Re: Rebate Shops (449 Views)
Posted by:
jimbo66 (IP Logged)
Date: September 21, 2004 02:30PM
Saddlecloth,
Very interesting post. Excuse my ignorance on this topic, but I am not quite understanding this. Who are these "rebate" shops? They are foreign entities outside the US that our racetracks are agreeing to "sell" their signal to? If that is the case, why isn't that "fixable" by the racetracks not selling their signal to these companies and only to other racetracks?
Now that I think about it, I may be betting in one of these "shops" myself, without knowing. I make all my bets at an offshore sportsbook, which offers me a 7% rebate on all horse bets placed over the computer (no telephone operator can be used or I lose the rebate). I was under the impression that they were just "booking" my bets, assuming that with the normal 16 to 24% takeout, they can offer 7% back and still make money. Now, I wonder if they are a "rebate shop", something which I didn't know existed.
As for the computer scanning the combinations for overlays and underlays and then placing bets on behalf of these players, I can only speak for myself, but that doesn't bother me. Assuming of course, these bets take place before the start of the race. Knowing an 'overlay' or an 'underlay' requires the ability to handicap the race. So, if some programmer, who is a handicapper, wants to build a program that handicaps the races and finds good prices, all the more power to him. That is part of the game. The computer can only function as well as the person who programmed it. If I understand you correctly, it almost sounds like the computer looks at a horse that is 5-2 and checks to see if he is also 5-2 in the exacta and trifecta pool, if he is 'longer' in that pool, it places exotic bets on that horse. There are a lot of logical reasons why a 5-2 shot in the win pool, could be 5-1 in the exacta pool, or even 6-5 in the exacta pool. Blindly doing mathematical calculations and placing bets is fine with me. I am much more concerned about the trainer doping angles discussed on this board in the last week. that is scary.