A Reader's Response to Exchange Wagering
Tuesday, June 28, 2016

    Received an email several days ago from Mr. Carl Wilson, responding to the most recent column about my disdain for exchange wagering. I would have answered before this but ye olde computer had a meltdown for a couple of days. I don't know Mr. Wilson so I don't know what his connection is to any of the culprits - exchange wagering itself, or Monmouth Park, or Betfair, or TVG, but here is what he wrote:

    "Strange and unnecessarily negative attitude in your article. Exchange wagering is an option that offers horse players much better odds than the tote system and a chance to lock in a price on a horse. It's a much better deal than the ridiculous and antiquated tote system where bettors have no clue what price they will get on a horse until they have run an eighth of a mile. It is extremely popular for these reasons all over the rest of the world, not just England."

    Let me answer Mr. Wilson piece by piece. First, the pre-exchange wagering publicity put out by Jerseyites echoed the idea that EW is a new and innovative way to help boost the handle at race tracks, which so many novices view as "sagging." The truth of the matter is that in 2001, the total North American handle surpassed $15 billion for the first time, despite the tired old cliche for 40 years that the old bettors were all dying off and we weren't making any new ones because the younger generation had other places to go and things to do. The over-$15 billion figure remained every year through 2007 when the banks, and mortgage companies, and George W. Bush and his cronies wiped out the middle class. With that group no longer participating, the handle began to plummet in 2008, and in 2011, it dropped to less than $12 billion. However, despite the constant rhetoric from the gloom and doom section, the handle has remained between $11 billion and $12 billion since.

    To conclude, to think that exchange wagering is some mystical method to build up the handle again is absurd. I certainly can't read everything written about racing so I don't know if anybody has expounded on the subject, but the numbers at Monmouth Park do not reflect even a smidgeon of response from the betting public. On Saturday, the attendance at the Jersey shore was listed as 16,461; the on-track handle was $562,804. That, my friends, is a per capita of $34.19. For those who don't understand per capita, it means that the average amount wagered by each person on the entire program at Monmouth Saturday was $34.19. It doesn't sound like exchange wagering has been a big hit with the local patrons. By the way, the off-track handle for the day was $3,559,134. By contrast, Gulfstream Park, which lost its big horses and trainers after the Florida Derby, and which does not have exchange wagering, had an all-sources handle of $5,533,332 the same day.

    On Sunday, it was even worse. The attendance at Monmouth was 13,441 and the on-track handle $457,726. Per capita - $34.05. Off-track - $2,848,527. Gulfstream's handle - $4,673,429.

    As for the "ridiculous and antiquated" tote system, where bettors "have no clue" what price they will get, that's also absurd. If I bet a horse at 6-1 and the odds change after an eighth of a mile, my horse isn't going to be 2-1; he might drop to 5-1 or go up to 7-1, depending on the late flash caused by computer experts (just my opinion) who have sent it in on the horse in front or in second place.

    Another aspect I have read nothing about is how the people utilizing the exchange make their bets when a race is in progress. Is there a betting messenger standing next to them? Are they first on line at a window? Do they have a cell phone in their hands? If a person is standing among the crowd on the apron at Monmouth on Haskell day, and can barely move, how does he get his bet in? Can he even see the race?   

    Last but not least, about EW's popularity all over the world, not just England, it is also very popular all over the world to stone women to death for adultery, or cut off people's hands for various minor infractions, or throw political dissidents in prison for years for disagreeing with the government. Because the rest of the world does it doesn't make it right for the USA. England made a wonderful decision last week and the markets crashed around the world.

    If the race track managers want to pump up handle and interest in this country, they need to find innovative ways of their own, not just bow to Betfair because it's the easy way out.

    Mr. Wilson: Get someone from Monmouth Park to disclose just what positive effect EW has had on the handle. Or, at least, how much is being bet on EW. Inquiring minds would like to know. 

    

    

      

Leave a comment below
comments powered by Disqus