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Originally Posted by burnsy
Everything the article says and what folks are saying here is true . But Jeff P touched on the basic point that I don’t really know how this game solves this . Horse racing is no longer a compelling gambling game for many in this society . Especially when you’re trying to entice a mass number of smaller betting fans . I mean, the lack of entrants and some of the “extracurricular “ nonsense with rules even turns off the hardened horse player . The other problem is the make up of the game and playing it . We live in an ADHD , instant gratification world now . People are not going to learn the complex nature of handicapping and then sit there for 20 minutes to see a race that lasts 2 minutes or less . When they can push a button every few seconds and have almost constant action going . Or bet their favorite team where they pretty much have a 50/50 chance of winning . You ask people and they’ll say reading the form gives them a headache . They want to take a chance and see results , and then move on . And the illusion of a big Jack pot just entices the “gold rush” or hit of dopamine they receive in an Instant. Baseball is seeing the same sort of problem . They gotta add time clocks and rules because folks these days are not going to sit there for hours . It’s just not in this Society’s DNA. I don’t know how they make it more compelling to the audience they are trying to capture. And with the quality of what we get for these purses they pay ……..you have actual horse players that are balking and playing less. At this point they can’t afford to chase the biggest bettors away …….. then where would the game be ? It’s as close to a pyramid scheme as you can get . Everything goes to the biggest tracks , bettors and barns and with the attrition rate of the biggest stars you can get Grade 3 horses running for millions now . Who wants to buy horses and go against these people? So, the overall product gets less compelling to the common Joe annually.
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While the instant action society is overall true, I don't agree with your conclusions. Sporting events take 2 to 4 hours and people have no problem betting on them. The poker boom was dominated by men under 30 who had no problem learning a complex game and winning. Horse racing has races every half-hour, but with simulcasting (and this has been going on for 30 years) you could have near-constant action if you wanted to---but that would be dumb because overall you have little chance of winning. And THAT is the problem.
But the second part of what you wrote I do agree with, and it's also the root of the problem. Each year, the whales/CRW teams are a bigger part of the handle. So each year, the chance that racetracks will do anything drastic to benefit the average player gets smaller and smaller. Right now the game's financial system requires a total teardown, but half of our current tracks wouldn't survive that teardown. So how can we expect those same racetracks to do anything that would jeopardize the very shaky system they've created and now rely on?
It's an ugly situation for a horseplayer.
