Riddle me this, horseplayers and fans of racing

[PaceAdvantage]

Knowing all the ills that face the industry today (completely antiquated tote system, sky-high takeout rates, unscrupulous trainers, a decentralized set of rules and regulations, etc. etc.), where would you prefer a major industry player focus its time, energy, inspiration, innovation and overall vast resources?

Would it be:

a) Leading the charge to fix the aforementioned problems, thereby attaining a significantly higher level of confidence and integrity in the game overall, and in the process, attracting new fans while bringing back self-exiled former players in droves

or

b) Creating the first legal online gaming website in the United States that bases the outcome of its jackpot and "slot-machine"-type games on the results of real horse races being run world wide, and in the process, finally satisfies that vast portion of the fan base that has been clamoring incessantly for an easier way to "just bet their favorite numbers"

If you chose option b, you're as cynical as I am...and you win a prize!

Go to Luckity.com (http://www.luckity.com) to collect.

[Rise Over Run]

I'm so flabbergasted by my visit to Luckity that I'm having a difficult time coming up with the words to properly describe how utterly ridiculous this is. It can't possibly be real, could it?????

[GameTheory]

So the pools will now be flooded with dumb money? Sounds good to me.

[Robert Goren]

Much ado about nothing. this is not going get much play.

[Shelby]

What the f***? I read the "how it works" section and I still don't get it. Do you know which races your numbers are being matched up with? Or , am I over-complicating it?

CHD owns this? I'd be embarrassed to be associated with that.

[Robert Fischer]

delete

[hugh]

Seems to me that the lower numbers would come in more than the higher ones based on field size...
anyways... are they just coming up with dumber and dumber ways for you to lose your money?
Affiliated with the Kentucky Derby says their "learn about luckity" video. Yikes.

[maddog42]

I must be in hell. That is the only way to justify something as moronic as this.
I can't even raise a chuckle.

[duncan04]

Does this really surprise anyone?? Churchill is all about the $$$

[johnhannibalsmith]

I can't find the Luckity-Off Topic forum. No thanks.

[VeryOldMan]

What the f***? I read the "how it works" section and I still don't get it. Do you know which races your numbers are being matched up with? Or , am I over-complicating it?.

Absolutely WTF but you are over-complicating it - come at it from the perspective of Churchill Downs wanting to get in on the 50% takeout of state lotteries. CD can offer legalized online gaming if linked to the outcome of horse racing. Then you only face the punishing horse racing takeout versus the criminal state lottery takeout. Win-win! Based on the promotional stuff on that web site, CD is trying to draw numbers players who couldn't care less about the underlying horse racing or individual races.

How on earth would this catch on???

[podonne]

It could go two ways. 1) it pulls otherwise lottery-bound money into the horse racing pools, which is good. More money in the pools, specifically when its not smart money, is a good thing.

But 2) it pushes the perspective that horse racing is like a lottery, i.e. a gambling game where zero skill is involved, the only way to win is to be lucky, the longer you play the more you lose, and you'd have to be an idiot to play. That could damage the image of the game and make intelligent people not want to play the "real" version.

Personally, I would prefer they focus on making it easier to open an account and place a bet and coming up with more creative ways to take/structure bets, but if it causes a lot of 1) without much 2), then all for it.

They're not very open about the take. One of the games says that playing the game is equivalent to placing an exacta box and a show wager on the numbers chosen. I wonder if the payout from a $10 "lottery ticket" and $10 spent placing the same bets in a legit way will be equal, or if there is an additional takeout for the lottery game.

[johnhannibalsmith]

...But 2) it pushes the perspective that horse racing is like a lottery, i.e. a gambling game where zero skill is involved...

This was my first legitimate reaction. Really? Luckity? Great name - hey, play this, you just need luck. Maybe I'm the one swimming upstream but when someone tells me that an endeavour is "purely luck", I take that to mean it's basically a scam. Yeah, Skillity sounds like a cooking website, but still, awful, awful choice of names (among other objections) in my opinion.

[podonne]

I would also love to see an API access to some ADW somewhere, like what Betfair has. Why don't they spend time on that?