Churchill Downs raising takeout

[DeltaLover]

Boys, I think we are making way too much noise for something that seems like a very simple case!

Taking Action is always preferable..

Simply do not bet a single dime into CD short fields and keep on educating your fellow horse players about why it is for their benefit to do the same.

There is a lot of racing coming up in the next few weeks, so we will not fall short on choices.. NYRA offers much better racing than the recent past and I believe that is the best place to place your bets, while Woodbine and Monmouth are also interesting and although I am not a huge fan of California's tracks, I have to say that Santa Anita is also another possibility....

Peek your tracks and specialize on them pretending that CD simply does not exist...

Mainly due to addiction reasons, I have to admit that I will bet the Derby and probably a couple of races from the undercard. More than these few bets, CD is simply not going to see a single green dollar from Delta's action and guess what, I am not going to miss much!

Please do the same....

[DeanT]

The boys updated some of the social media reaction this morning.

http://blog.horseplayersassociation....ill-downs.html

[Grits]

The Keeneland Event Center will offer:

• Simulcast wagering operations, which will be moved from its current location in the Keeneland Grandstand to a state-of-the-art sports book setting, featuring 200 individual work stations, multiple HD TVs, mutuel clerks and self-service wagering machines;
• 600 Instant Racing machines;
• Casually elegant dining ranging from a café to a sports bar, providing food service for 200 people; and
• Parking for 650 cars, including valet.

Keeneland has applied to the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission for a license to operate Instant Racing, a form of pari-mutuel wagering that allows fans to wager electronically on historic, or previously run, horse races.

So much for Keeneland's long held tout, "Racing As It Was Meant To Be." One knows casino gambling is a done deal, coming to and provided by Kentucky legislators. You don't spend millions on construction with a "maybe". No corporation invests this kind of money without the knowledge--we've got this one in the bag.


This is one of the stupidest license ever offered to or for anyone. They call this gaming? Its laughable, how gullible does Keeneland think people are.

They're not building this "event center" with 650 parking spaces to enable folks to bet on "Instant Racing" of heats that were run decades and decades ago. Wanting Breeders' Cup is simply a front. Its all about the casino. One at Keeneland, Churchill, Turfway, etc.

[BIG49010]

What is amazes me, KY Downs is the smallest, and the only one that understands the fans!

A few years from now, perhaps they are the Premier Meet in KY, and these others will figure it out.

[DeanT]

Originally Posted by BIG49010

What is amazes me, KY Downs is the smallest, and the only one that understands the fans!

What they've done in only three years is astounding. Handle up about 300% to almost $3M a day. That's about what Oaklawn does per day.

For an interview with CJ who is the tracks' president - who is a bettor who plays tournaments etc - it's in this month's handicapping magazine here.

http://www.horseplayersassociation.org/hanamonthly.html

[TheEdge07]

And come opening day at Churchill,

Will be handicapping there cards..
Boycott the track perion.

[ArlJim78]

Originally Posted by DeltaLover

Boys, I think we are making way too much noise for something that seems like a very simple case!

Taking Action is always preferable..

Simply do not bet a single dime into CD short fields and keep on educating your fellow horse players about why it is for their benefit to do the same.

There is a lot of racing coming up in the next few weeks, so we will not fall short on choices.. NYRA offers much better racing than the recent past and I believe that is the best place to place your bets, while Woodbine and Monmouth are also interesting and although I am not a huge fan of California's tracks, I have to say that Santa Anita is also another possibility....

Peek your tracks and specialize on them pretending that CD simply does not exist...

Mainly due to addiction reasons, I have to admit that I will bet the Derby and probably a couple of races from the undercard. More than these few bets, CD is simply not going to see a single green dollar from Delta's action and guess what, I am not going to miss much!

Please do the same....

this is close to my own thinking. Derby and Oaks days are special to me, and I'm not going to give them up, however I will be more selective on those days and bet less than in previous years. For my day to day action i'm going to put in a minimum threshold based on field size. My goal will be to at least drop my CD action by 50% or more this year. I'll put those dollars to work at other tracks which offer better returns.

