Bookie just told me it`s not looking good for

Racing

Was just speaking to a Bookie (large chain ) and he said our shops have never been busier..

But racing is dead, no one apart from the old regulars are interested.. (Although the stakes are good the liabilities are big and margins not great )

He said go into any bookmakers and look at the queues for sports and numbers.

I know we have many threads on this subject before, but this was a Saturday,when the public have spare time and were in the shops spending RANDS

Are you guys noticing the same? i know a lot of you guys go to long established lounges with racing traditions,but what about when you visit new branches of the big chains?

Your argument is flawed. Racing in the UK is not dead. Turn on your TV this afternoon and see the crowds at York and Fontwell. High street bookies are dying because of the internet betting and also in most town centres you have to pay for parking. Walking to the bookies is not an option for most, just look around you next time you go out in the day. All you see are over weight people in the take away shops and supermarkets. People hate walking except to get food.

There are crowds in SA chook

Go ask the bookies at York how they are doing, they will tell you a waste of time

Social race goers are pointless ...

I think I'd rather take the opinion of a bookie who's business is thriving ( never been better )

sure you would and who better to ask BUT show me a bookie when asked about the business how well are they doing. The answer from every single one of them will be. Business is bad, not making money etc etc. They will never tell you how well they are doing, always crying poverty. Show me a bookie who rides a bicycle to work (besides for exercise purpose). They are all doing very well otherwise they would chuck it in. I am talking about individual bookies not the big firms.

Crowds at UK race meetings are healthy on Saturdays and Sundays, less so during the week (big meetings aside). There are still big players out there, but, as Chicken says, most of them bet online rather than on course these days. There are various reasons for this, but the main ones are the cost of going racing nowadays (travel, admission, food) and the fact that on course odds are generally appreciably lower than those available online (whether with traditional bookmakers or betting exchanges). There is also the issue of being able to get a large bet on with an on course bookmaker. This might not be a problem at Cheltenham or Royal Ascot, but it isn't so easy at the likes of Wolverhampton on a Monday afternoon. I used to do quite a lot of my betting on course, now I don't do any.

One must also consider if you take an even grand on your football team u get 2 grand back the same bet on the first fav gives u 1940

GUYS bookies are booming that bookie said as much yesterday..

It`s the racing part of their business thats dying

I must be honest, talking out of my own experience, I have not had a nice visit to any of the bookies in months.... I think if they would first have a look at themselves and up their service a little bit, things would be different.

WSB - if you take a bet that has nothing to do with SA horseracing or SA soccer, please write down what you want, otherwise you will be looking and waiting for an hour. And please don't complain, because one of the managers will tell you that they are the biggest and best in the country. In other words shut up!

Sportsbet - the odds on their website (horseracing etc.) are better than in the shop. If you say something about it, or if you show them the website odds on your phone, you get some type of story about costs, staff etc. And please don't go to the shop if you want to bet on something else than soccer or horseracing. They cannot help you 9 out of 10 times if it is not horseracing or soccer. The website and shop are not the same....

Hollywoodbets - Same story as Sportsbet, not all the bets are available in the shop, or are updated to late.

Let me sit on the couch, watch the game, horseracing etc. in my own comfort zone. And let me not get frustrated about the bad service every single bookie out there gives at the moment. They probably don't need us. I will have to give them my cash via the internet....

Hi nickname,thanks for the comments..

But the jist of this thread is about bookies not being able to take racing bets because no one is interested anymore..

My Sister is a betting shop manager in the UK and she says the same ,a young lad would gladly put £20 on a football bet or in a roulette machine but it breaks their hearst to put a £1 ew on a horse race

Bob Brogan wrote: There are crowds in SA chook

Go ask the bookies at York how they are doing, they will tell you a waste of time

Social race goers are pointless ...

I think I'd rather take the opinion of a bookie who's business is thriving ( never been better )

I used to believe this - I no longer do.


At the two Racing To Jump events I co-hosted we had complete novice punters. Hardly any had ever had a bet. I had the role of the "betting buddy"

- At our first event we had about 200 people in the venue. It started slowly but by the third race people were constantly asking advice on how to place bets, what would win, who the best jockey was etc. By the 6th race the "punters" were doing it by themselves, only asking if I thought their choices were wise or not.

At the second event we had about 180 people booked. I saw a fair deal of familiar faces from the first event. Now these people were proper punters and knew how to place win, place and swinger bets. One group of LADIES - I had helped them at the previous event - had even taken it upon themselves to take down the tips and Bi-pot suggested by a top tipster on Teletrack that morning. They had, without prompting, found channel 239 and had come armed to punt. Unfortunately the tips were slightly off that day but they nevertheless continued to punt and made a few bob thanks to some comments I got from a few trainers and jocks. I was amazed to see people I had helped 6 months ago were now able to play unaided and help others at their tables. The questions about "trifecta, Pick 6 , PA and Bi-pot" had replaced "how do I put R50 on a horse to win and place?"

Now I'm sure people will say: "But they were show-jumpers so they know horses." NOT. These folk jump for pleasure - prize money is around R800(total stakes for first three) and entrance per event is R200. They jump for fun and they now punt for fun(I did not see one sad face in the room BUT obviously once I walked into the regular racing venues then the hard-luck punting stories and betting-worn faces stood out)
These are our customers, young AND OLD(most of the punters were between 30 - 70) and I think more than half were women. I had always though that getting the youth involved is the way to go. Now I think older folk have a huge part to play - They have control, can take a loss and know how to have a go without going too far.
Social racing WILL work in SA as we have lost our culture of racing unlike the UK where it is the norm(I cannot count the amount of times I see a TV in the background showing Racing in a UK TV program)

The best thing is that TURNOVER was up for both events so we did not have a group of people that were just getting blind drunk and playing the "look at who I'm wearing game".
Also the people PAID to have lunch at the venue so there was no "rent-a-crowd and hope they punt" scenario. I have no doubt that any event, big or small, can create social punters BUT you have to have staff trained in Racing and Punting to aid and dispel myths about the game.

I will add that I DID NOT and would never try to solicit a punt but did offer to help if they needed it.

In Peebles, a nice sized town, there is a William Hill. Whenever I am in Peebles I pop in for a few minutes. It's always empty and if not there is one or two people playing the FOMs. About a year or so ago Ladbrokes opened a shop about 60 yards away on the other side of the street. They lasted about 6 months. Now if a town like Peebles can't accommodate two high street bookies then yes the business is going down the flusher. I assume that the team that prompted Ladbrokes to open are no longer advising them.

chicken n chips wrote: In Peebles, a nice sized town, there is a William Hill. Whenever I am in Peebles I pop in for a few minutes. It's always empty and if not there is one or two people playing the FOMs. About a year or so ago Ladbrokes opened a shop about 60 yards away on the other side of the street. They lasted about 6 months. Now if a town like Peebles can't accommodate two high street bookies then yes the business is going down the flusher. I assume that the team that prompted Ladbrokes to open are no longer advising them.

The UK is saturated with betting shops from what I've seen - In SA it is the opposite - Many of the new punters I met thought Racing only happens once a week or even once a month.They would not know how to find a TAB let alone a bookmaker and would NEVER understand odds unless they were taught(fortunately I did not have to explain odds as there was only one bookie standing)