Forum Replies Created
- Posts
My point is that it’s a free market – if you think it’s worth the £7.50 then pay, if you don’t, then don’t pay.
It’s entirely your choice, just like everything else in life.
It’s their site, and therefore their decision (and their decision alone) to charge or not. If enough people think the product is worth paying for, they’ll succeed, otherwise they’ll fail.
Their business, their choice.
So stop bleating about it.
Of course, an alternative debate would be whether a free RP site benefits racing to the extent that it should be funded centrally, for example from levy funds, or run by Weatherbys (the not-for-profit rather than the commercial division) and therefore funded by the BHA.
Not saying for a minute that you shouldn’t be able to have your say, Dave – just curious as to why you think that somebody should be obliged to provide a service which costs them money to you free of charge?
Could everybody stop whining about paying for it?
Fair enough to complain if you’re paying for something and it doesn’t work properly, but I find the attitude that it should be free very difficult to understand.
What gives people the right to expect something useful for nothing? Perhaps it’s the fact that it used to be free….
Do you think Sky Sports should be free? The Royal Mail? A meal in a restaurant?
FWIW, I have signed to pay the £7.50 and think it’s reasonable value (I wouldn’t pay if I didn’t), and I agree that the old RP site was better in terms of functionality.
An arber is somebody who engages in arbitrage – which means to seek a risk-free profit in any financial market. This could be to exploit mispricing between markets, or between layers.
An example would be to back a horse at 7-2 with a bookmaker and simultaneously lay it at 100-30 on a betting exchange. Another would be, at two sets all in the Wimbledon final, to back Andy Roddick to win 3 sets to 2 at 13-8 in the correct score market whilst simultaneously laying Roddick in the win market at 6-4.
Why they are unpopular is a mystery to me. Betting markets, like financial markets rely on efficiency, and arbitrage simply makes pricing efficient. I can’t see the problem.
Besides which, it’s very rare that it would be entirely risk free – how do you place two bets at exactly the same time? You could get one on and find the price gone in the other, leaving you with a position you didn’t want.
As Onthesteal says, I was just surprised by the absence of a thread, that’s all.
With regard to the mention of censorship, I was just wondering if there was a thread which had been pulled because somebody had overstepped the mark in the libel department. I’ve been too busy to check the forum each day recently.
As for any discussion being based on speculation and supposition, isn’t that what a discussion forum is supposed to be about? It would be pretty dull if we only ever discussed cold hard facts.
Back on topic, what puzzles me about the whole incident is the motive. Why would such a successful trainer as Mr Henderson risk his reputation and livelihood just to get a slightly improved performance out of a relatively moderate animal? From my (albeit minimal) dealings with him in the past, I’ve always found Mr Henderson to be a likeable, approachable and seemingly honest chap – I think this incident is a shame for the sport really, especially as it will obviously generate so much interest from those outside racing, with it being the Queen’s horse.
I just can’t understand why he would do it.
Agreed it doesn’t make a horse great automatically, but it’s pretty difficult to do and the acheivement needs to be respected. FWIW, I reckon STS will prove to be a great horse – the Derby was just too slowly run to allow him to properly display his superiority. He would have won by further if the pace had been stronger (IMO, of course).
Incidentally, after the Guineas, everyone was saying what a great race it was and how solid the form was. Has STS gone from being the winner of a very good 2000gns to being the worst Derby winner since Sir Percy?
I guess we won’t find out until he runs again, but I won’t be laying him, that’s for sure.
I once interviewed Stan Mellor as part of an A-Level geography project on the hierarchy of racecourses.
He told me that the four worst courses in the country began with the letter ‘F’:
Fontwell, Folkestone, Fakenham and ******* Plumpton!
Thanks for all the responses chaps. I think I’m comfortable with the moral issue – after all, a bookie would try to screw you if it was your error.
On the issue of getting paid, I’m hopeful that as my bet was only £10ew that they will just settle it without realising when it was placed. After all, their systems had the horse at 50-1 when I placed the bet, and the winnings won’t be a large enough sum to force them to check all the details.
In answer to some questions, the bookie in question is a chain, but not one of the big three, and I am a regular but infrequent customer (as most of my betting is done online). I am not a big loser in the shop (even, perhaps), and I am known to the staff. I wouldn’t consider laying the bet off, as it’s not certain to be settled at 50-1, and besides I’d need to put a lot more money into my Betfair account!
Is this so – surely my bet was accepted at 50-1, and the horse was quoted at 50-1 in their book at the time?
Or am I being naïve?
Thought Midday ran an outstanding trial yesterday – worthy of sharing favouritism I’d say.
Mr Cecil knows a thing or two about Oaks fillies too….
Struggling to split the front three in the Champion. Quevega is too short on what she’s achieved so far – she might well win, but it’s a leap of faith to suggest that she can beat the reigning Champion Hurdler at a meeting he’s proven he likes.
Solwhit is the fly in the ointment, as it’s pretty difficult to rate the Aintree form. He could win and put himself in the Champion picture for next year.
Punjabi is the value at current prices. Trip and track to suit and in the form of his life. Should be favourite against the pretenders in my opinion, and has to be the bet at the prices on offer. Any longer and you could back him each way….
What will be interesting is the effect on the Champion Hurdle betting after the race. If Quevega wins well, she will surely be aimed at the Champion rather than the Mares’ race again. Hurricane Fly’s form will have been given yet another boost, and he should shorten at the head of the market.
Elsewhere on the card, does anyone agree that Bouggler looks a cracking each way bet against the two Mullins horses? Can’t have Cousin Vinny after Cheltenham (even though he was said to have travelled badly), and whilst Mikael DH will probably win, he’s hardly value.
Opinions?
Watched the race when I got home from work last night. A few points:
Interference: mimimal to say the least. Fuss about nothing imo.
Price for the Champion Hurdle next year: 7-2 seems fair in that I certainly wouldn’t want to lay any bigger. However, we see this time and time again, hyped novice winning easily. You just don’t know what they are beating, and I find it difficult to back them until they have proven themselves against the top division. Not to say that HF won’t find the necessary improvement, just that you see more horses fail to do so than not. You also see hyped Irish horses, who generally run in small field slowly-run races struggle when they get to Cheltenham.
Quevega vs. Punjabi should give us an idea of the merits of the form though…
In summary, I wouldn’t be a backer or a layer at the current price.
