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16 Sep 14
14:24
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Date Joined:
04 Mar 10
Seems to me this aussie has it about right...
Vale the greatest Australian racing tradition: A fair contest
Peter Lawrence - 8/09/2014
In 1997 when Might And Power led all the way to complete the Caulfield-Melbourne Cup double, I had the great honour of holding the number two position on the rails at the Gold Coast, alongside three legends of Australian bookmaking, Laurie Bricknell, Terry Page and Lloyd Merlehan.
I venture to say that should there ever be a Hall Of Fame for bookmakers, these three would certainly be amongst the first twenty five admitted.
Although racecourse attendances were already steadily declining, they were still vibrant days for racecourse betting in Australia.
I particularly remember that Melbourne Cup for two reasons. Firstly, I thought Might And Power was a "once in a ten year” Cup special and backed him for my maximum.
I also thought that Doriemus was a special to oppose and laid him to lose my maximum.
I felt sick as the post drew ever near with Doriemus eating into the lead of Might And Power. I felt sicker still as they hit the line and Greg Hall gave his now infamous victory wave on Doriemus.
I cursed those wretched racing Gods who had snatched a great result from my bag and turned it into a disaster.
Of course thirty seconds later when the official photo finish was displayed on the TV monitors around the course, that nausea was replaced with delight and the world seemed so much brighter.
Secondly, I remember vividly Laurie Bricknell's betting phone ringing as the field thundered down the straight for the first time with Might And Power rolling to the front. It was Melbourne bookmaker Michael Eskander, father of current day bookmaker Alan and founder of Betstar.
Michael had been caught with a late bet on Might And Power - would Laurie be able to bet him $50,000 to $14,000, even though they had reached the post for the first time?
"No worries,” I heard Laurie say, before he called the bet to his clerk. Laurie Bricknell was after all a bookmaker and this was the Melbourne Cup. He was there to bet!
In 1997 if you were on the rails at the Gold Coast you displayed your prices and were obliged to bet to lose a minimum of $10,000.
The on course betting stewards kept you on your toes at all times. Their primary interest was to protect the punters. If you had a dispute with a punter over a price and a few minutes later you saw the betting steward with said punter in toe, you knew absolutely that the steward would take the side of the punter. And so he should too. Bookmakers have plenty in their favour.
I had grown up as a teenager reading all the great books written about racing and punting. Unlike the UK, Australian racing had a long an honourable tradition when it came to the battle on the track.
The bookmaker with his percentage advantage on the board, defied the punter to beat the odds.
No doubt in years gone by there were many instances of bookmakers and punters trying to increase their chances through skullduggery. But those instances were far and away less common than many believe and by the late 1980s they were becoming less common still.
The racing folklore was full of successful punters who had beaten the odds and as a young man I had the pleasure of working for one of the most famous, Don Scott, whose "Winning” books told in a methodical way how it was possible to "beat the bookies.”
That was and is the whole point of betting on the horses, surely. The possibility of coming out on top, because unlike casino games and slot machines, the true odds of any outcome are arbitrary and a matter of opinion.
If, as a punter, you are smarter than the market, then you can win at horse racing.
The legend that is Australian horse betting is founded on the honest battle of "I will pit my wits and skill and nerve against your's; may the best man win.”
The stewards of course have been there to referee and do their best to insure a fair fight.
However, in the last three years the game has changed completely. This wonderful Australian tradition of a fair go and a fair contest has been laid to waste as the British corporates have suffocated and destroyed in three years what took one hundred and fifty years to establish.
Without exception, they have three strings to their bow.
Firstly, weed out all winning punters and close their accounts, or restrict their bet sizes to such a small amount they will no longer bother betting.
Secondly, weed out all losing punters who lose less than 3.5% on turnover and close their accounts also. Their business model shows it is not worth bothering with line ball players either. They are only interested in serious losers.
