Canterbury to cut takeout across the board

[comet52]

Originally Posted by cj

You could apply for a track executive position with this thinking. Or, run a horsemen's group!

Touche!

[davew]

Originally Posted by Track Collector

It is irrelevant whether or not folks make a conscious decision to bet more because a track's choice to lower takeout. Studies emphatically show they DO bet more money.

If it is your belief that a person who wins and then chooses to wager more will also be one source where a track's handle is increased, that belief is not correct. Why is that so? It is because winners do so at the expense of losers, and to some degree, to the expense of fellow winners, whose payouts get diluted/lowered a little bit. The corresponding action of winners betting more (because they have more) is that losers will bet less (because they HAVE less), thus making it a wash with regard to track handle over the long term.

The guys that lose will churn more before they are tapped out.

That CA group needs to try 50% takeout for awhile, it shows even better return to them than 22%.

[Ruffian1]

Originally Posted by cj

You could apply for a track executive position with this thinking. Or, run a horsemen's group!

As a former horseman, sad but true CJ.

[EMD4ME]

You guys are forgetting the best part of CBY!!!

An excellent and vibrant track announcer!

Plus they have the Tampa guy fill on sometimes and a female announcer.

[classhandicapper]

I might start looking at Canterbury if I can play with a 15% take on WPS.

In my mind, this is the 64K question.

If I do start playing Canterbury, is my total betting handle going to rise enough to matter or is it simply going to shift from some other track to Canterbury?

I only have X amount of time to handicap and wager. I direct it towards wherever I get the best deal based on takeout, field size, efficiency of pools (gambling competition), entertainment of races, my own handicapping skills etc...

If it's mostly just a shift, then it will stop working if all the other tracks follow suit.

[MonmouthParkJoe]

I never followed it much before but will be now as a result of the lowered take. alot of horse players I know said the same. At the least, it has people taking notice and talking about it. I for one will be a new customer. Should add nicely into my Monmouth, NYRA rotation on the weekends.

[elhelmete]

Not strictly germaine to the takeout issue, but seeing CBY being discussed recently (and positively) made me add it to the A-list of tracks to visit with my brother soon, probably this year.

I'm spoiled living near DMR and SA (and my brother near SAR) so we like picking a place we've only seen on TV.

[GatetoWire]

Originally Posted by EMD4ME

You guys are forgetting the best part of CBY!!!

An excellent and vibrant track announcer!

Plus they have the Tampa guy fill on sometimes and a female announcer.

That is Paul Allen who is the play by play man for the Minnesota Vikings radio and the Track Announcer at Canterbury

[AndyC]

Originally Posted by Stillriledup

personally I won't be betting a penny on Canterbury because I'm not familiar w the track and don't follow it, I'm set in my ways and not going to pick up a new circuit. So you have people who don't care about lower take at CBY because they don't know the track and the current customers aren't going to bet more, if you're 20 dollar a race Bettor that's where you'll stay. This is why it's hard to see a lot of increased handle, are current customers going to bet more? No. Are new customers going to start betting a track they know nothing about? No

Also I don't see too many Canterbury shippers at the tracks I follow so spending time on them won't beget any fruits when a CBY shipper visits the tracks I regularly play.

This doesn't mean fans don't care about lower take, but people aren't going to uproot their lives and 'way of doing things' they're used to just for this.

I completely agree. For me to play CBY with my style of handicapping it would take extensive preparation. Preparation I am not willing to put in for the opportunity to bet a minor league track that has subsidized purses.

[ronsmac]

Originally Posted by AndyC

I completely agree. For me to play CBY with my style of handicapping it would take extensive preparation. Preparation I am not willing to put in for the opportunity to bet a minor league track that has subsidized purses.

I agree with everything you just said except the subsidized purses. How does this alter your wagering? I've bet Oaklawn the last 6 years. Is there something I should know about subsidized purses. A friend bets NY and Gulfstream. I'd pass the info to him also on why not to bet tracks with subsidized purses.

[Lemon Drop Husker]

Originally Posted by EMD4ME

You guys are forgetting the best part of CBY!!!

An excellent and vibrant track announcer!

Plus they have the Tampa guy fill on sometimes and a female announcer.

And don't forget the Corgi's.

They'll be racing some Corgi's this year as well.

[Redboard]

Bold move. For those who have not played this track, I've attached are a couple of past performances from a couple of Friday cards last summer, to give you a feel for what it's like. (races 1 & 2 are Corgis)
Good luck Canterbury.

[AndyC]

Originally Posted by ronsmac

I agree with everything you just said except the subsidized purses. How does this alter your wagering? I've bet Oaklawn the last 6 years. Is there something I should know about subsidized purses. A friend bets NY and Gulfstream. I'd pass the info to him also on why not to bet tracks with subsidized purses.

It doesn't but what happens when the subsidy goes away? I am very skeptical of the longevity of any subsidy. I don't want to hitch my wagon to a track that relies on subsidies as an integral part of their business success. The following article from 2015 talks about the headwind for subsidies going forward.
http://www.mcall.com/news/mc-horse-r...-cuts-20150904

[castaway01]

Originally Posted by AndyC

It doesn't but what happens when the subsidy goes away? I am very skeptical of the longevity of any subsidy. I don't want to hitch my wagon to a track that relies on subsidies as an integral part of their business success. The following article from 2015 talks about the headwind for subsidies going forward.
http://www.mcall.com/news/mc-horse-r...-cuts-20150904

Who cares about the subsidies and the long-term future right now? We all know Canterbury isn't a major track. However, if they cut takeout and handle rises 40%, that gives us hard, 2016, real-life evidence that might encourage other tracks to cut takeout.

[whodoyoulike]

Heard of the track but have never played it. So, it's in Minnesota. Looked at a turf race and the track looked very nice but, I see it's probably what I would consider a "C" track. Since, I usually don't handicap or bet "C" tracks I'm uncertain if I'll spend much time there. But, their approach to attracting bettors is commendable. Now, they just need to attract and encourage competitive fields and "they/we/I" will come.