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In September , roberts killed all cband feeds and went to total dish feeds. Since then millions of dollars in handle has declined directly because of this. They know. They say they are working on a viable alternative. The obvious alternative is to do what you were doing for twenty years without this delay. What's a million a month here or there in a industry this strong ?
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As a long time subscriber to the RTN feed, long before the Dishnet contract, and one who is acutely aware of handle movement, I would suggest that your estimates of lost handle are grossly overstated. I cannot prove this any more than you can prove your side of the argument.
I can say that a decline in handle is not
proof that the inaccuracies are costing millions in handle because handle has been declining for years.
At many tracks - especially those with high rebates - my statistics indicate that approximately 72% of total win pool handle shows in the pool AFTER the gate is open. This is NOT due to past posting, but rather the fact that so many large wagers come in
just before the gate is loaded but after the last
usable tote flash.
I would further suppose that a greater percentage of pool is showing up after the gate is open than ever before. (This is anecdotal, but I believe it to be true.)
The only way to really know the millions being left unwagered, would be if there is a specific statistic which says, "rejected bets." I am unaware of any such published stats. If you have such statistics, please post them. I would be very interested in any tote movement stats available.
As for being shut out, it would be my experience that horse players adapt very quickly to change. Do I ever get shut out? Absolutely. However, it is rarely because I waited too long to play BECAUSE of a slow feed. Generally, it is because I was not paying attention and allowed the time to get away from me (despite the fact that I have measures in place to prevent this).
I suggest that anyone who is playing on anything that resembles a serious and/or professional level WILL quickly learn from being shut out once or twice in a single day that they must get their wagers in earlier. It isn't rocket science.
IMHO, anyone who is getting shut out often is either using a feed that is off by far more than 5 seconds or insists on wagering at the last possible moment. And sometimes they miss. Again, IMHO, that would mean that their approach to timing needs to be revamped. The industry has shown for years, it is very disrespectful of the customers needs.
Simply put, the tracks will go down in flames before they change anything.
Of course, this is just my opinion.
Yours may differ greatly.
Regards,
Dave Schwartz
