Post by Peter Gross on Apr 29, 2009 7:20:40 GMT -5
I was certainly honoured when Kathy Wade Vlaar of Standardbred Canada asked me to be the moderator for a discussion at the Standardbred Wagering Conference at Windsor Casino. Of course, when she made the request, all I heard was the word Casino. Generally speaking, I avoid casinos, not because I don't love them (I do), but because the lure of tables, chips, card and machines is irresistible to me.
My job was to moderate a panel with the subject title No Holds Barred. The point was for harness racing fans to confront the authorities and ask the tough questions. On the panel was Erie Potek who is attempting to create a Horseplayers Advocacy Group. The first reaction you make when you hear this is...huh? And that's because, historically, horseplayers have been like lambs to the slaughter. We go to the track because we go to the track. Many of us have given little thought to how capriciously the racetrack might treat us, how difficult it has been to lodge a complaint or how exasperating it can be to get a reasonable explanation. Potek dares to go where others have not. He read a 16 point list of wishes that would make life and horseplay more enjoyable. Some of his ideas are really good - lower the takeout, pay the fan who bets a winner, sees it disqualified, but then re-instated by the ORC and to have informed horseplayers work hand and hand with racetrack and government officials to drag the game into the future. One of his ideas is positively zany - Potek seriously suggested that at least one of the stewards should be a horseplayer. Yeah, that's going to happen.
Also on the panel was horse owner and gambler Kevin Koury, Dennis Dowd, a lawyer with the New Jersey harness racing industry and Jamie Martin, VP of racing for Woodbine. Dowd was particularly interesting to me. He has spent 40 years in the industry and made the point that you can't simply draw a line between horse players and administrators. His experience has been that whatever level he rose to in the industry, he found that most of the people enjoyed betting on the races.
Martin just rolls his eyes when asked how easy it is to change things at the track. "We're over regulated," he says. The discussion spent some time wondering why Canadian tracks don't initiate new bets - the Grand Slam for example ( bet to show in three straight races, then pick the winner), or why not $1 win place, or quinella betting or rolling daily doubles as exists with most American tracks? Martin says it takes at least a year to get government approval to change a bet or introduce a new one.
That has to change ( I'm editorializing here). If Woodbine could introduce a new bet every month, or change the size and shape of present bets (50 cent exactors anyone?), they would have something new to promote on a week by week basis. The gambler's mind is stimulated by new ideas. The OLG, for all its dysfunctional screwups, understands the idea of constant innovation. That's why there is continual introduction of new scratch tickets, - a $2 version, a $5 version, a $10 template, etc. The OLG is always thinking of ways to attract the player to a new wrinkle.
Strangely, this country's horse racing operators who have run a tight, un-scandalized shop for many decades, are regulated to the point of smothering. The issue of 'seeding' came up in the Windsor discussions and it still is not clear why the CPMA (Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency) will not allow Woodbine to tell its players that they have guaranteed $50,000 in a pick six pool, which of course would stimulate significant play. Woodbine is told simply by the CPMA that "we have to protect the customers."
This No Holds Barred debate lasted a little over an hour, which was just short enough that I didn't get a serious Jones on for the casino. Windsor casino is a stunning edifice and from the moment I arrived ( 4 pm Monday), I participated fully in the products availed. I like the video poker, the black jack and the Carribean Stud Poker. By midnight Monday, I was in a $600 hole and my bank card was advising me that I had exceeded my daily withdrawal limit ( don't ask about my credit card).
By 2:30 am, I had persuaded a TD Canada Trust agent in Moncton to increase my daily limit and suddenly I was flush. And the time frame from 2:30 am to 6 am was probably the most fun I have ever had in a casino. I had a run where just about every table I sat at, I won something. I got into the routine of winning a little, trading in the chips, cashing, feeling the $ in my pocket, then moving to the next event. Video poker offers terrible odds, yet I kept hitting. At one point, four 4's appeared and my$5 voucher turned into $85. At 4:30 am, I sat at a Carribean Stud table and a dour looking lady dealer just glared at me and said,
"Why do you want to play here? This is a house game."
She was right, but surely there should be a more welcoming attitude. Anyway, 20 minutes later my 100 stake was up to $235 and I bid Ms Grumpface adieu.
By the time I dragged I disagree back to my room, I had erased my deficit and appeared to be up around $100. Before and after the No Holds Barred event, I continued to win more than lose.
Actually, while getting beat up the night before, I wandered into Legends, which is a casino sports bar. They offer a different and far more beneficial form of Proline. I was able to bet $5 on two hockey games and got 2.55 on each of Chicago and Anaheim. The ticket was worth $32, but the problem was it could only be cashed at Legends, which didn't reopen until 4 pm Tuesday.
When I found myself up about $400, I wanted to leave, but decided to wait until four to cash my ticket. Fortunately I didn't give it all back. My last play was at a Carribean Stud table (with Ron a far more positive and entertaining dealer) . Seeing the clock veer toward 4, I made my largest bet, a $20 ante which, when Ron dealt me two pair, required a $40 bet. Happily, Ron's hand qualified and I won $100 to finish off a most successful 24 hours at Windsor casino.
