Why I hate TVG

[thaskalos]

Whenever I see them touting each other's website picks, I think of the days when we would watch those infomercials with the sports-betting touts...who would sit at a desk and shout their "bets of the year" at their dim-witted audience.

Pathetic...

[ultracapper]

Originally Posted by Pensacola Pete

That's their job. It's what they're told to do, and if they don't do it, they'll be shown the door.

Which part?

[JustRalph]

Originally Posted by ultracapper

Which part?

The part where the hump multiple horses to get the most money put through their service......... carnival barkers and TVG are in the same union.

I used to love that channel back in the early days........

[thespaah]

Originally Posted by ultracapper

The chatter is unbearable, they pat each other on the back all the way up to post time, never challenging each other. Paul gives you his pick, and 5 other horses that "have a look", Simon tells him "sure, your horse has a shot", Todd throws out some fantasy based on a decent 3/8s of a mile move in a race 4 back and how if the horse does that today, he could make some noise, and the other 2 don't say anything other than, "yeah, he could have a chance". I think the reason Nick Hines is gone is because Matty got tired of being told his choice wasn't going to do a thing. They are all useless. I can predict about 70% of the time which horse the kid is going to land on, his handicapping is so rudimentary.

But the worst of it all is they take absolutely no responsibility for the horses they promote. Time after time all three of them, regardless of which three it is, will beat on a favorite and say time and again, this horse really looks tough here, and after he gets beat, not mention a thing about it, as if they never even discussed the horse. The last race Saturday at SA, Smith, who was having a big day, was riding the 7/5 favorite. They couldn't get out of their own way talking this thing up, and after the race when it was nowhere, they made absolutely no mention of it. Zero. Absolutely zero. There was a race the previous week where they went on and on about how this horse was going to wire the field. The whole 20 minutes before the race was discussing if anything could go with it. Was there even a reason to look at anything else in the race? Every comment was how to bet under this sure thing wire to wire winner. Not only did the horse not win, not only was the horse not even a part of the race, but it broke about 6th and never even got within smelling distance of the lead. I mean right out of the gate, the horse was done. Not only was this frustrating because of the constant blabber about the horse, but to insist that the horse was going to get the front in that field without so much as the tiniest competiton from anybody else was so far off the mark, it was embarrassing. I can forgive poor handicapping, and this was the epitome of it, but then just moving on as if they never even considered the horse as part of the field, was just irresponsible to their viewing audience. Then about 30 seconds later, they're trying to get you to sign up for this or that so you can view their "expert" selections on the web site. The whole damn crew is guilty of it. They are horrid.

Do you remember when TVG management decided it was a good idea to 'hide' the on camera people's picks to all except paying account holders?
The AHEM..handicappers would give out their horizontal picks( I doubt seriously if these guys were actually making these wagers) and there would be one of the races their picks were hidden. Then they would hawk the TVG Website and say the picks were a service available to only TVG Account holders...I think that policy lasted maybe a month or two...Jerks.
It was a about a 2 or three weeks into it that I decided TVG was headed to my "Liste de Poop".
I am ok with Lo Duca because he was a ballplayer who like to bet the races and has turned it into a bit of a career. And he is not over the top.
As for the rest of them....No thanks.

[thespaah]

Originally Posted by Pensacola Pete

That's their job. It's what they're told to do, and if they don't do it, they'll be shown the door.

Which part....The inane banter and goofing off?
The back slapping "oh yes that horse has a chance too. I think you're right on it Simon".....
UGH...

[wisconsin]

You can complain and hate the product, but what is the alternative? I'm not going to fork over any money for TRN when I have my own computer. These guys are no worse (or any better) than the paddock analyst at any given track. You can use mute if you want.

HRTV is no bargain either, unless you are sitting there with your computer so you know a race is about to come up.

[olddaddy]

I use Tvg and Hrtv to watch races , nothing more. If one doesnt like the banter, mute the sound, if one doesnt like the selections, dont look. Two very easy solutions.