Thirdly, find the guilt edged, rich mug and let him do whatever he likes. Court him like a prince, buy him tickets to premium sporting events and fill up on his largesse as the family fortune is slightly or perhaps completely depleted.
These are the "clients” that everyone is after.
Not one of these corporates has a form analyst with any ability whatsoever. They all slavishly follow the opening TAB markets, with very little change from Wednesday evening until Saturday morning.
They are not interested in pitting their skill against yours, because these British corporates are staffed with failed Australian punters, who cannot win punting themselves and fiercely resent anyone who can.
As if this revolting practice was not bad enough, these same British corporations have the audacity to trade on the back of the very Australian tradition they have completely destroyed in recent times.
Every advertisement is full of Aussie anachronisms, with the lead players always being "Matty or Brad or Warnie or Waz,” or some equally ridgy didge name.
We are told to "fire up” by corporations that won't bet you to lose $1000, with most adds being shot in pubs, as true blue Aussie blokes bet up. The irony is astonishing.
There is nothing remotely Australian about these betting houses, and the Aussies who have sold their soul, those who grew up on the racetracks of Grafton, Randwick, Flemington and the Gold Coast, should hang their heads in shame for the part they have played in this whole scale destruction of our once great contest. At least Ladbrokes is honest about who they are.
This remarkable coup has taken place behind the protective wall of the Northern Territory Government, who has allowed these British corporations to operate in a tax and regulation free haven not seen in Australia before.
Not only have they been allowed to destroy the betting landscape, they operate under no rules that can be enforced by betting stewards or racing officialdom.
There is no one on the side of the punter any more. The punter is now simply open game to be raped and pillaged with gay abandon, with virtually all profits sent offshore to even greater tax havens like Gibraltar, through one shoddy means or another.
Recently, the Sydney Morning Herald finance pages reported on a memorandum sent to all TAB agencies on how to identify "non genuine gamblers,” and get rid of them. Of course non genuine gamblers are winners.
Despite the pathetic banners at the bottom of all websites claiming a commitment to responsible gambling, these betting houses, the TAB included, are ONLY interested in losing gamblers, a subset of punters that contains ALL problem gamblers.
By its very definition, problem gamblers can hardly be winning punters. What a sad indictment of how the whole racing industry is paralyzed by "sponsorship” money, that this story was run in the finance pages and not in the racing section of the paper.
I have spent a lifetime honing my skills as a racing analyst. I have won each of the past 10 years since I retired from bookmaking as a punter and pay tax as a professional gambler.
I pit my skills as a form analyst against the skills of the bookmaker in what should be a fair contest, even allowing for the percentage edge bookmakers have in their markets. But nobody wants to play that game any longer.
Accounts that I have held with Australian bookmaking agencies for decades have been closed. Relationships that were developed over 30 years have counted for nothing as I have been treated as a pariah by these agencies, despised for being "too smart.”
There is no fair contest any more and there is no one remotely interested in doing anything about it, because the tentacles of sponsorship money reach far and wide in the racing community and the stewards are impotent to do anything about the Northern Territory regulations.
There are regularly wildly fluctuating deductions for late scratchings, depending I guess on who has laid which horse the most, with no one to complain to if you are on the receiving end of a good old fashioned touch up.
Surely, the time has come for the major racing jurisdictions to legislate to make each of the corporate bookmakers be licensed in each state on which they operate, and then to be bound by the RULES OF RACING, as all other bookmakers are.
To have a standard set of deductions and a rule that compels them to bet to lose a certain amount, AT LEAST the equal to rails bookmakers operating on each meeting.
Racing NSW to their credit have gone at least some way to addressing this problem, but the minimum bet of $2000 is clearly laughable in 2014.
Even that paltry amount is being challenged by the British corporates, who are prepared to go to court to challenge the Racing NSW ruling.
They are so used to operating under no rules at all, they are disgusted at the prospect of actually having to lay a bet to someone who might actually win!
