JOHN CUNNINGHAM I BET BOTH STANDARDBRED AND THOROUGHBRED RACES, BUT BECAUSE OF WHERE I LIVE I AM NOT ABLE TO RECEIVE ANY OF THE SMALL REWARDS THAT WOODBINE GIVES YOU. MY SUPPLIER IS KAWARTHA DOWNS AND THEY GIVE NOTHING TO THE BETER. IF I GO TO THE U.S SUPPLIERS I GET MORE REWARDS THAN WOODBINE EVER THOUGHT OF GIVING. YOU GET A PERCENTAGE RETURN ON ALL THE MONEY YOU BET PLUS PLUS. I TRIED TO REGISTER MY CREDIT CARD ONLINE AT WOODBINE THROUGH MY HPI ACCOUNT, NOT A CHANCE. GO TO THE U.S AND BANG YOUR IN NO TIME. WOODBINE DOES NOT ENCOURAGE YOU TO BET YOUR MONEY THERE, THEY SEEM TO BE CHASING YOU AWAY.
JOHN

John, a takeout reduction means more betting, players lasting longer, and probably losing more in the long run.

Vegas had slot takeout twice as much as it is today. They found that 8% is the optimum. They made more money bottom line at 8%, than 16%, because people lasted longer, it gave them the false illusion they could win. They do win the odd time, enough to make them want to come back, and because they spend so much time playing slots, friends and family go with them the odd time too, and some of them get hooked.

I think everybody has missed the real point in declining handles. Why can a small track like Northfield in Ohio generate 100,000 dollars per race with purses in the 2,000-3,000 range?It consistently has winners that are favorites. Say what you want but I would rather bet on a race where the chalk wins 45% of the time than risk big money on a race
where the morning lines are 4-1 thru 8-1.

The 21% decline was just a number thrown out there. It just happen to be the same as the takeout.

If WEG were to reduce the 21% takeout then some budget changes will need to happen.
What over head will be reduced.

Purses,
Staff,
Number of race dates,
number of races,

Just look at Hollywood and Santa Anita where the number of horses and dates are dropping like flies in the horse manure.

My wagering has declined by 90%. In fact the dollars I used to use on my "recreational habits" have declined overall. The economy is poor.
Something to be concerned about is the decline in dollars available and the competition in general for your entertainment dollars.
To just compare year over year on the WEG product is not the whole picture.
You need to compare the year over year with all entertainment dollars.
While WEG has lost 21% and I don't have the numbers available is it possible that the North American loss on entertainment dollars is much higher.
If WEG lost 21% but Vegas lost 60% on NFL wagering what does that tell you.
What if going to the movies has declined 60%.
If that were to be a correct scenario then WEG would be doing some good things.
If other forms of entertainment had increased (highly doubtful)significantly then yes WEG has some socks to pull up.
My point,
you need to do a comparison of all entertainment dollars against each other.

Gilles, when the average takeout is 21%, 1% is squat. Granted, they won't even give that to their smaller accounts, but knocking things down by a point won't cause much growth to happen. With slots and their own ADW, there is no reason for Woodbine not to have the best takeout rates in North America, instead of some of the highest.

Willmot has run Woodbine on the basis of entitlement, not on the basis of real economics. And who is to say the racing industry would be entitled to internet sports betting or exchange betting if it becomes regulated in Canada?

Quality doesn't attract that much more betting. Studies show that if you double purses, betting goes up only 6%. Hawthorne does more handle per day than Woodbine thoroughbreds, and they don't give away nearly as much in purses (less than half).

But US horsemen must love Willmot. He has made it very easy for them to come here and take away lots of that slot money Woodbine gets. Yep, the government is giving Woodbine money to help out US horsemen at the expense of Ontario breeders and other horsemen. Most of the rules here favor buying/claiming a Kentucky foal over an Ontario foal for most outfits (because of quality). I think I remember seeing just one Kinghaven Ontario sired foal lately.

I don't expect the new boss to be any better than the old boss when it comes to growing racing here, unfortunately.

I used to cycle 40-50 thousand dollars a year in horse racing!

I have maybe bet a couple of hundred dollars in the last year,same with with the majority of the people i know.I shouldn't say majority,i should say ALL.

We haven't gone off shore,we just packed it in as it's a game that has no cash value for the handicapper.

Mr. Willmot comments on the declining handle for standard-bred racing.
Possibly a better reward system for the regular players would be a way to at least keep these individuals interested in playing with the same regularity. The TOA system should offer better rewards for these players.
If the current format is maintained which consists of wagering $1250 weekly to even qualify for a ridiculously low return, this will turn away more and more of your regular players.
I would suggest that all players who reaches that first qualifying level should get a return of at least 1% on all moneys wagered. Also a review should be made to further reward those individuals who attain the higher levels of wagering.
The large majority of bettors will re-invest and spend their TOA rebates. I believe that if WEG was to double the TOA return it would not cost them a penny.