other posts

[HoofedInTheChest]

I always have fun at the track, win or lose. Of course i am always trying to win money but it is not the be-all or end-all if i don't. I spent Saturday at Woodbine and lost $70 but i still had a great time, hung out with some great people, had some good food, a few adult beverages and a bunch of laughs..... it was a good day.

[cnollfan]

To me this is one of the biggest differences between live racing and simulcasting. Live racing is fun, win or lose, but simulcasting racing is not fun when I lose.

[PhantomOnTour]

It's never fun when i lose, and sometimes it ain't fun when i win (see Bernardini's Preakness).

But it is refreshing to have folks who don't mind losing, and who are betting into the same pools as me.
Run tell your friends how fun it is....please.

[pktruckdriver]

I always have fun at the track, win or lose. Of course i am always trying to win money but it is not the be-all or end-all if i don't. I spent Saturday at Woodbine and lost $70 but i still had a great time, hung out with some great people, had some good food, a few adult beverages and a bunch of laughs..... it was a good day.


See this is was it was like before, fun and enjoyable, like if you went to the movies today, with 2 people, you easily spend 50.00 , or to a show or concert (which could easily be 200 or more), something for entertainment, which almost always cost a little money and yes we could win too, but losing is not the end all, it was more about the fun.

Heck today the casino's are the same way, when you go you do not really expect to win, but think you might, but you go with a set amount you can play and find the machine's you like and when you lose your fun fund, you stop, or else it then becomes more than fun, and we won't go there...

patrick

[Robert Goren]

The lone execption to what I said is the Kentucky Derby.

An older guy once caught my eye at Aksarben when I was in college. I saw him sit at table for over 2 weeks and never go near a window. He had the form and watched the post parade on the big screen and rooted for a horse in every race. Then one day I saw him go to window after the post parade and watch the race where a 10/1 shot won by about 10 lengths. He then went up and cashed. I later found out from the cashier that he had bet (#) $500 on it, fair hunk of change in 1968. You better believe I kept an eye on him until I started back to summer school. He never made another trip to window when I was there although he was there every day I was.

[Simple Syrup]

To me this is one of the biggest differences between live racing and simulcasting. Live racing is fun, win or lose, but simulcasting racing is not fun when I lose.

i agree. I am not by any stretch a professional handicapper. Like other forms of gambling, it is entertainment. I set a given preset dollar amount per track visit (not always the same each visit, but I will never exceed it), and my "fun" is trying to see how much I can take home. If I come back with zero, that was the price of my entertainment that day. It's usually less expensive than a baseball game.

[speed]

I go to the track broke, and get guys to buy me a soda while I watch the horses run.

well at least when Portland Meadows is running.
This just reminded of an old DICE joke.
Jack and Jill went up the hill, both with a buck and a quarter.
Jill came down with two fifty.

[garyscpa]

This just reminded of an old DICE joke.
Jack and Jill went up the hill, both with a buck and a quarter.
Jill came down with two fifty.

I'm trying to make that rhyme.

[jdhanover]

to finish with a rhyme:

... and Jack was feeling nifty. ;)

[jerry-g]

I think the best part about being in person
at the track or OTB, is you can wait till you
see other people tearing up their tickets
before you tear up your own.

My first day at a race track was when I was in my
early 20's and a buddy of mine and I went armed
with a list from an older fellow and instructions
to make only show wagers. He said we might
make a little money, break even or loose very
little. He was right. We had a fun day. I think the
food was lousy and not anything like a good ole
roast beef sandwich at the St. Louis Cardinals
stadium. I think the track was Arlington.

[Ocala Mike]

Jack and Jill went up the hill, both with a buck and a quarter.
Jill came down with two fifty.

The next line, of course, is:

"Think they went up for water?"

:lol:

[Ocala Mike]

It would be impossible for you to be any more ridiculous.

Anybody that says differently is lying to you and themselves as well.




