70 years of bans handed out in betting network "corruption"

[MikeFromGardena]

I am for exchange wagering for purely selfish reasons. Is that wrong?

[Alaidekman]

Too bad Luck got cancelled. Would have been interesting to see what schemes Escalante and the Four Friends Stable (or whatever they were called) came up with to try to make a score. Wouldn't have put it past Escalante to let his vet gf leak word that a horse was in bad shape, and when all the bet against wagers came in he'd take the other side. Unfortuantely, we'll never know.

Al

[Hollywoodmike]

I hope we never have exchange wagering. It's morally and ethically wrong to have wagers where you are paid off when a horse
and jockey do not put their optimum effort forward.

[Andyc]

I hope we never have exchange wagering. It's morally and ethically wrong to have wagers where you are paid off when a horse
and jockey do not put their optimum effort forward.

Earth to Mike. The scenario you fear has been around since the first bet was made on a horse race.

[Alaidekman]

Yes, jockeys putting in a lack of effort have been around for a long time. But I think Mike is concerned about what will happen when you can make money by betting ON a jockey (to lose) who you think isn't going to make an effort, instead of betting against him by trying to figure out which horse wil win or covering multiple horses. With exchange wagering you will just have to bet against one horse, and won't care who wins. Would seem to increase the tempatation to play games.

Al

[Hollywoodmike]

Yes, jockeys putting in a lack of effort have been around for a long time. But I think Mike is concerned about what will happen when you can make money by betting ON a jockey (to lose) who you think isn't going to make an effort, instead of betting against him by trying to figure out which horse wil win or covering multiple horses. With exchange wagering you will just have to bet against one horse, and won't care who wins. Would seem to increase the tempatation to play games.

Al

Well stated Al. My exact concerns.

[Vince P]

I hope we never have exchange wagering. It's morally and ethically wrong to have wagers where you are paid off when a horse
and jockey do not put their optimum effort forward.

This is akin to saying,

"I will only wager ON the Ravens to WIN the Super Bowl, but I would never wager against the 49rs because it's morally and ethically wrong to bet against a team/horse to win."

or

"I bet will bet on the Dodgers in the futures to win the World Series, but I'm not betting against the other 27 teams because that's morally and ethically wrong."

Sounds silly, doesn't it? But it's the same idea.

Vince P

[So.cal.fan]

Andy C. ?

Do you think exchange betting will come to So. California?
I'm interested in finding out more about it. It sounds very interesing.

[Andyc]

Yes, jockeys putting in a lack of effort have been around for a long time. But I think Mike is concerned about what will happen when you can make money by betting ON a jockey (to lose) who you think isn't going to make an effort, instead of betting against him by trying to figure out which horse wil win or covering multiple horses. With exchange wagering you will just have to bet against one horse, and won't care who wins. Would seem to increase the tempatation to play games.

Al

I bet on jockeys to lose all the time.

There is always temptation in racing to pull off a betting coup. That won't ever end. To pull one off using exchange wagering is possible but highly improbable to go undetected. All bets are transparent. Audit trails abound. The logistics of pulling off a betting coup are unbelievably difficult with exchange wagering. Unbelievably easy through the tote.

I can see why racing is heading down the toilet. People are stuck in their ways with no ability to apply logic.

[Andyc]

Andy C. ?

Do you think exchange betting will come to So. California?
I'm interested in finding out more about it. It sounds very interesting.

No. There seems to be an inability to make any changes to the status quo. Like myself, many grew up in the heyday of racing and can't understand why things need to change because things always seemed so great. So for many, making fundamental changes in how bets are made would ruin the greatness that they grew up with. So instead of examining exchange wagering on its merits it is summarily dismissed as an opportunity to cheat. Any honest evaluation would show that it is easier to cheat through the tote than it is through exchange wagering.