Imagine the hide of those dreadful Australians actually wishing to win!
How can a situation continue to exist whereby you have Rules Of Racing that apply in each state to bookmakers, whilst by far the largest bookmakers in Australia simply thumb their nose at them, and whereby punters have no one to protect their rights at all?
Vale the greatest Australian racing tradition: A fair contest
Peter Lawrence - 8/09/2014
In 1997 when Might And Power led all the way to complete the Caulfield-Melbourne Cup double, I had the great honour of holding the number two position on the rails at the Gold Coast, alongside three legends of Australian bookmaking, Laurie Bricknell, Terry Page and Lloyd Merlehan.
I venture to say that should there ever be a Hall Of Fame for bookmakers, these three would certainly be amongst the first twenty five admitted.
Although racecourse attendances were already steadily declining, they were still vibrant days for racecourse betting in Australia.
I particularly remember that Melbourne Cup for two reasons. Firstly, I thought Might And Power was a "once in a ten year” Cup special and backed him for my maximum.
I also thought that Doriemus was a special to oppose and laid him to lose my maximum.
I felt sick as the post drew ever near with Doriemus eating into the lead of Might And Power. I felt sicker still as they hit the line and Greg Hall gave his now infamous victory wave on Doriemus.
I cursed those wretched racing Gods who had snatched a great result from my bag and turned it into a disaster.
Of course thirty seconds later when the official photo finish was displayed on the TV monitors around the course, that nausea was replaced with delight and the world seemed so much brighter.
Secondly, I remember vividly Laurie Bricknell's betting phone ringing as the field thundered down the straight for the first time with Might And Power rolling to the front. It was Melbourne bookmaker Michael Eskander, father of current day bookmaker Alan and founder of Betstar.
Michael had been caught with a late bet on Might And Power - would Laurie be able to bet him $50,000 to $14,000, even though they had reached the post for the first time?
"No worries,” I heard Laurie say, before he called the bet to his clerk. Laurie Bricknell was after all a bookmaker and this was the Melbourne Cup. He was there to bet!
In 1997 if you were on the rails at the Gold Coast you displayed your prices and were obliged to bet to lose a minimum of $10,000.
The on course betting stewards kept you on your toes at all times. Their primary interest was to protect the punters. If you had a dispute with a punter over a price and a few minutes later you saw the betting steward with said punter in toe, you knew absolutely that the steward would take the side of the punter. And so he should too. Bookmakers have plenty in their favour.
I had grown up as a teenager reading all the great books written about racing and punting. Unlike the UK, Australian racing had a long an honourable tradition when it came to the battle on the track.
The bookmaker with his percentage advantage on the board, defied the punter to beat the odds.
No doubt in years gone by there were many instances of bookmakers and punters trying to increase their chances through skullduggery. But those instances were far and away less common than many believe and by the late 1980s they were becoming less common still.
The racing folklore was full of successful punters who had beaten the odds and as a young man I had the pleasure of working for one of the most famous, Don Scott, whose "Winning” books told in a methodical way how it was possible to "beat the bookies.”
That was and is the whole point of betting on the horses, surely. The possibility of coming out on top, because unlike casino games and slot machines, the true odds of any outcome are arbitrary and a matter of opinion.
If, as a punter, you are smarter than the market, then you can win at horse racing.
The legend that is Australian horse betting is founded on the honest battle of "I will pit my wits and skill and nerve against your's; may the best man win.”
The stewards of course have been there to referee and do their best to insure a fair fight.
However, in the last three years the game has changed completely. This wonderful Australian tradition of a fair go and a fair contest has been laid to waste as the British corporates have suffocated and destroyed in three years what took one hundred and fifty years to establish.
Without exception, they have three strings to their bow.
Firstly, weed out all winning punters and close their accounts, or restrict their bet sizes to such a small amount they will no longer bother betting.