[lamboguy]

i just heard that Churchill will now be distributing the signals for Finger Lakes and Canterburry for the up coming season. expect host fees to be hiked on those 2 tracks. and expect handles to drop as well

[whodoyoulike]

Originally Posted by Seabiscuit@AR

Hard to blame Churchill Downs too much for raising takeout I don't have any problem placing blame on them.

Turnover has been falling so they have to look to make up the lost income from somewhere. Raising takeout is one way. The fact is racetracks were promised increased income from cutting turnover via rebates but it never happened. Instead their income went down. So they are not likely to believe in lower takeouts now. Instead they will do the opposite and try higher takeouts

In any case, each square foot of casino floor should return a higher ROI than each square foot of racetrack. So it makes good business sense to turn the racetrack into a casino

What do you mean by "increased income from cutting turnover"?

[Jeff P]

FYI, I see the Churchill takeout increase as an opportunity for non CDI tracks.

A few minutes ago I found an email with a link to the following Tweet in my inbox:
https://twitter.com/Sham73/status/454740997579104256

@santaanitapark prez Tom Ludt says rolling doubles, with low 18 percent takeout, will return to the track when summer meet begins April 25.

I applaud them for this decision.



-jp

.

[Stillriledup]

Originally Posted by Jeff P

FYI, I see the Churchill takeout increase as an opportunity for non CDI tracks.

A few minutes ago I found an email with a link to the following Tweet in my inbox:
https://twitter.com/Sham73/status/454740997579104256




I applaud them for this decision.



-jp

.

Funny how CDI can't even have a "good will" low takeout pick 5 like many other places do.

Good move on the Rolling DDs at low takeout, fans were totally jonesing for them to come back.

[Seabiscuit@AR]

whodoyoulike

By increased income from cutting turnover I should have typed "increased income from cutting takeout" instead of turnover

[Seabiscuit@AR]

Unfortunately Keeneland's plans for Instant Racing (or video racing) make good business sense. The average player is no chance to win these days betting on real racing. So why not cut the costs back massively and have video racing. The player cannot win with this game long term but nor can they win with real racing long term the way things are today

[Grits]

Released yesterday afternoon. Sorry for the late posting.

http://www.drf.com/news/churchill-do...-takeout-rates

John Asher, a spokesman for Churchill, said the track’s management raised the takeouts to sustain current purse levels at the track. However, Asher acknowledged that Churchill and its horsemen will split the additional revenue raised by the maneuver under the terms of its existing live-racing contract, which gives horsemen 51 percent of wagering revenue and Churchill 49 percent.

Churchill would not have been able to legally raise its takeout rates if the track had not held its first-ever September meet last year. Under Kentucky law, tracks with an average live ontrack handle of $1.2 million or more a day cannot charge a takeout higher than 16 percent on straight wagers and 19 percent on exotic wagers. Tracks under the $1.2 million average threshold can charge 17.5 percent and 22 percent. Asher said the average did not dip below $1.2 million until last year, based entirely on the influence of the 12-day September meet. Though Churchill’s median ontrack handle is less than $1.2 million, the average ontrack handle number is heavily skewed upward by Derby Day and Oaks Day, when attendance tops 100,000.

[JohnGalt1]

Originally Posted by BlueShoe

Lets see how loud they laugh after handle declines sharply. They never learn, do they? A 1 1/2% raise in straight bets is bad enough, but 3% on exotics? That is huge, pure folly, imo.

Actually it is a 1.5 and 4 point increase. The percentage increase is 9% and 22%, if my lousy math and computer skills are correct. Feel free to correct me if this is wrong.

Let's make it sound as bad as it is.

************

As for my betting, I will play the first Friday and Saturday in May and again in 2015 unless they come to their senses.

Being that my bets are 75% win bets, the smaller increase there would affect me less than exotic players, I will still hold to my plan.