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I hate to tell you, Fist, but every child is taught fractions at school. Whether it’s necessary or not (and this is the real issue), people aren’t suddenly going to think ‘I’ve never been racing because of those damned fractions, but now a committee has (not) done a survey and bookmakers are working in decimals I’ll jolly well give it a go and bet a fortune’.
And given that racing has been so ineptly incapable of marketing itself over the last five years, how are people suddenly going to know that they won’t have to deal with fractions anymore?
The BHA and Racing For Change (if all else fails invent a committee, people will think you’re actually doing something when in reality you’re scoffing bourbons and custard creams) need to worry about a) getting more people on to the racecourse, and b) making sure those people have something fundamentally sound to enjoy and revisit. All of this window-dressing irritates the hell out of me when the building is burning down behind it.
No but yes Mr Wainwright.
I’m sure old Alf’s imperial size 10s inched along by the yard Ginger, and Scafell Pike will forever be 3210 feet: feck the Ordnance Survey
Like the big man I too revel in being a curmudgeonly luddite, but unlike him endeavour to divert my eyes occasionally from the comforting, familiar, never-changing bedrock and gaze at the Big Blue yonder: for better or worse
Think it is an idea worth trying, can see that novices may prefer decimals, even if it is not something I might not like.
Let’s give it a go lads and see what happens
You have it in a nutshell. Suck it and see
Betfair kindly permit Alf and Brian the luxury of converting decimals back to fractions, though to my eyes many resemble approximations of pi and root 2: irrational
Are the Brian & Ben people suggesting that this decimal fractional figure will include your unitary stake (as in the French system); or will it be the winning decimal fraction, with stake to be added back on top?
It appears it’s going to be an oil-and-water mix of decimals and fractions
15/8 will become 1.9/1 rather than what I regard as the eminently more sensible 2.9: what you see is what you get
No but yes Mr Wainwright.
I’m sure old Alf’s imperial size 10s inched along by the yard Ginger, and Scafell Pike will forever be 3210 feet: feck the Ordnance Survey
Like the big man I too revel in being a curmudgeonly luddite, but unlike him endeavour to divert my eyes occasionally from the comforting, familiar, never-changing bedrock and gaze at the Big Blue yonder: for better or worse
Unfortunately Drone; whether Scafell Pike is measured in feet or metres, it is still too high for me. Cat Bells is more my level.
Value Is EverythingWhat I don’t understand is this idea that ‘Young People’ do not understanding fractions. I asked my daughter who sat her Maths GCSE last summer if they no longer teach it at school and she said they had a whole section of coursework and exams on fractions.
On the subject itself, I couldn’t care less – Fractions, Basic Factors, Decimal/Fractions – I’m not gonna lose any sleep over it…..
- Total Posts 17716
It appears it’s going to be an oil-and-water mix of decimals and fractions
15/8 will become 1.9/1 rather than what I regard as the eminently more sensible 2.9: what you see is what you get
Ah, thank you Drone. So the B&B’s are not addressing the only real source of confusion – indeed they are compounding it, as to these mystical uninitiated the Tote will look as if it’s paying 2.9 whilst the bookies only 1.9.
Thinks… Got it! So this whole witty B&B notion is designed to make it look as if the Tote is paying better value than the Bookies. Kauto Star on Boxing Day was 1.6 on the Tote, but only (in proposed new money) 0.6 on the boards.
Not a bad ploy, considering that the Nanny will shortly be up for private grabs, whichever party wins the election.
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Has the concept of taking bets behind the bar, rather than arsing around with fractions and decimals, ever been explored? Standing in slow-moving racecourse Totesport queues doesn’t really excite me, but filling out a slip in the bar – bets could even be run through Totesport’s system, with a choice of fixed odds or pool betting – and handing it over with my order would be hugely convenient.
Think that will be mixing alcohol with gambling a little too much.
As it is, of course there is beer served at the races, but to serve it at the same place could cause a problem. Though see nothing wrong in restaurants doing so.
Value Is Everything- Total Posts 17716
Why? Casinos bring drinks to your table, so why not amalgamate two inevitably large queues into one?
