A few of the members on here have touched the subject, but all the "crap" thats going on with the UK racing scene can be sorted in a very simple , but to the point kind of way. Punters should stop betting(don't worry, not for ever), Just go on a so called strike. If the punters are not putting money on the horses, the bookies will soon be up in arms and demand results.And to get more money into racing, punters should stop putting their bets in off shore account bookies, and demand more money goes to suppport the racing industry. If it was not for the punter,there would be no gambling, so all the punters out there make your point, go on strike, Believe me there are alot of corporations out there that depend on your weekly bets, and as soon as they start hurting in their pockets all will change.Or vote through your hard earned cash, by not betting through any bookies on any sport and demand a paramutual system. Thats if you want horses racing to survive in the UK Vote for PUNTERS FOR CHANGE
Certainly some merit in the suggestion. Though bookies will tell you that around 90% of money waged on racing is done so through exchanges these days, the 'bookies' are already having a tough time of it all. I know this because I looked at a career change a while back and thought what better way to earn a living than to stand at a racecourse watching racing and taking money off mugs like me ? Maybe this deserves it's own thread because it's detailed and messy, but ultimately the bookies pitches have lost a lot of their value as racecourses change their charging structure to bookies - for example, bookies currently pay 5 times the entrance fee, from 2012 Ascot plan charging 16 times entrance fee, so a bookie needs to make a profit of over £1k per day just to cover his costs, all this at a time when the exchanges have taken 90% of the turnover. I appreciate this is way off thread but punters shouldn't expect too much value going forward, I expect increased margins and reduced bookies which will all result in decreased value, and when this happens on course it will naturally follow on the exchanges. And of course bookies will tell you that racing is now a very small part of their income stream, machines and cartoons have taken over plus the explosion of sports betting...
I have a account with PadPower, you only have to take one look at the amount of betting that Paddy provides. I dont think that horse racing is the main 'income' shall we say for this firm. So why should they start giving more to a sport that dosnt provide the bulk of there income... If the money starts to drop then they always have the football, golf, motor racing etc to fall back on... Maybe the high street bookie will take more on the horses than other sports but i dont think they will suffer to greatly... Now a on-course bookie is different... They have to earn there keep and if you dont bet with them as the day goes by then they will start to complain... I like the idea Islander but i dont think its going to hurt them one bit...
If ninety percent of money wagered on horse racing were on the Exchanges, then most of the High Street betting shops would be closed by now, so I think that is a fantasy figure. Bookies only have to pay the Levy (the most recent settlement for which is still in dispute) on British horseracing; hence, they are quite happy to bet on South African, American, French and ‘virtual’ racing. Sports betting is becoming an increasingly lucrative area for bookies as many of the sports attract young punters who will bet on the stupidest of markets that have massive mark-ups for the layers. Next time you see that TV advert for the bookmaker who has sixty in-play markets at half-time in the football, go and look at some of the nonsense they are offering. When Man United play, there will be a price for the age of the granny that Rooney will be shagging after the match. There is no prospect of British racing getting a State-controlled betting monopoly like the one that funds French racing – that genie escaped from the bottle fifty years ago. If anything, the problem for French racing will increasingly become the same one that afflicts British racing: there are other things to bet on. As young punters switch their allegiance to football, rugby, et al, racing will lose market share. There may be no betting shops in France but they do have the internet. Perhaps the State will move to make gambling illegal like the Americans did.
'If ninety percent of money wagered on horse racing were on the Exchanges, then most of the High Street betting shops would be closed by now, so I think that is a fantasy figure.' QM - this is not a fantasy figure, it was mentioned to me by several experienced Tatts bookmakers of many Southern/Midlands tracks, and I spent over 12 months researching a move into the industry. There are few as 6 bookies attending some of the less glamorous meetings, total turnover for these races barely reaches 3 figures. Next time you are bored, go to betfair, betdaq etc 15 mins before a race is due to go off and check the total money staked on the event, you'll be surprised how big this number is even for a lowly meeting, and bear in mind that a chunk of the money staked on the exchanges after the opening on show is up is actually from on course bookmakers - long gone are the days when they bet with each other, if they are standout at 7/4 and take a big bet they'll never lay off/part lay off at 13/8 they trade on the exchanges at 1.70 ish
Grizzly, course bookmakers may well be struggling at the plethora of dross midweek fixtures because some of the people that used to go to those fixtures to get a decent bet on can now stay at home and use the Exchanges. They could well have lost out to the internet era and ironically, it was the bookmakers (primarily the off-course ones) that wanted this extra ‘product’ to theoretically maximise turnover. However, I do not see Ladbrokes, William Hill, Coral, Betfred et al closing loads of High Street offices and there always seems to be plenty of folk in them, even if quite a few of them are youths playing the games machines. Also, the wagers being matched on the Exchanges are not all being placed by people domiciled in this country, so they would not be going to Southwell or Wolverhampton if the Exchanges did not exist, meaning that the bare numerical statistics do not validate the argument.
''However, I do not see Ladbrokes, William Hill, Coral, Betfred et al closing loads of High Street offices and there always seems to be plenty of folk in them, even if quite a few of them are youths playing the games machines.'' Cartoon racing, roulette machines, hit 6 bingo, poker, South African racing, football and sports betting. I go into a betting shop every lunchtime, the machines are always full and there'll be a group of regulars betting on everything that happens between 12.30 and 12.45, whether it's a live event or not. 2.10 Exeter tomorrow already has almost £2k matched, by the first show that figure will very probably be £100k and I doubt the ring will see £10k - this isn't that uncommon either. Don't quote me but I'm sure I heard a high st bookie say that UK horse racing accounts for only 15% of company turnover now...