By the way, Standardbred Canada's website offers a thorough breakdown of all the discussions that have taken place at the Wagering conference. What the writer of that material won't do though, is walk you bet by bet through his casino adventures.
My job was to moderate a panel with the subject title No Holds Barred. The point was for harness racing fans to confront the authorities and ask the tough questions. On the panel was Erie Potek who is attempting to create a Horseplayers Advocacy Group. The first reaction you make when you hear this is...huh? And that's because, historically, horseplayers have been like lambs to the slaughter. We go to the track because we go to the track. Many of us have given little thought to how capriciously the racetrack might treat us, how difficult it has been to lodge a complaint or how exasperating it can be to get a reasonable explanation. Potek dares to go where others have not. He read a 16 point list of wishes that would make life and horseplay more enjoyable. Some of his ideas are really good - lower the takeout, pay the fan who bets a winner, sees it disqualified, but then re-instated by the ORC and to have informed horseplayers work hand and hand with racetrack and government officials to drag the game into the future. One of his ideas is positively zany - Potek seriously suggested that at least one of the stewards should be a horseplayer. Yeah, that's going to happen.
Also on the panel was horse owner and gambler Kevin Koury, Dennis Dowd, a lawyer with the New Jersey harness racing industry and Jamie Martin, VP of racing for Woodbine. Dowd was particularly interesting to me. He has spent 40 years in the industry and made the point that you can't simply draw a line between horse players and administrators. His experience has been that whatever level he rose to in the industry, he found that most of the people enjoyed betting on the races.
Martin just rolls his eyes when asked how easy it is to change things at the track. "We're over regulated," he says. The discussion spent some time wondering why Canadian tracks don't initiate new bets - the Grand Slam for example ( bet to show in three straight races, then pick the winner), or why not $1 win place, or quinella betting or rolling daily doubles as exists with most American tracks? Martin says it takes at least a year to get government approval to change a bet or introduce a new one.
That has to change ( I'm editorializing here). If Woodbine could introduce a new bet every month, or change the size and shape of present bets (50 cent exactors anyone?), they would have something new to promote on a week by week basis. The gambler's mind is stimulated by new ideas. The OLG, for all its dysfunctional screwups, understands the idea of constant innovation. That's why there is continual introduction of new scratch tickets, - a $2 version, a $5 version, a $10 template, etc. The OLG is always thinking of ways to attract the player to a new wrinkle.
Strangely, this country's horse racing operators who have run a tight, un-scandalized shop for many decades, are regulated to the point of smothering. The issue of 'seeding' came up in the Windsor discussions and it still is not clear why the CPMA (Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency) will not allow Woodbine to tell its players that they have guaranteed $50,000 in a pick six pool, which of course would stimulate significant play. Woodbine is told simply by the CPMA that "we have to protect the customers."
This No Holds Barred debate lasted a little over an hour, which was just short enough that I didn't get a serious Jones on for the casino. Windsor casino is a stunning edifice and from the moment I arrived ( 4 pm Monday), I participated fully in the products availed. I like the video poker, the black jack and the Carribean Stud Poker. By midnight Monday, I was in a $600 hole and my bank card was advising me that I had exceeded my daily withdrawal limit ( don't ask about my credit card).
By 2:30 am, I had persuaded a TD Canada Trust agent in Moncton to increase my daily limit and suddenly I was flush. And the time frame from 2:30 am to 6 am was probably the most fun I have ever had in a casino. I had a run where just about every table I sat at, I won something. I got into the routine of winning a little, trading in the chips, cashing, feeling the $ in my pocket, then moving to the next event. Video poker offers terrible odds, yet I kept hitting. At one point, four 4's appeared and my$5 voucher turned into $85. At 4:30 am, I sat at a Carribean Stud table and a dour looking lady dealer just glared at me and said,
"Why do you want to play here? This is a house game."
She was right, but surely there should be a more welcoming attitude. Anyway, 20 minutes later my 100 stake was up to $235 and I bid Ms Grumpface adieu.
By the time I dragged I disagree back to my room, I had erased my deficit and appeared to be up around $100. Before and after the No Holds Barred event, I continued to win more than lose.
Actually, while getting beat up the night before, I wandered into Legends, which is a casino sports bar. They offer a different and far more beneficial form of Proline. I was able to bet $5 on two hockey games and got 2.55 on each of Chicago and Anaheim. The ticket was worth $32, but the problem was it could only be cashed at Legends, which didn't reopen until 4 pm Tuesday.
When I found myself up about $400, I wanted to leave, but decided to wait until four to cash my ticket. Fortunately I didn't give it all back. My last play was at a Carribean Stud table (with Ron a far more positive and entertaining dealer) . Seeing the clock veer toward 4, I made my largest bet, a $20 ante which, when Ron dealt me two pair, required a $40 bet. Happily, Ron's hand qualified and I won $100 to finish off a most successful 24 hours at Windsor casino.
By the way, Standardbred Canada's website offers a thorough breakdown of all the discussions that have taken place at the Wagering conference. What the writer of that material won't do though, is walk you bet by bet through his casino adventures.
