Hastings Looking For 10% Handle Increase

[Horseplayersbet.com]

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/hor...ill&id=6225984
I think they will do better than that.

[macguy]

I hope they do well. Seems the hot topic among nearly all horse players these days is takeout. It's nice to see that they're listening to the market and making an effort.

Horse quality has been a little better the past few years with big stables such as Swift Thoroughbreds and Glen Todd bringing in quality stock from the states.

Hope they have a good year. Hopefully horse players will bet the product, handle will rise and perhaps other tracks will follow suit.

[The_Knight_Sky]

You beat me to the punch CG.

At Hastings, The Player Is King - By Bill Finley

If you haven't yet discovered Hastings Racecourse, and chances are you haven't, this is the year that needs to change. When the track, which is located in Vancouver, opens April 16 it will offer some of the very best betting values found anywhere in North America. The takeout for win, place, show, the Pick Four and Pick Five will be just 15 percent.

The lower takeouts are the result of a management philosophy that runs counter to the way so many other racetracks think. At Hasting, says 29-year-old Regional General Manager Raj Mutti, "everything we are doing is catered to the horseplayer."

The good news for horseplayers actually began with an effort from the British Columbia government, which put something together called the British Columbia Horse Racing Industry Management Committee, which was created to "help revitalize and restore financial strength to the province's horse racing industry." The committee decided to allocate additional funds to thoroughbred racing in British Columbia, which resulted in big purse increases. At the upcoming meet, overnight purses will be up by 19 percent and stakes purses will rise by 23 percent.

That was good news for Hastings and its horsemen, but did little for the fan. Mutti and his team decided to do something about that.

[exiles]

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/hor...ill&id=6225984

[jelly]

Looks like they have some good management there.




On the heels of Santa Anita raising its takeout, something that has clearly alienated many customers, Hastings went in the opposite direction. Mutti decided to go the extra mile for the fan. Not only did they lower the takeout, they put in Wi-Fi throughout the grandstand, upgraded their graphics package for their video presentations and created a Pick Five with a carryover component. The Pick Four takeout went from 22.3 percent to 15, a decrease of 36 percent.

"We are trying to reengage the horseplayer that we might have lost, not only locally but throughout the marketplace," he said.

[Fastracehorse]

Originally Posted by Horseplayersbet.com

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/hor...ill&id=6225984
I think they will do better than that.

i'm actually very excited about the new meet

fffastt

[Stillriledup]

Interesting that the racing exec who cares about the player is 29 years old. At 29 he 'gets it' yet people much older running these other tracks do not.
GL to Hastings, hope you guys do well and have a great meet!

[takeout]

…While I applaud what they have done, the column fails to mention that the bets that weren’t talked about still have some of the highest takeouts around:

Exacta & Doubles .2180 (47th of 69 on the HANA chart)

Trifecta .2730 (65 of 69)(!)

Supers .2630 (63 of 69

[lamboguy]

i think that the most important part of this deal is that at least you have someone at the top that cares somewhat about horseracing, instead of trying to kill it like they do at penn national gaming.

more than likely the reduction in takeout will have a positive effect on the live handle.. we shall see if it attracts adw and simulcast handles. i don't think that hasting's park is the most widely distributed signal and with a reduction in takeout it might actually have a negetive effect on adw and simulcast providers because their profit base has now been cut. on baolance i would think it helps bring more people to the track and they will get a spillover to their slot machine's. no matter what its a can't lose move for management of hastings park.

[Robert Goren]

Finally a race track that is doing the right thing in order for their racing operation to survive. Places like NJ should follow their example.

[kingfin66]

Don't forget, they have 46 too!

[HuggingTheRail]

Hastings is my home track, since my first visit over 30 years ago as a small boy.

This will be interesting to watch. They have tried some things in the last few years to get more people out to the track, with limited success. The bulk of their focus has been on Friday night racing...live bands, $1 hot dogs, etc. These things attracted a few more young people, but weekend afternoon cards were "same old"

Their handle/card a decade or so ago was $1mil+/card...now, its half a mil, some days less.