Anyway it’s much easier to calculate 25 quid at 2.875 = 2.875/4 = 71.87 than it is to work out than 25 x 15/8 + 25 = 71.87p.
Sorry Fist but I totally disagree. No way can I divide 2.875 by 4 or even multiply 2.875 by 25 in my head faster than I can do 25 x 15 / 8 + 25. I find it much easier working in whole numbers. Maybe thats just me.
Anyway, I do think too much is being made of fractions v decimals. Its not the reason why racing doesn’t attract more patrons. Having all horses named after street names would probably work better at interesting people than altering the way odds are presented.
Why? Casinos bring drinks to your table, so why not amalgamate two inevitably large queues into one?
MG,
Just think queing up for both drink and bets might cause aggro. It’s different if a waitress comes to the table with drink, or takes your bets at the same time as taking the order.There is a possibility of arguements, "I was here first"! Or "Hurry up you xxxxxxx idiot, I wanna put a bet on"! Or "You taking your xxxxxxx time cost me a winner"! Or "xxxx your bet mate, I wanna drink"!
Things that are far less likely at a table, only a minority of British stood at a bar that are the problem.
Value Is EverythingI agree with bettingboy; again. But I’m also sick of constant change everywhere….schools, the nhs etc. People must sit in offices day after day just thinking of all the things they can change; as soon as any new system is introduced somebody is already working on a way to change it. Maybe the new future should be the past; or maybe I’m just getting old.
Media Gecko wrote:
Why? Casinos bring drinks to your table, so why not amalgamate two inevitably large queues into one?Given me an idea, why not have Tote Betting Terminals in pubs. Make them self service, touch screen or something. Winning tickets would be cashed at Tote Betting shops or through the post.
We have those already in the US, although it’s a bit simpler with parimutuel betting, since you aren’t going through a bookie anyway. They could easily be made to accept the odds from different sources.
- Total Posts 17716
I was thinking more as a matter of on-course convenience, happy, given the problems inherent in both getting a bet on and sourcing a drink at busy meetings. As serving alcohol to a person you know to be ‘worse for wear’ is actually illegal, there shouldn’t be too much of an issue with regard to drinking fuelling gambling (not that bookmakers concern themselves with addiction or illness doing it).
During the summer following my departure from university I worked behind the bar at a number of racecourses – Ascot during the Royal meeting, Newmarket during the July meeting, Windsor, Chester and Warwick – and know that a) I wasn’t having to deal with too many over-indulgers, and b) that being able to scan a standardised betting slip whilst dealing with a round of 127 Pimms and accompanying selected fruits would have been incredibly useful.
- Total Posts 17716
I hate to tell you, Fist, but every child is taught fractions at school. Whether it’s necessary or not (and this is the real issue), people aren’t suddenly going to think ‘I’ve never been racing because of those damned fractions, but now a committee has (not) done a survey and bookmakers are working in decimals I’ll jolly well give it a go and bet a fortune’.
And given that racing has been so ineptly incapable of marketing itself over the last five years, how are people suddenly going to know that they won’t have to deal with fractions anymore?
The BHA and Racing For Change (if all else fails invent a committee, people will think you’re actually doing something when in reality you’re scoffing bourbons and custard creams) need to worry about a) getting more people on to the racecourse, and b) making sure those people have something fundamentally sound to enjoy and revisit. All of this window-dressing irritates the hell out of me when the building is burning down behind it.
Fractions is secondary at school and you are missing the point.
In a survey carried out by Oxford University they asked 5 simple questions to school kids and as high as 88% in some cases got it wrong. Overall over 50% failed the test
One of the question contained a coloured drawing representing a cake with 10 squares….7 white (cream) 3 brown (Chocolate). When asked what% was chocolate they couldn’t even get that right.
The report asked the question is it worth teaching kids fractions, So please don’t make out it’s run of the mill or a big part of their education to get a point across.
The truth is they understand 2.25 better than they do 5/4 and change is inevitable whether you like it or not.
A lot of you are missing the point
As the world increases its numbers
by seventy million a year
a lot of us are in danger
of slipping into that sea of numbers
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