Sport is made for betting

Bringing new punters through the gates, or at least to start betting on racing is one of the biggest tasks the industry has to face. Anything new annoys the dedicated fans and anything old does nothing to convince new faces to get involved. But Canada's leading track Woodbine, often criticised for their high takeout percentages, decided to teach people how to bet and focus on the gambling element rather than fashion, personalities and all the other fluff. How Woodbine is attracting new fans At Woodbine, they grew so exasperated that an expensive television production was producing so little in the way of results that they were ready to pull the plug on the show. But, first, Woodbine management was willing to start over and give it one more try. Their idea was a simple one: make the show all about gambling and portray betting on horses as the exciting cerebral exercise that it is. No longer would they pitch the beauty of the sport or show features on the circuit's top jockeys, t...

Like most countries, South Africa are concerned about their citizens spending their money offshore, particularly on gambling sites. It's not as if they are against gambling, after all, the horse racing industry is quite strong there, there are numerous sports and racing bookmakers and they have some massive casinos there. But of course, it's evil if the tax revenue is going abroad. I assume the licensing is meant for online casinos, this snippet from the article certainly makes it seem that way. Pointless having these restrictions for a sports or racing betting operation. South Africa: Authorities to Regulate Online Gambling Under the proposed regulations South Africans wanting to play online will have to open a nominated account with any South African bank which will be used solely for online gaming. Only credit cards can be used to make payments and the accounts will have to adhere to normal banking and Financial Intelligence Centre Act requirements. "We will work togeth...

No, it's not southern USA, it's northern Queensland. Race club officials suspended for drinking on the job Dear oh dear. You might have got away with this in the 70s but ... then again, north Queensland is a wee bit behind the times!

Just over two weeks to the fantastic Cheltenham festival in the UK, the World Series of jumping. This year promises to be as big any other, I really can't see the recession making an ounce of difference. But sadly, Cheltenham racecourse in Australia has closed its gates for the final time. Racing in South Australia (capital city Adelaide) is in a sad state of affairs. Once within sight of Victorian racing as a competitor, now it probably ranks below Tasmania and WA for interest and prizmoney. The govt really have let it slide and the big stables have deserted it in droves. Consequently, three city tracks in Adelaide had to be downsized. After debate lasting several years, Cheltenham in the north-west suburbs was put up for sale. By the picture above, you can see just how dry it is in Adelaide. Track three, Victoria Park, in the beautiful public access parklands (meaning they can never lock it up as a secure venue), will probably not be used again. Morphettville was always the prem...

I find it quite hard to do racing form properly onlnie. It's just the feel of having the paper folded out in front of you, being able to flick between pages, make notes etc without straining your eyes on the computer screen for hours. And being an Aussie, I particularly like the type of formguides I was brought up on. Aussie form is laid out much different to British and American racing information. Take a look for yourself - SMH Online Formguide It's an online reader for the paper itself, you can magnify it, flip pages etc. Fantastic work, I applaud the people who built it. And it's free!!

Prime example of why America doesn't allow widespread gambling - they simply have no idea how to look after the public interest. NH enacts rules to protect track bettors Wednesday, January 14, 2009 CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire has approved stricter gambling regulations to protect bettors if state dog or horse tracks go bankrupt. The rules could have saved bettors at the bankrupt Hinsdale Greyhound Park a half-million dollars they had in betting accounts at the track. The Racing and Charitable Gaming Commission approved the regulations on Tuesday. They will require the state's three remaining greyhound and harness racing tracks to maintain accounts at state financial institutions that could be used to pay back bettors and other creditors in bankruptcy or closure. The Lodge at Belmont, Rockingham Park and Seabrook Greyhound track have until March 1 to open the accounts. The Hinsdale track filed for bankruptcy last month and abruptly closed. The track used money from the bet...

Not the first one and certainly won't be the last one. BBC article Too many 'experts' in the media might be great tipsters, but as money managers they are completely undisciplined. The guy I thought was the best judge on Melbourne racing used to act like a desperate in PubTABs (betting agencies inside a pub) on a Friday afternoon, traditionally some of the worst quality racing in Australia. It made it very hard to take his advice seriously even though you knew his judgement calls were well researched. 95+% of punters lose overall, the ones doing it for a living in the media generally aren't the guys who are winning - otherwise why would they need a job?