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Regarding degens, the track is the great equalizer, brutally indiscriminate. It's why tracks are one of my favorite places to be. At some tracks, you have people who are clearly millionaires walking next to regular guys like me, horsepeople, families with kids running around - people of all stripes. And the horses and tickets don't know or care who placed the bet. It's black ink on white thermal paper and pays out the same regardless of who's holding the winning ticket. And when I go to a track, I never sit in the backyard or simulcast during the race - I always want to see it with my own eyes and feel that energy around me. The confluence of wins and losses, heartbreak and triumph - all between the time they hit the top of the stretch and the time they cross the wire. And they'll do it all again in 20 minutes.
I digress.. I don't have any crazy degen stories, but I do remember stories of, we'll call him Flip, a former trainer at Saratoga Harness, and Jody, a (presumably) rich kid who bet a ton of money with his brother. They both always seemed very amped up and animated, and would always turn the volume way up at the bar. I admit to sometimes "following" their loud proclamations of their picks and it won me a few bucks. I think they did their best work at Yonkers, the Meadowlands and Delta Downs (of all places).
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