Secondly, weed out all losing punters who lose less than 3.5% on turnover and close their accounts also. Their business model shows it is not worth bothering with line ball players either. They are only interested in serious losers.
Thirdly, find the guilt edged, rich mug and let him do whatever he likes. Court him like a prince, buy him tickets to premium sporting events and fill up on his largesse as the family fortune is slightly or perhaps completely depleted.
These are the "clients” that everyone is after.
Not one of these corporates has a form analyst with any ability whatsoever. They all slavishly follow the opening TAB markets, with very little change from Wednesday evening until Saturday morning.
They are not interested in pitting their skill against yours, because these British corporates are staffed with failed Australian punters, who cannot win punting themselves and fiercely resent anyone who can.
As if this revolting practice was not bad enough, these same British corporations have the audacity to trade on the back of the very Australian tradition they have completely destroyed in recent times.
Every advertisement is full of Aussie anachronisms, with the lead players always being "Matty or Brad or Warnie or Waz,” or some equally ridgy didge name.
We are told to "fire up” by corporations that won't bet you to lose $1000, with most adds being shot in pubs, as true blue Aussie blokes bet up. The irony is astonishing.
There is nothing remotely Australian about these betting houses, and the Aussies who have sold their soul, those who grew up on the racetracks of Grafton, Randwick, Flemington and the Gold Coast, should hang their heads in shame for the part they have played in this whole scale destruction of our once great contest. At least Ladbrokes is honest about who they are.
This remarkable coup has taken place behind the protective wall of the Northern Territory Government, who has allowed these British corporations to operate in a tax and regulation free haven not seen in Australia before.
Not only have they been allowed to destroy the betting landscape, they operate under no rules that can be enforced by betting stewards or racing officialdom.
There is no one on the side of the punter any more. The punter is now simply open game to be raped and pillaged with gay abandon, with virtually all profits sent offshore to even greater tax havens like Gibraltar, through one shoddy means or another.
Recently, the Sydney Morning Herald finance pages reported on a memorandum sent to all TAB agencies on how to identify "non genuine gamblers,” and get rid of them. Of course non genuine gamblers are winners.
Despite the pathetic banners at the bottom of all websites claiming a commitment to responsible gambling, these betting houses, the TAB included, are ONLY interested in losing gamblers, a subset of punters that contains ALL problem gamblers.
By its very definition, problem gamblers can hardly be winning punters. What a sad indictment of how the whole racing industry is paralyzed by "sponsorship” money, that this story was run in the finance pages and not in the racing section of the paper.
I have spent a lifetime honing my skills as a racing analyst. I have won each of the past 10 years since I retired from bookmaking as a punter and pay tax as a professional gambler.
I pit my skills as a form analyst against the skills of the bookmaker in what should be a fair contest, even allowing for the percentage edge bookmakers have in their markets. But nobody wants to play that game any longer.
Accounts that I have held with Australian bookmaking agencies for decades have been closed. Relationships that were developed over 30 years have counted for nothing as I have been treated as a pariah by these agencies, despised for being "too smart.”
There is no fair contest any more and there is no one remotely interested in doing anything about it, because the tentacles of sponsorship money reach far and wide in the racing community and the stewards are impotent to do anything about the Northern Territory regulations.
There are regularly wildly fluctuating deductions for late scratchings, depending I guess on who has laid which horse the most, with no one to complain to if you are on the receiving end of a good old fashioned touch up.
Surely, the time has come for the major racing jurisdictions to legislate to make each of the corporate bookmakers be licensed in each state on which they operate, and then to be bound by the RULES OF RACING, as all other bookmakers are.
To have a standard set of deductions and a rule that compels them to bet to lose a certain amount, AT LEAST the equal to rails bookmakers operating on each meeting.
Racing NSW to their credit have gone at least some way to addressing this problem, but the minimum bet of $2000 is clearly laughable in 2014.
Even that paltry amount is being challenged by the British corporates, who are prepared to go to court to challenge the Racing NSW ruling.
