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Was down the betting shop this morning, trying in vein to get a bet on the real racing and up popped Mike Cattermole on the screen proclaiming:
And remember – there’s absolutely no difference between virtual racing and real racing
Not ‘there’s no difference in the money you win’ but there’s no difference full stop.
I had to do a double take. Can anyone clarify if I heard right?
It can’t be right. When was the last time you saw a virtual jock riding one that has drifted like a barge and be slow to remove the blindfold.
You heard right Glenn. Consider yourself lucky it wasn’t a morning when Thommo talks it up!
PS if its Lucksin Downs you want to be backing any of Crespo’s mounts. ;) – very severe with the virtual stick though:o
Am I alone in thinking this is a disgrace? Here is a man that draws his wages from the sport, yet he’s prepared to stab the sport in the back for 30 pieces of silver and, if taken at his word, is unable to distinguish between a cartoon race and a real race.
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Glenn
He’s far from the first CH4 pundit to sell his soul to the devil.<br>The ‘Punter’s Pal’ opening new shops for Laddy’s, and Thommo’s joke tipping line have already shown that ethics are much lower priority than lining their pockets for this crew.<br>Good job they’re not jockeys!:biggrin: <br>
Perhaps reet hard, but if Glenn is right and Cattermole really is spouting that sort of guff, what little credibility (or integrity) he had as a racing pundit has just evaporated.
Flogging awful tips or risible ‘insider information’ on a premium rate telephone line is reprehensible but plugging cartoon racing with a straight face is on another level entirely.
On the other hand, this was the man who claimed that Korelo had been laid out by the Pipe stable for last year’s William Hill Chase despite the horse having been given the unconventional ‘prep’ of a 4 mile slog around a swamp 3 weeks before.
Quote: from Glenn on 6:38 pm on Feb. 20, 2007[br]Am I alone in thinking this is a disgrace? <br>
Disgrace yes, surprise no. Integrity is an increasingly archaic term particularly amongst turf accountants and their toadies.
Are you sure it was Mike Cattermole and not a virtual version, Max Headroom style? I’m on my way back from Taunton and found the 9.15 train from Brum to Leicester was in fact a virtual version – the real one showed up at 10.15pm.
He did say it yes, the mug punters love it. Stop whinging and let the mug punters bet on the virtual racing, it doesn’t do you any harm.
Quote: from FlatSeasonLover on 11:07 pm on Feb. 20, 2007[br]He did say it yes, the mug punters love it. Stop whinging and let the mug punters bet on the virtual racing, it doesn’t do you any harm.
Can’t agree with that FSL. The diversion of money away from proper racing into this virtual crap is wholly detrimental to the sport. Laddies and Co couldn’t give two hoots about racing, they just want more punting nowadays which is why they love sports betting. Add in daft numbers betting and virtual dirge and it’s reducing the likely support from bookies over coming years. Racing needs to address their reliance on bookies, but to say that virtual racing doesn’t do "us" any harm is wholly incorrect to me.
But you seem to be saying that Cattermole doing a cheesy catchphrase will bump up revenue signficantly. I don’t think it will at all. Thommo is more likely to have an impact than Cattermole to the typical clientel in the shop I work in. The people in the shop I work in bet tyipcal £5 on the virtual races (a race) and £10 on the real thing. It should be noted however that only 10% of customers bet on the virtual (from my experience).
If you can’t tell the difference between virtual and real racing then those bi-focals aren’t doing the job, and its a poor marketing slogan imo, but that’s what they are using. But the way I see it this thread is a storm in a teacup. Cheap rhetoric will not reel people in (I know it did in the 1997 election but that’s different), because those who are already betting on virtual racing will continue to do so, and those that don’t are not going to start just because Cattermole is having yesight difficulties.
As for bookies switching to exclusive virtual racing; it won’t happen because there isn’t the turnover. The fixed betting terminals make more than virtual racing, and I don’t think the proper racing is under threat at all (besides which they compensate by fiddling the SPs anyway).
Ladbrokes are due to announce profits for 2006 this Thursday. The city expect them to be in the region of £240 million.<br>They are also getting a bid ready to run the super casino in Manchester and 16 regional casinos.<br>So far the boys in the city they are doing ok.
With regard to the virtual sports they cover football matches will be the next step foward!
‘Hi its David Beckham here punters giving you the inside knowledge of todays big match at Ladbroke Park.<br>This is a wonderfull stadium and even better than the new Wembley. <br>Notice the lack of trouble from the away end of the ground and note the exellent state of the pitch despite the recent weather.<br>Posh has given me the odds for the match and she tells me they go 4/11 the home side, 10/11 the away side and the draw is priced at 4/6. <br>So good value to be had.<br>The last time these two sides clashed it ended a 9-8 goal feast and some lucky punter backed his result at 3/1!
Very good, Seagull.
As far as gambling goes, most people have a limited concept of how probability works against them, or they accept that they cannot win in the long run but still enjoy a flutter. In the latter case, as FSL says – no real harm done.
Most forum members don’t regard themselves as uninformed gamblers or ‘flutterers’, but feel effronted by the marketing pitch of gambling providers and those riding the gravy train. We hope that perhaps we can make some of our uninformed followers of our sport see what’s going on, but in reality we cannot. The answer is to educate young people in schools about gambling, odds, enjoyment and addiction. It will not happen at present because some will see it an encouragement for people to bet. However, sometime in the future, gambling against impossible percentages will prompt initiatives to inform young people about the dangers involved.
On the supply side of the market, firms like Ladbrokes have vast amounts of capital employed in their business, so profits of £240 million may only represent a small(but fair) percentage return on this capital. They have publically stated that they are committed to fighting against gambling addiction, which is good, but these Cattermole adverts are a bit irresponsible.
Seagull,
It is possible to bet on Playstation/Computer generated International football matches in a Ladbrokes betting shop – albeit with somewhat more prosaic commentary from the in-house panjandrums.
Hope this helps.
Max:biggrin:
Nothing surprises me any more.I suppose you could sort of expect this from a guy that bleats like a little girl if someone hands over to him 30 seconds before a race starts.Cattermole is by far the worst for that.
"Thats an early handover.Thanks a lot!"<br>"Dont hand over too late will you.I will be talking for 30 seconds  now thanks to that handover."<br>It really gets my goat to hear a guy bleating about this stuff.I would make him work down a mine for a few months and then see if he still bleats on and on about having to chat for 30 secs about horses.<br>
(Edited by Plato at 12:31 pm on Feb. 21, 2007)
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