[affirmedny]

Originally Posted by ultracapper

The chatter is unbearable, they pat each other on the back all the way up to post time, never challenging each other. Paul gives you his pick, and 5 other horses that "have a look", Simon tells him "sure, your horse has a shot", Todd throws out some fantasy based on a decent 3/8s of a mile move in a race 4 back and how if the horse does that today, he could make some noise, and the other 2 don't say anything other than, "yeah, he could have a chance". I think the reason Nick Hines is gone is because Matty got tired of being told his choice wasn't going to do a thing. They are all useless. I can predict about 70% of the time which horse the kid is going to land on, his handicapping is so rudimentary.

But the worst of it all is they take absolutely no responsibility for the horses they promote. Time after time all three of them, regardless of which three it is, will beat on a favorite and say time and again, this horse really looks tough here, and after he gets beat, not mention a thing about it, as if they never even discussed the horse. The last race Saturday at SA, Smith, who was having a big day, was riding the 7/5 favorite. They couldn't get out of their own way talking this thing up, and after the race when it was nowhere, they made absolutely no mention of it. Zero. Absolutely zero. There was a race the previous week where they went on and on about how this horse was going to wire the field. The whole 20 minutes before the race was discussing if anything could go with it. Was there even a reason to look at anything else in the race? Every comment was how to bet under this sure thing wire to wire winner. Not only did the horse not win, not only was the horse not even a part of the race, but it broke about 6th and never even got within smelling distance of the lead. I mean right out of the gate, the horse was done. Not only was this frustrating because of the constant blabber about the horse, but to insist that the horse was going to get the front in that field without so much as the tiniest competiton from anybody else was so far off the mark, it was embarrassing. I can forgive poor handicapping, and this was the epitome of it, but then just moving on as if they never even considered the horse as part of the field, was just irresponsible to their viewing audience. Then about 30 seconds later, they're trying to get you to sign up for this or that so you can view their "expert" selections on the web site. The whole damn crew is guilty of it. They are horrid.

I think you've hit on much of what irks me about them. The only part you missed is how in every race Simon tells you that the favorite looks "absolutely magnificent" on the track. That and all the mentions of "conventional dirt", what is "unconventional dirt"?

[NJ Stinks]

The pathetic rhetoric of Todd Schrupp has got to be number one for me. Everything he screams as the last few horses enter the gate at Keeneland is enough to make a grown man barf. Talk about beating a dead horse.

Anybody who watched on Friday could not miss Schrupp tell us all day long how Keeneland is a horseplayer's paradise because no horse paid less than $10 to win! (Or at least until the 9th race.) Of course, paradise was lost on Sunday when 7 of the 9 winners paid less than $7 but Todd didn't seem to care about horseplayer's winning the lottery anymore. After all, this is Keeneland!

[slammer895]

I like how they give their picks when the horses are loading into the gate.

[Pensacola Pete]

Their job is to promote their website and ADW and look like they know what they're doing.

TVG isn't catering to most of the ones who hang around here. Most around here are hardcore horseplayers who look for the best deal an ADW has. Rebates. Rewards. Good interface. Their targets are casual viewers, newbies, lazy handicappers, young adults, recreational players. Those people won't remember who Matt or Simon or whoever picked last race because they're already on the next race. They want to be spoon fed selections. Not many serious players would use TVG's ADW. Nothing there that Twinspires doesn't have.

Their job is to avoid dead air, make each other look good, and give the recreationals a lot of plays. The only time they get serious is when their audience is hardcores like on Tuesday afternoons.

[jahura2]

I agree, the inane chatter is what is tedious about TVG. i do not get HRTV so I cant compare the two effectively. I do have to admit that when Perloff is on I usually pay attention to what he says, he and Serling are the only on air handicappers whose opinions I will take in to consideration.

[Fingal]

Originally Posted by Pensacola Pete

That's their job. It's what they're told to do, and if they don't do it, they'll be shown the door.

I think of the ones that were shown the door, or got tired of what they were told to be & showed TVG the door.

[ultracapper]

I don't play New York, but Serling is the most responsible public capper I've ever seen. He's outstanding.

[Vinman]

Last night, as usual for a Monday, with no announcer in sight, they couldn't even deliver live product with the usual background music till 11pm EST. They cut to some recycled material from Los Alamitos before the 10th race at Mountaineer. After all...who cares what the MNR late Pick 5 result is?

Vinman