I think they are maybe giving the "lets get more people to the track" campaign a rest in favour of the reduced takeout - not a bad thing to try...

Their customer service is mediocre at best. Food is okay, lineups for wagering usually very small. However, many of the washrooms haven't seen a coat of paint in quite some time, and when the casino was constructed a few years ago, much of the area for the racing crowd disappeared. (I know, sounds familiar!)

The results will start to be seen in 4 weeks, when the meet opens. I wonder how many people will start playing Hastings that haven't before...

Interestingly enough, the parent company of Hastings, Great Canadian Gaming Corporation, just took a substantial decrease in asset value of Hastings last week. Their lease to operate expires with the city of Vancouver late 2012, and there is reports the City is holding up in hopes of getting the casino company to build a parkade and upgrade the barn area.

[trying2win]

Another benefit to horseplayers who want to make STRAIGHT BETS on the Hastings Park races this year at the 15 % takeout rate, is that there is only nickel breakage at this track, unlike the ridiculous dime breakage at most USA tracks.

Wait! There's more (I know I'm sounding like a pitchman on a late night infomercial), but there is the odd betting site where one can probably get an additional rebate on HASTINGS PARK bets this year. I know LINK2BET.COM had HASTINGS PARK on their betting menu last year, and if they have that track this year available for bettors, I'm guessing one should be able to get an additional 2 % rebate from that ADW on the HASTINGS PARK races (that would reduce the effective takeout on STRAIGHT BETS even more). Sorry to say that doesn't include Canadian residents, as I just got a notification from LINK2BET barring Canadians from using their services, due to orders from the Woodbine Entertainment dictators. Does that sound familiar?

If anyone knows of any other ADWS that will be offering wagering on the HASTINGS PARK races this year and offering a rebate to boot, please let the PACE ADVANTAGE members know in this thread.

Thanks,

T2W

[lamboguy]

Originally Posted by trying2win

Another benefit to horseplayers who want to make STRAIGHT BETS on the Hastings Park races this year at the 15 % takeout rate, is that there is only nickel breakage at this track, unlike the ridiculous dime breakage at most USA tracks.

Wait! There's more (I know I'm sounding like a pitchman on a late night infomercial), but there is the odd betting site where one can probably get an additional rebate on HASTINGS PARK bets this year. I know LINK2BET.COM had HASTINGS PARK on their betting menu last year, and if they have that track this year available for bettors, I'm guessing one should be able to get an additional 2 % rebate from that ADW on the HASTINGS PARK races (that would reduce the effective takeout on STRAIGHT BETS even more). Sorry to say that doesn't include Canadian residents, as I just got a notification from LINK2BET barring Canadians from using their services, due to orders from the Woodbine Entertainment dictators. Does that sound familiar?

If anyone knows of any other ADWS that will be offering wagering on the HASTINGS PARK races this year and offering a rebate to boot, please let the PACE ADVANTAGE members know in this thread.

Thanks,

T2W

i got a call 2 weeks ago that they are lowering my rebate on hastings to 10%. i was getting 12% last year wps. it always has been one of the best deals going they might not be charging host fees

[Twenty Seven]

I grew up on Hastings (then Exhibition Park) racing, starting in 1971. The Pick 4s, in the good ole days, had $60,000 + pools. But a combination of poor management, alternative gambling choices, poor provincial gov't choices, worsening local economy, and the inability/will to get a one mile oval, all conspired to drive many, including this horseplayer, away for good once simulcasting took off in the 90s.

Good sign. I hope Mutti's not just doing this as a temporary salve. (Woodbine drastically reduced their pick 4s, then rolled back the takeout to the original exorbitant rates a year or so later, some years back.)

At any event, I'll be taking my first look there in 15 years starting mid-April. Weird feeling.