Post by Peter Gross on Sept 3, 2009 5:43:49 GMT -5
You can't bet the horses at the CNE, but, as I proved yesterday, you can play the horses while at the CNE. Yesterday, I took my two kids to the EX. My 12 year-old daughter, Emily brought her friend Michelle and I had to pry my 17 year-old son Roger from his computer and Runescape for a day in the sun.
There was a season or two at the venerable Ex where they actually had a temporary off-track betting theatre, but for some reason, the logic of that expired and it is no longer an option. Not a big problem for me. I downloaded the Saratoga Form and through my HPI phone account, advance bet the first eight daily doubles at the Spa. As discussed earlier in this blog, I have embarked on one of the more noble and courageous personal experiments in which I am allowed to bet only on daily doubles. I won't bore you endlessly here about my religious fanaticism about the daily double; I will simply re-state that the double is the most beneficial and longterm, potentially the most profitable of all the legal gambles available to the Canadian player.
I started my 50 Days of Doubles last Friday and got off to a great start. I cashed $79 for a $1 bet on the first double I played and showed a profit of $80 for all my bets. The next day, I bet a total of $166 in various doubles at many tracks and by hitting for $115 on the last two races at Woodbine, cleared $30 in profits. I lost $80 on Sunday $30 on Monday, $20 on Tuesday.
All three of the children I took to the Ex had their cell phones and the agreement was they could take off on their own as long as they texted me regularly to advise of their status.
Emily and Michelle headed for the rides. Roger wandered into the Food building seeking the largest possible bottle of coke. I found myself having to resist the urge of the crown and anchor and other various gambling possibilities at the EX. In previous years, I could easily drop $50 on clubs or Citation and Tim Tam in the horse racing game - you know the one with all the spinning arrows?
However, I have to remain true to the experiment; to see if it is possible to show a profit over 50 days just betting doubles. That meant avoiding the temptation of the Exhibition casino - last year when I escorted Emily to the Ex, I won $600 at Blackjack while she wandered in an out of House of Horrors and rode the Zipper.
I lost the first race at Saratoga, but Big Flirt hit the wire a nose ahead of Triple Glory in the second and paid $9.50. I was live into the third with two horses. I walked into the Direct Energy Centre, which is just a cluttered shopping mall for the run of the Ex. I bought a couple of nice shirts. I got a text from Emily,
"Were in line 4 scorpion."
I was monitoring the race results by calling 416-6236337 which gives out payouts within five minutes of each race. At 2:45, the monotone computerized voice tells me that only did I win the double into the third race, I got a consolation payoff when my other horse was scratched. Only three horses ran the third race. My double paid $15. The consolation paid $9.
I get a text from Roger: "Already drank 32 oz of Coke. Going 4 a record."
At 3:20. the lifeless voice on the race results line informs me that my horse won the 5th and paid $13.40 I'm alive on three in the 6th, so I celebrate by buying myself a new belt.
There is a new text from Emily:
"Were in line 4 crazy mouse."
I hang out at a booth selling powdered dips. After scoffing half a dozen pretzels in tzaziki cream, I buy three of the mixes. After all, I'm alive with a 5-1 first race winner. However, my next phone call brings disappointment -none of my three horses even hit the board.
This scenario repeats itself in races 7 and 8. I jump with joy when I hear the results of race 7 ( and a crowd of bystanders lurches backwards as I fist pump). Silva won the 7th and paid $11.70, but I didn't have the 7-1 shot that won the 8th. That also meant that my last advanced bet double was no longer alive. To that point, I was down about $40 and resigned to that small defeat. There would be a most fortuitous comeback.
Shortly after 5, after meeting all the kids and roaming through the food building for food (Emily and Michelle share some Chinese, Roger buys a coke), my cell phone rings. It's Down The Stretch contributor Keith McCalmont, whose Triple Dead Heat blog is much the best racing blog on the net.
"I'm blogging about your daily double adventure," he advises me. "I've even posted my own doubles for Woodbine tonight."
Woodbine! I'd forgotten. a 6:40 post time. I could still bet the double at Woodbine! I didn't have the past performances, but McCalmont is pretty sharp with a form, so I tell him,
"Give me your choices. I'll bet them in the double."
Keith laughs and says he likes 2, 5 and 10 in the first.
"The ten horse is trained by Ian Black and I think it's ready, "he adds. He also gives me 1, 5 and 9 in the second.
"I think the one will be the favourite, ' he says apologetically.
I bet $2 doubles on all of those, which costs me $18 and leaves $5 in my HPI phone account. There's another text from Roger.
"Meet me for Swiss Chalet and coke" he orders. We sit in the car in the media parking lot eating chicken while I wait for the first race to be run. Post time is 6:45. At 6:51, my overanxious fingers call the results line and I am advised that the ten-horse, named Fifty Proof, is the first race winner, paying $27.00. Keith rises considerably in my esteem.
That gives me a good half hour of serious anxiety as i await the outcome of the second race in which I have three shots. At 7:22, I get the answer I want - favoured Sans Souci (#1) wins at 8-5 and pays just $5.40, but the double kicks back $93.20, which makes my day a neat profit of $33.20. And here's why I have such an obsessive infatuation with daily doubles. If you'd taken the first race winnings ($27) and let it ride on the winner of the second race, you would have cashed $72.90. The $93.20 payoff on the double represents almost a 30% inflation on the parlay.
So the 50 Days of Doubles is now into it's 8th day. Here are the numbers so far:
I have bet a total of $545. I have cashed $558.30 That's a profit of $13.20
Some people submit to experimental surgery to make life better for human beings in the future. Others risk their lives to explore hidden jungles or the ocean floor or outer space. Others fight intolerance and prejudice even though the price is often profound.
