Quote:
Originally Posted by classhandicapper
I forget who wrote the article or was interviewed in the podcast (can’t remember the source). It didn’t mention whether the CAWs have to bet every race, but the person being interviewed said there are times they make bets even though they have a negative expectation. They do it to meet the required volume for their rebate deals. So it may be 6 to one and half dozen to another. They may or may not be required to bet every race as part of their rebate deals, but they wind up doing that anyway, if not individually, then as group because one of the teams is always in.
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Even if they are in every race, the harm they cause the game far outweighs the liquidity they bring into this game. I actually agree with Andy A. If the caw were to decide tomorrow to leave the game, it would be the best thing that could ever happen to this game But that is not happening so mute point.
But even if they did you have to eliminate rebates and correct pricing. I am not really sure why it matters if the CAW bets every race or not. The game needs public money not caw money. This dependence came from a ridiculous decision to feed the whales for 20 plus years. It basically was a self fulfilling prophecy. Feed the whales, we need whales, feed the whales, we need whales......Then 20 years down the line the most of the fish are gone and they now have whales feasting on a sharper crowd. As this sharper crowd gets gobbled up and leaves the game the only possible conclusion is game over. What does the fact that the caw are betting 30% of the handle in some crappy 4 horse field at Santa Anita (perhaps at a loss) do for the game? Nothing.
The only way this game can succeed is by providing a robust racing economy. The only way to do so is to provide a level playing (I realize that the sharper players will still feast on the weaker players but they will not bet getting huge rebates on top of that) field for all participants and a takeout competitive with other gambling games. There is only one way for this to happen. At that point and not until then will you get people to transition to this game and more importantly stay in this game. The "entertainment" fantasy is over. It was a nice fantasy for the racing industry, but the data clearly shows that it doesn't work. How can anyone logically conclude that the model that has completely failed for the last 15 years will suddenly work? People may be tired of me posting about this but seriously, provide an alternative that can work. Racing has had years to make this work. Do you think the Nyra Band-aid is going to fix the game? Show me data that it is working. This has been going for close to 18 months I believe. Do we have evidence that the NYRA market has grown (adjusted for inflation)? Seriously at what point does racing realize that their plan is destroying the industry. Or maybe they have given up on the game altogether and it is just get every form of charity (cough, cough, business agreements) that they can until they no longer can? Keep feeding the Whales so they can pretend that the industry is doing fine. This is okay with you horse players? Seriously? 9 out of 10 people in the racing part of this forum are far more involved in this sport than I am. Why do I seem to be the only one that cares? This industry is playing you for fools (even if you are getting rebates-because eventually they will not be enough for you to make it).
