Your Experience Betting Horses

[thaskalos]

Originally Posted by zico20

That just leaves Lamboguy to tell us how old he is. He left that out! Raybo, nice to see you are still active at your age. I am 46, look 35, act 25, feel 20. I still can kick almost every 20 yr olds' ass at anything. Yes, I am lucky and I know it!

Gee...I hope you don't hold a grudge against me because of my atheistic views.

[PaceAdvantage]

Originally Posted by Zaf

Yes we had OTB, we stood in the branch and waited for letters to go up, no video , no race call,

Win : A
Place: E
Show: H



Z

Remember having to bet by "letter code" at an OTB? And horseplayers complain about having to jump through hoops TODAY...

We've never really had it so good...

[plainolebill]

I went to Hollywood Park a few times with family members when I was a teenager in the 50's but didn't really get hooked on racing until the early 1970's going to Longacres pretty regularly and to Portland Meadows in the winter.

When I retired from the service in 1989 I took a few years off from racing but as soon as they opened an OTB nearby I started going there a couple of times a week. Not too long after that I discovered the DRF Online (ITS) and Phonebet.

I've been betting from home for more than 20 years, almost every day they run in Socal. Over the past few years I've slowly changed from win betting longshots and covering them in the exacta to primarily an exacta bettor with about 20% tris. I've learned a lot from this forum, Dave Schwartz' videos, the Equisim group, etc. I'm a better player today than I've ever been.

[Inner Dirt]

Originally Posted by PaceAdvantage

Remember having to bet by "letter code" at an OTB? And horseplayers complain about having to jump through hoops TODAY...

We've never really had it so good...

A lot changed between 1975 when my step dad took me to Los Alamitos and 1979 when I was 18 and legally old enough to bet the horses. In 1975 you had separate windows for bet denominations and you had to go to a separate window to bet exactas. I think California was the last to allow trifecta wagering. In 1979 you had WPS, exacta, and one daily double on races 1 and 2.

[illinoisbred]

Originally Posted by Inner Dirt

A lot changed between 1975 when my step dad took me to Los Alamitos and 1979 when I was 18 and legally old enough to bet the horses. In 1975 you had separate windows for bet denominations and you had to go to a separate window to bet exactas. I think California was the last to allow trifecta wagering. In 1979 you had WPS, exacta, and one daily double on races 1 and 2.

I remember when the Chicago area tracks offered the daily double on the 1st and 2nd and a trifecta on the 9th. There was a sprinkling of perfectas and quinellas offered on some other races. Same with the windows..a $2,$5,$10,$20. Can't recall at Arlington but Sportsmans had a $100 window.. a boxed off wooden structure for privacy.

[Robert Goren]

Originally Posted by illinoisbred

I remember when the Chicago area tracks offered the daily double on the 1st and 2nd and a trifecta on the 9th. There was a sprinkling of perfectas and quinellas offered on some other races. Same with the windows..a $2,$5,$10,$20. Can't recall at Arlington but Sportsmans had a $100 window.. a boxed off wooden structure for privacy.

I think most tracks had a $50 window boxed off. There were $2, 5, $10 Win Place Show, combo widows. DD were sold before the first race then the DD sellers switched stations and became cashiers. When exacta were first introduced, they were only the last race and they used some of the other sellers to sell them, generally place and show sellers. It was a mess. I was $5 place seller. I had to pay for my shorts and they kept my longs. At $2.20 an hour, I did not want to be short. I believe if you were short 4 times, they fired you. A lot of horsemen's wives worked the windows. You had to know somebody to get the job. Somehow my dad got me on.

[illinoisbred]

Originally Posted by Robert Goren

I think most tracks had a $50 window boxed off. There were $2, 5, $10 Win Place Show, combo widows. DD were sold before the first race then the DD sellers switched stations and became cashiers. When exacta were first introduced, they were only the last race and they used some of the other sellers to sell them, generally place and show sellers. It was a mess. I was $5 place seller. I had to pay for my shorts and they kept my longs. At $2.20 an hour, I did not want to be short. I believe if you were short 4 times, they fired you. A lot of horsemen's wives worked the windows. You had to know somebody to get the job. Somehow my dad got me on.