Me. I bet daily doubles. Everyone is a hero in their own right.
There was a season or two at the venerable Ex where they actually had a temporary off-track betting theatre, but for some reason, the logic of that expired and it is no longer an option. Not a big problem for me. I downloaded the Saratoga Form and through my HPI phone account, advance bet the first eight daily doubles at the Spa. As discussed earlier in this blog, I have embarked on one of the more noble and courageous personal experiments in which I am allowed to bet only on daily doubles. I won't bore you endlessly here about my religious fanaticism about the daily double; I will simply re-state that the double is the most beneficial and longterm, potentially the most profitable of all the legal gambles available to the Canadian player.
I started my 50 Days of Doubles last Friday and got off to a great start. I cashed $79 for a $1 bet on the first double I played and showed a profit of $80 for all my bets. The next day, I bet a total of $166 in various doubles at many tracks and by hitting for $115 on the last two races at Woodbine, cleared $30 in profits. I lost $80 on Sunday $30 on Monday, $20 on Tuesday.
All three of the children I took to the Ex had their cell phones and the agreement was they could take off on their own as long as they texted me regularly to advise of their status.
Emily and Michelle headed for the rides. Roger wandered into the Food building seeking the largest possible bottle of coke. I found myself having to resist the urge of the crown and anchor and other various gambling possibilities at the EX. In previous years, I could easily drop $50 on clubs or Citation and Tim Tam in the horse racing game - you know the one with all the spinning arrows?
However, I have to remain true to the experiment; to see if it is possible to show a profit over 50 days just betting doubles. That meant avoiding the temptation of the Exhibition casino - last year when I escorted Emily to the Ex, I won $600 at Blackjack while she wandered in an out of House of Horrors and rode the Zipper.
I lost the first race at Saratoga, but Big Flirt hit the wire a nose ahead of Triple Glory in the second and paid $9.50. I was live into the third with two horses. I walked into the Direct Energy Centre, which is just a cluttered shopping mall for the run of the Ex. I bought a couple of nice shirts. I got a text from Emily,
"Were in line 4 scorpion."
I was monitoring the race results by calling 416-6236337 which gives out payouts within five minutes of each race. At 2:45, the monotone computerized voice tells me that only did I win the double into the third race, I got a consolation payoff when my other horse was scratched. Only three horses ran the third race. My double paid $15. The consolation paid $9.
I get a text from Roger: "Already drank 32 oz of Coke. Going 4 a record."
At 3:20. the lifeless voice on the race results line informs me that my horse won the 5th and paid $13.40 I'm alive on three in the 6th, so I celebrate by buying myself a new belt.
There is a new text from Emily:
"Were in line 4 crazy mouse."
I hang out at a booth selling powdered dips. After scoffing half a dozen pretzels in tzaziki cream, I buy three of the mixes. After all, I'm alive with a 5-1 first race winner. However, my next phone call brings disappointment -none of my three horses even hit the board.
This scenario repeats itself in races 7 and 8. I jump with joy when I hear the results of race 7 ( and a crowd of bystanders lurches backwards as I fist pump). Silva won the 7th and paid $11.70, but I didn't have the 7-1 shot that won the 8th. That also meant that my last advanced bet double was no longer alive. To that point, I was down about $40 and resigned to that small defeat. There would be a most fortuitous comeback.
Shortly after 5, after meeting all the kids and roaming through the food building for food (Emily and Michelle share some Chinese, Roger buys a coke), my cell phone rings. It's Down The Stretch contributor Keith McCalmont, whose Triple Dead Heat blog is much the best racing blog on the net.
"I'm blogging about your daily double adventure," he advises me. "I've even posted my own doubles for Woodbine tonight."
Woodbine! I'd forgotten. a 6:40 post time. I could still bet the double at Woodbine! I didn't have the past performances, but McCalmont is pretty sharp with a form, so I tell him,
"Give me your choices. I'll bet them in the double."
Keith laughs and says he likes 2, 5 and 10 in the first.
"The ten horse is trained by Ian Black and I think it's ready, "he adds. He also gives me 1, 5 and 9 in the second.
"I think the one will be the favourite, ' he says apologetically.
I bet $2 doubles on all of those, which costs me $18 and leaves $5 in my HPI phone account. There's another text from Roger.
"Meet me for Swiss Chalet and coke" he orders. We sit in the car in the media parking lot eating chicken while I wait for the first race to be run. Post time is 6:45. At 6:51, my overanxious fingers call the results line and I am advised that the ten-horse, named Fifty Proof, is the first race winner, paying $27.00. Keith rises considerably in my esteem.
That gives me a good half hour of serious anxiety as i await the outcome of the second race in which I have three shots. At 7:22, I get the answer I want - favoured Sans Souci (#1) wins at 8-5 and pays just $5.40, but the double kicks back $93.20, which makes my day a neat profit of $33.20. And here's why I have such an obsessive infatuation with daily doubles. If you'd taken the first race winnings ($27) and let it ride on the winner of the second race, you would have cashed $72.90. The $93.20 payoff on the double represents almost a 30% inflation on the parlay.
So the 50 Days of Doubles is now into it's 8th day. Here are the numbers so far:
I have bet a total of $545. I have cashed $558.30 That's a profit of $13.20
Some people submit to experimental surgery to make life better for human beings in the future. Others risk their lives to explore hidden jungles or the ocean floor or outer space. Others fight intolerance and prejudice even though the price is often profound.
Me. I bet daily doubles. Everyone is a hero in their own right.