They are so used to operating under no rules at all, they are disgusted at the prospect of actually having to lay a bet to someone who might actually win!
Imagine the hide of those dreadful Australians actually wishing to win!
How can a situation continue to exist whereby you have Rules Of Racing that apply in each state to bookmakers, whilst by far the largest bookmakers in Australia simply thumb their nose at them, and whereby punters have no one to protect their rights at all?
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Ffs summarise that for me please
i knew i should have punctuated it with naked birds 
Yes it would then have held my attention
and could you re-write in a better font please Patty 
just wonders to post now taking the pi55 and thats the full set...the 3 fkin stooges in all their glory,to55ers 
hi pat, how was the trip after? you booked yet for night of stars?
had this very argument 2-3 yrs ago with a mate who worked at the same time as me for 365.
quick question? with the implementation of the pc charge on here....do you think it will improve these risk managers
i basically took the side of the argument above suggesting anyone with any talent to do this, would do it for themselves on here. And the reason people worked for these firms was becasue they were failed punters (my mate didnt like that one bit)
I thought i was correct 3 yrs ago, im unsure now, with this 250k threshold looming, would i swap for a comfy desk job...i probably would. Maybe..il look at getting a job with a firm in the future, however with no pc on here, or betfair increasing 250 to 500... id hand in me notice straight away.
had this very argument 2-3 yrs ago with a mate who worked at the same time as me for 365.
quick question? with the implementation of the pc charge on here....do you think it will improve these risk managers
i basically took the side of the argument above suggesting anyone with any talent to do this, would do it for themselves on here. And the reason people worked for these firms was becasue they were failed punters (my mate didnt like that one bit)
I thought i was correct 3 yrs ago, im unsure now, with this 250k threshold looming, would i swap for a comfy desk job...i probably would. Maybe..il look at getting a job with a firm in the future, however with no pc on here, or betfair increasing 250 to 500... id hand in me notice straight away.
At least Ladbrokes is honest about who they are.
got as far as there and gave up
do they admit they are miserable twats who will only lay people online and over the phone pennies and then when you win in their shops you get pricked about by miserable fat geebags (usually watching corrie / eastenders) trying to get your money off them
got as far as there and gave up
do they admit they are miserable twats who will only lay people online and over the phone pennies and then when you win in their shops you get pricked about by miserable fat geebags (usually watching corrie / eastenders) trying to get your money off them
lanza,a great trip mate,fantastic welcome as always from the irish lads and then you bump into so many...you know how it is 
I honestly dont think it will improve their "risk managers"...arent these largely maths students with a brilliant mind for figures but absolutely no core knowledge of the subject they are "managing"?
Hills are an exception from what i understand with many of the team drawn from greyhound racing backgrounds,not that that is always a given winner,we've all known lads who "have been in the game 40 years",yet for 39 n a half of them they aint learnt fk all and have spent that time just repeating the same mistakes.
I honestly dont think it will improve their "risk managers"...arent these largely maths students with a brilliant mind for figures but absolutely no core knowledge of the subject they are "managing"?
Hills are an exception from what i understand with many of the team drawn from greyhound racing backgrounds,not that that is always a given winner,we've all known lads who "have been in the game 40 years",yet for 39 n a half of them they aint learnt fk all and have spent that time just repeating the same mistakes.
Easily the best piece I've read about the one-sided nature of betting these days.
Unfortunately corporate money is too powerful and nothing will ever change. (If only Cameron, Osborne or Johnson were restricted gamblers we might have some chance!!!) :-(
Unfortunately corporate money is too powerful and nothing will ever change. (If only Cameron, Osborne or Johnson were restricted gamblers we might have some chance!!!) :-(
PF mentioned that you were wearing them on saturday night, said you looked very fetching in them and they empowered you start cracking onto blokes l,r and c in SPK 
Heard 3 pints of the black stuff and Patrick's anybodys!
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