You're right...I forgot about the separate windows for place and show betting.

[Overlay]

See the author page at http://www.amazon.com/Tim-Maas/e/B00...ont_pop_book_1

[wisconsin]

Originally Posted by illinoisbred

I remember when the Chicago area tracks offered the daily double on the 1st and 2nd and a trifecta on the 9th. There was a sprinkling of perfectas and quinellas offered on some other races. Same with the windows..a $2,$5,$10,$20. Can't recall at Arlington but Sportsmans had a $100 window.. a boxed off wooden structure for privacy.

And a guy 2nd floor grandstand that worked in the john barking out "Cleeeaaaaan Seat" Those were the days I truly miss.

[joeprunes]

Be 80 in march ,playing 60 yrs. Love old type capping,the form. I`m a pace close type of player, cj made it easy for my capping. Yeh tough game cant complain done well at times. Golfing is sooo much harder............

[illinoisbred]

Originally Posted by wisconsin

And a guy 2nd floor grandstand that worked in the john barking out "Cleeeaaaaan Seat" Those were the days I truly miss.

Remember the guy that sold peanuts in the shell outside of the paddock gate every day.."Get your supper here!"

[thaskalos]

Originally Posted by Overlay

See the author page at http://www.amazon.com/Tim-Maas/e/B00...ont_pop_book_1

I have read the author page, Tim...and I am a little confused.

Let me preface this by saying that I bought your products years ago, and I am very satisfied with my purchase. Yours was the best-presented handicapping material that I've ever gotten through the mail...and it made me think about this game in a new way. But I don't understand how you could think that, since your material is used to create a "line" instead of picking a horse, you don't have to worry about your product losing its effectiveness with the passage of time...as more players get their hands on it.

You say..."And, because my method calculated winning chances for every horse in a race, I no longer had to worry about it ever becoming obsolete or unprofitable through overbetting of any one particular horse, as had happened with all the earlier "pick-the-winner" systems that I had tried. I was now free to offer my findings to other handicappers, with no concerns about whether such distribution would adversely affect their future use by me."

Yes...the nature of your method means that no one individual horse could be overbet, because such an occurrence would mean that some other horse(s) would then become a bargain on the tote board. But your method in the hands of the public also means that bettors will be possessing the same "line" on a given field of horses...and this will find them betting the same way...on the same horses. And this will mean that the "value" on the board will gradually diminish. In the grand scheme of things...selling a "line" brings forth the same result as selling a "pick"...although this result isn't so readily apparent.

Of course you will continue receiving orders (and compliments) for your findings. Heck...I am complimenting your stuff right now. But that's not because your stuff is destined to remain "forever profitable". It's because people compare your work with the other stuff being sold out there...and they are justifiably impressed.

There is always a price to pay when you decide to sell your findings to the general public.

[lamboguy]

i read it for christmas and thought it was great as well.

[wisconsin]

Originally Posted by illinoisbred

Remember the guy that sold peanuts in the shell outside of the paddock gate every day.."Get your supper here!"

Yeah, he was always outside Arlington's east gate too. Carmel apples and Creamcicles.

[BettinBilly]

Good thread.

It's amazing how many of us are in our 50's. Must be our era I suppose.

Also good to see younger Bettors chiming in.

I was introduced to the horses via my father whom liked harness racing at Pocono and other tracks in Upstate NY. He also liked Quarter Horses. Me? I migrated to Thoroughbred fairly quickly and stayed with it.

I became truly serious when on a company trip we all went to FingerLakes as a company function. Can you imagine a national company doing that today? Actually scheduling a trip to the Race Track? Those days are gone I think. I'm guessing this was 1983. I was a young exec and had some extra cash and went nuts on betting. Luckily, I won enough to really peak my interest. I spent the next 2 or 3 years diving in and asking every older guy at tracks from Aqueduct to Saratoga what they did and how they Handicapped.

Since then? It's been a lifetime of learning and fun. I'm like the OP. I am about even over the decades. But it's been a blast. Truly. I can't imagine not being a Horseplayer. It's as much of a lifestyle as it is a hobby for me. I love the excitement, being at the track, handicapping and seeing the effort pay off, and learning from the losses. If I did not have fun with this sport, I'd have dropped it decades ago.