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Originally Posted by randallscott35
It's easy to say a love of horse racing, but I think there is more to it than that. This could be an interesting thread for the group to comment on. Some of these you may agree with and some you surely won't.
Let me generalize about the people on this board for a moment, again these are generalizations. Here are 8 items to consider:
1. Overwhelmingly the people on this board are white, I'd put it in the 90% range. Yet when I go to the track, other than Saratoga, a good portion of the clientele are minorities.
2. Most of the people on this board are college educated, at least the ones of age who could be. I would put that number in the 80% range easy. That says something about the competency of the people here and their general work ethic outside of the hobby of horse racing.
3. Most of the people here were exposed to horse racing at an early age. While this seems obvious, I would say there are a lot of people that grow to like horse racing even if they weren't exposed to it early--but those people, to me, are less likely to have the kind of passion to seek out a message board on the subject.
4. The majority of posters on here are from the coasts, especially the east and a good portion from the Chicago area. This is anecdotal, but it says something that generally speaking the south is less well represented here. Obviously, some of the best racing comes from the areas where most posters are, but demographics play into this....The retirement crowd of Arizona and Florida are not Internet savvy, and even if they are horse racing fans, they aren't seeking out a message board to post.
5. Which leads me to age. Steve might have more stats on this but I'd say 75% of posters are between 25 and 50. Which quite honestly makes sense, but I do think the the patronage of the track is older than this on average, especially on a lonely day in March at the big A.
6. The majority of the posters came from the ESPN board, that much is true. But the new group is here by word of mouth, or through Steve's radio show. Advertising of some other kind could surely boost our numbers, but would it water down the content?...The many new friendships made on here were the result of only a few people. Speaking for myself, one of the nice things that Mike did was introduce me to Steve and Kevin. Saratoga has become a haven for these meetings, as I've been able to meet many others and strike up a friendship with Pais even though I only got to hang out with her for one single afternoon in Toga.
7. Most of the people here bet 8-10 times what a normal patron at the track will bet. I say most, especially the Selection board crowd on here. Sure there are 5$ bettors, but I'd say a good portion are betting more serious sums of money. Could be the general ability levels here and comfort with making larger wagers b/c of much more study into day to day racing. Could be we have a crowd here who are "bigger" gamblers in general. Could be we have more disposable income to be betting...don't believe it's this one by the way.
8. Most of the under 40 crowd are not married. Especially the men on here. Why is the bigger question? Maybe b/c our hobby is not conducive to meeting women, which is undoubtedly true. More likely, b/c serious gamblers do not often make good mates. I think they are less likely to want commitment and are independent types in general. Plus, handicapping, if you are serious about, is a time consuming process.
Now, how far off am I? Randall
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#1 White
#2 Brief cup of coffee at the college ranks
#3 My old man took me to the track a few times, but really fell in love with the sport in my late twenties.
#4 New York / New Jersey circuit
#5 34 years of age
#6 A certain 23 year old female from Iowa but me on to this wonderful site. I really enjoy reading all the posts.
#7 & 8 I used to go to the track and OTB's much more when I was single. I used to be able to bet much, much more too. But now that I am married (for the record I am very lucky too, my wife used to go to the track with me every weekend. She also loved Saratoga, and even put up with me dragging her to Saratoga Harness one night. But if it wasn't for her I would probably be in a OTB right now, dead broke, picking tickets off the floor yelling "does anyone know who won the 3rd at Delaware".) with kid #2 on the way, it is much harder to find time and extra cash to go to the track with. Also, when I had a few extra bucks I would tell her that I would take my son to the park or the zoo on Sunday's and really sneak him off to Monmouth Park. But, he can talk now and that puts the kabosh on that! But I do still enjoy watching the races and now when I am able to get away for the day it really means alot. My son also likes the horses, so I really can't wait for him to get older and really try to teach him a thing or two.