Hey Horse Industry...Read This
 

Richard Eng

Anyone involved in the business of gambling should have watched ''60 Minutes'' on Sunday for its feature on successful Las Vegas gambler Billy Walters. Look up the phrase ''luck is the residue of design'' and you'll see Walters' face. He wins big because he understands odds and does his homework.

Walters was shown doing what he does best: betting on sports. He also mentioned playing craps and poker.

But he never mentioned betting on horse racing, which should have made industry officials cringe.

If you look up 'Luck = Residue of Design' you'll actually find Branch Rickey.

Is every major gambler obligated to bet on horse racing? I'd guess that the biggest players in our game aren't that keen on being profiled by '60 Minutes'...

And don't all of us win by understanding odds and doing homework when we win?

Craps is less beatable than racing.

Not really. max odds, 2 come bets and 15% of your loses back from casino make it about a coin flip. Ask Phil Ivey

How many people do you know that attempt and realize a "living" from exclusively betting on Horses?

The amount of money Walters plays on sports would make it impossible to make money in horse racing. The parimutuel system would kill his odds, whereas in sports betting the number is set when the bet is made.

Plenty..

How do you think DrugS affords so many socks? Duhh

without rebates?

The serious professional horseplayers, that are akin to pro sports bettors as brought up in this discussion, all get rebates of some kind.

Which should show that takeout levels are too high.

You know plenty of people that call the racetrack their job? You know plenty of people that's sole means of support is gambling of TB races daily? This is awesome and I am somewhat dissapointed that we haven't had the oppotunity to hear from these people on ATR's. Everyday we hear from guys who have written books on handicapping or guys employeed by racetracks etc. They are typically great listens and take their WORK extremely seriously. I really hope some of the "PLENTY" of gamblers can get on the air and tell us what it is like to grab the DRF each day and hope that a paycheck is to be had. Talk about great radio, that would be awesome the daily life of a professional horse gamblier who beats the takeout for 100plusk a year

It shows, that as in any business, volume earns discounts.

I'll see who might be willing to come on. You aren't talking about people whose behavior is generally of a publicity seeking nature.

I was hoping for "canard" in my response. Darn.

I agree with volume discounts as well. Yet many here don't get them anymore as offshore is far more difficult to fund than it used to be.

I wouldn't assume too much meaning in the omission of horseracing. I didn't see the segment, but did Walters mention blackjack or video poker? I know plenty of people making good livings from one or both of those areas of gambling. For that matter, one of the best and most successful blackjack players I know admits that he knows almost nothing about video poker. He knows it can be beaten, but doesn't want to spread himself too thin.

Every gambling skill has some kind of learning curve, and in most cases it's a steep learning curve. There's also a time requirement in staying on top of a game after you have learned it. If Billy Walters is playing poker in addition to doing sports betting, that's already a pretty challenging quinella.

--Dunbar

This will be great, people who declare themselves as professional gamblers to the US government, pay income tax. I see an eclispe in your future!

Thank you Frederick, but as I said the other day, if the Bobby Frankel Tribute didn't garner it in '09, I don't think there's anything I can do that will. Didn't even submit an entry for '10.

Desormeaux interview was a lock

Do a Zenyatta tribute show. Have Haskin, John White, Hovdey, Ellen Parker, Sheriffs, Joe Drape, etc. Not only will you win the Eclipse, you may get to host them. Just remember to make liberal use of the "cough" button throughout the show.