You have to forgive Mr. Goren. It seems that his hometown track has just closed, and future racing in his home state is an iffy proposition.

http://www.theindependent.com/news/state/horse-racing-s-future-uncertain-in-neb-capital/article_c43cb2ff-af99-5c27-b5a8-eaf5751c0cdb.html

No wonder he's joyless!

[Robert Goren]

You have to forgive Mr. Goren. It seems that his hometown track has just closed, and future racing in his home state is an iffy proposition.

http://www.theindependent.com/news/state/horse-racing-s-future-uncertain-in-neb-capital/article_c43cb2ff-af99-5c27-b5a8-eaf5751c0cdb.html

No wonder he's joyless! Very iffy to say the least. Even if the whole mess involving the Lincoln track had not happened, Nebraska horse racing would still be in trouble. When the casinos in Iowa and Kansas opened, horse racing lost a lot of its business. It has been hanging on by a thread ever since. When Aksarben closed in 1995, I didn't figure it would last much longer, but somehow it stumbled on until now. We shall see what future brings.

[WPL]

Back in the 80's when I was a Belmont Park Regular, I was going through a real bad stretch, thinking of chucking it and moving on, I decided to find out if I really liked the races at all anymore - so I went there one typical warm summer weekday with the intention of not betting any races at all and to look at everything there with fresh eyes.
I succeeded in doing that and had a real blast! With no pressure to cash a ticket all day I saw all the other regulars going through all their regular gyrations, with all the drama and angst before during and after every race. I realized how poisonous their personalities were and how it was quite likely exacerbating my own personal racing 'funk' by being in their vicinity.
It was an effing circus. ( Like Warren Buffet said about playing bridge: "If you look around the table and don't know who the 'mark' is...it's you." - I think that is attributed to Warren...)
It was a day well-spent.

[WPL]

I found the actual WB quote: "If you are in a poker game and after 20 minutes, you don't know who the patsy is, then you are the patsy."

[Kevroc]

Anybody who tells you that they go to track for fun is lying to you and maybe to themselves as well.


When I was a teen, I spent many days cutting out from school and going to AQU or BEL and dodging my uncle who ran the valet (still does).. many times I only had enough money for train fare. I'd snag a program around race 2 or 3 (they weren't hard to find discarded ones) and I had some of my best racetrack memories. Aztec Empire getting put up in a vicious bumping stretch drive through a freak lightning storm at AQU.. still sticks in my head. Not a penny was wagered.

Then, fast forward to my early to mid twenties. I would pull weekend tripleheaders with my other uncle and our friend. We'd do Meadowlands friday night, aqueduct or belmont saturday and meadowlands saturday night. Many times, I'd be tapped out before the saturday night action, but I still went and had a blast.

Wagering is made easier now. We do it from our living rooms, all comfy cozy, with our big screens or computer screens looking like mini-otbs. But, I sometimes still think about those days and how much fun I had.

[Steve 'StatMan']

When I stressed out badly back in the 90's and couldn't work or do much for a few weeks until I got control of my stressors and had wound down. The counselor at work was concerned about all my stressors including my gambling, although I wasn't - knew I had it under control, and I clearly agreed that if I couldn't stop wagering then that would be a problem. I did miss all my friends at the track, so I ended up going to the track once a weekend for most of 6 weekends. Made only 1 token $2 bet to win on the Belmont for a horse going for the Triple Crown - Souvenier ticket only, wouldn't have cashed it had it won. I had a wonderful time with my friends. I never handicapped the cards. Would occasionally look at what a friend would occasionally point out. But no urge to bet. Relaxed, enjoyed my days at AP, the racing, the people watching, etc. For me, it was good therapy.

[sammy the sage]

Never went to track JUST for fun...EVER...those of you who do or have...thank you :jump:

[Robert Goren]

For those of you who went to the track and did not bet and still had a great time, why don't you do that all the time now?

[Kevroc]

For those of you who went to the track and did not bet and still had a great time, why don't you do that all the time now?

I'm not a teen or a young 20-something anymore.

I have a wife, three kids and one on the way.

Hopefully, someday I can go back to the track for fun but, it's hard now, there's just no time.

