Did horseracing ever have an early 2000s poker moment with easy money?

[mistergee]

when I was doing the Beyer #'s before they were in any PP offered
would confidently bang out the the high # selections and then just wait at the window. for example 2 standouts in a race and the exacta would pay 20 or $30 where now they pay maybe 6 or $8

[mountainman]

Back in 1990, or so, I BEGGED mnr management to begin flagging and notating in our program any change of trainers. I even presented them with documentation of numerous form reversals. But since it wasn't THEIR idea, it got nixed. The response was "nobody cares" about that stuff.

[acorn54]

i've said this before. statistical tests for efficiency in the parimutuel markets dramatically show the potential for profits BEFORE rebates, diminishes. this time period, is what i would call the twilight years of horserace gambling.
you see today you don't have to have a positive roi BEFORE rebates, if you have a selection method that gets .90 roi BEFORE rebates, and you are a large bettor, getting a 12% rebate you can churn a very nice amount of money to get a very nice roi.

[classhandicapper]

Originally Posted by Tom

They were in BRIS when it was the old BBS site.
There was a Beyer Report - listed the last 10 Beyers for each horse - NOT PPs.

This was before Racing Times had them.
Maybe early - mid 80s?
I think I got them on my Tandy 80!
I know I printed them on an old dot matrix.

You learn something new every day.

[classhandicapper]

Originally Posted by mountainman

Back in 1990, or so, I BEGGED mnr management to begin flagging and notating in our program any change of trainers. I even presented them with documentation of numerous form reversals. But since it wasn't THEIR idea, it got nixed. The response was "nobody cares" about that stuff.

Those WERE the good old days for trainer handicappers.

The claims were in the DRF eastern edition (not sure about the others), but the private purchases were not. So if a horse was switching to a "juice" guy he'd get bet like crazy off the claim but be much longer on the private purchases. But both would tend to move way up.

[ElKabong]

Originally Posted by green80

Back in the 70-80's when a new track would open, it would be easy pickings for a while until the new crowd figured out what was going on.


.

Lone star park was like that ...from its opening in 1997 until 2000 it was a cash cow. When 2001 ended it was a whole different scene for betting. Chalk city for many diff reasons.

I remember getting $20 to win on asmussen's Heritage of Gold. First time starter would go onto to win the Molly Pitcher & then some more. The exacta over a Kenny smith horse brought $152 iirc. Then Heritage of Gold ran a turf race as a 2TS. Won easy, pd $11.

When 2001 was halfway through the season you knew the golden days were gone.

[Prairie Bettor]

I literally had shoe boxes full of money in 2009/2010. Crazy easy money. It all came to an end years later, but I was ready to slow down anyways.

Good times!

[metro]

The DRF used to have a lot more info too, more than just the "guts" as my buddies and I called it. One thing they included back then were stake nominations for the different tracks, i know that you can often still find them on some of the websites of tracks today but many of them don't provide them or they put them out late rather than when the stake closes.

Hit an $8K pick 6 at Churchill one time thanks to including in the sequence a filly named Topsa that was first time turf but was nominated for a stake on the turf later in the meet. She "only" paid $18 dollars or so but it often only took one price horse on Churchill cards back then to take down a nice multi-wager bet. She was the one that day.

DRF included workouts back then too, often misspelled. It wasn't like betting, it was like going to an ATM! Clairewithaflare in the pps spelled Clarewithaflare in the works was my favorite. She paid more than $18.

[castaway01]

Originally Posted by classhandicapper

Those WERE the good old days for trainer handicappers.

The claims were in the DRF eastern edition (not sure about the others), but the private purchases were not. So if a horse was switching to a "juice" guy he'd get bet like crazy off the claim but be much longer on the private purchases. But both would tend to move way up.

Very true, and you're making me nostalgic.

[v j stauffer]

I think Jonathan Kinchen was very much like Chris Moneymaker. Broke all the molds of the hardboot, cigar smoking guy cussing on the main line.

Good looking, young, family man.

Had to make many similar to him stand up and take notice.

[MadVindication]

There’s no glory days for me to compare today’s races to. That’s my main betting angle.

[davew]

If you had access to certain data or concepts before widely available, you could do well.

I am thinking Beyer's speed figures, Ragozin's sheets, trainer/jockey stats, ...