That being said, I am a horseplayer and I do BET, and I do so at home. Is it always fun? No, truthfully it isn't. But, I can say the when I am able to go to the track, it's always fun.. for me at least.

My kids like to watch the races with me and they are young 7,5 & 4. I haven't taught them the betting aspect, I like the fact that they like to watch innocently.. i'll try to keep it that way. They ask me to take them riding all the time. That's something else that I am looking forward to doing.

[Dahoss2002]

This is for those who go to the Track for recreational enjoyment and have a set budget they wish to stick to, say 20.00 a race or 100-200 for the entire day.

Me, I used to do the 20.00 a race to start the day with.

This was when daily double's were the 1st 2 races and the last 2 races of the day.

I would start with something like this

A/BCD BCD/A 1.00 EXACTA

A/BCD/BCD 1.00 TRIFECT

AB/ AB DAILY DOUBLE 2.00

And then hope and pray I hit enough to play the rest of the day, and if I miss then I try another 20.00 wager in the next race, or so and if I lose 2-3 races then I am done for the day.


I remember the good old days. I would budget similiar to that. DD set the tone for alot of days. Also, when I first started, exacta was only other exotic and not available every race and 5$ min. If i didnt hit double, I would bet less in certain races and save for races I liked more. My 200-300 dollars would last all day most of the time.
Then in the early 90's they brought in video poker at Louisiana Downs. Several times I was busted before the first race :lol: .

[rrpic6]

I go to the track broke, and get guys to buy me a soda while I watch the horses run.

well at least when Portland Meadows is running.

Funny line...but you might be telling the God's honest truth!. Too many losers at the track....so I just stay and bet at home now.

RR

[elhelmete]

Sometimes I'll just go and sit in a remote corner of the grandstand and smoke a cigar and drink a beer.

[WPL]

For those of you who went to the track and did not bet and still had a great time, why don't you do that all the time now?

I bet from the comfort of my own home now and I don't have the same distractions that I had previously - the logistics of getting to and from the track daily and avoiding the bad-actors in the clubhouse, etc.... The lack of distractions gives me a better 'balance' so that now I can better avoid the bad-actors on the track.

It's a much more disciplined effort now on my part and a lot less stressful.
I'm playing now more the way I thought I would be able to when I first took up this pursuit - something I attribute to being away from a circus-like atmosphere.
You don't get combat pay for hanging out with clowns and losers. You only get paid for making good bets.
Being surrounded daily by people you would not like living in the same city with takes too much of a toll on my state of emotional arousal. That is something that takes away from my judgement.
I may never go to the track again. ( Well...maybe just to watch! ;7p )

[BombsAway Bob]

This just reminded of an old DICE joke.
Jack and Jill went up the hill, both with a buck and a quarter.
Jill came down with two fifty.
Dice Clay Nursery Rhyme classics...
[YT="I[/YT]

http://youtu.be/0-9KYf5MWUI

[SchagFactorToWin]

For those of you who went to the track and did not bet and still had a great time, why don't you do that all the time now?
empty grandstands- it was fun when there were hundreds of people there, now there's a dozen.

[Pine Tree Lane]

to finish with a rhyme:

... and Jack was feeling nifty. ;)

The rhyme ends "they didn't go up for water"

[overthehill]

I havent been to the track in perhaps a decade now. but i used to be weekender at the NYRA tracks for several years and for a brief period of time I went every day. I enjoyed being there, there was a camaraderie with some of the regulars and there were quite a few regular characters and it was fun to watch their various antics. What i didnt enjoy was the lengthy travel time and the general surliness of most of the track personnel who felt they were doing you a favor by doing their jobs. I think that one of the reasons hardly anyone goes to nyra tracks anymore except for Saratoga was the attitude of their employees. perhaps they finally got the message , perhaps not.

In the tweny years or so I went to NYRA tracks I dont ever remembering being approached by anyone just to say hello and ask what they could do to make being there a more pleasant experience. Looking back it seems like such a contrast to casinos who do everything they can to entice players to visit them and stay longer.