How long has horse racing got left?

[gouty]

Unfortunately....I'm the Folkestone of the Betting shops

Costs spiralling out of control while revenue and profit margin go
in the other direction.

You never see a poor bookie.......

Me too matey.
Took 1.3 million over the counter and basically made fuck all apart from my salary. Used to get a nice divi too.

Thank goodness for roulette.

[aaron1867]

- UK is a older generation

- Typical gambler no interest in horses

- Shops empty (how long have the shops got?!)- Bigger profits elsewhere

The lady who served me mentioned all this & said it soon will see a lot less horse racing. Will we be soon be seeing closure of some tracks too?

There isn't even much evening racing these days, although might be down to time of year?

Morning Aaron.

I think you have got the thread title wrong. Instead of "how long has horse racing got left?" it should have read "how long have betting shops got left?".

I started talking to the lady behind the counter about that first & she said she wasn't overly worried about closure of shops, but more so of horse racing.

She went onto say about shops that are either machine, horse racing or football shops.

After all, I was the only person in shop putting a decent sized bet on for a couple of hour. It seems amazing that the machines are probably the item that are keeping the shops open, after a few months of not using this machines, I hit them a couple of days and terribly disappointed with myself, which perhaps brought the chat on.

[77dave]

Thats the key part Jim.....


I believe it's unsustainable in it's present format.

In 10-15 years only the top tracks will survive.

We all think it sad when the gaffs such as Folkestone close down, but hell, what sort of business model can sustain all that land & infrastructure  cost on half a dozen meetings a year? It's unthinkable to think they can survive, & tracks like that won't, sad as it may be.

But that does not mean Horse Racing will not survive - it will, it has been here well over a hundred years & it will easily manage another 100. It is a global thing now.

Greyhound Racing....not so much. Again, sad, but inevitable. The economics will slowly strangle it to death. 

Tikay, did you know that Hinge was the 1st female bookmaker in London and she used to step out with William Hills son?

[Acidmouse]

when i first started going into bookies there was a different crowd to what you see now. Most of the people were there for horse racing, you can end up chatting with old wise men about past punts or bad beats for hours, now its just gangs of losers around the machines and the odd person actually betting..I avoid.

[RickBFA]

Why would any one actually go into a betting shop these days?

Acidmouse is right.

I guess the shops in poorer areas will survive on mug punters but alot will close.

[aaron1867]

The only reason they are probably still open is the older generation don't want to use technology & the machines are their biggest asset.

[Tal]

Some people find having loads of apps dangerous. A friend told me the other day he didn't trust himself if he had betting apps. He'd be watching the football and say to himself "ooh we're 100-1 to win 4-1. That's worth a fiver."  And so on.

[aaron1867]

Some people find having loads of apps dangerous. A friend told me the other day he didn't trust himself if he had betting apps. He'd be watching the football and say to himself "ooh we're 100-1 to win 4-1. That's worth a fiver."  And so on.

The technology is making it worse for problem gamblers these days though.

You can bet 24 hours a day on any sport you want and if you don't trust a number generator, then you have some sport somewhere offering odds for a possible punter.

You can even play blackjack on the go now on your smartphone, it is becoming ridic.

[DungBeetle]

Yes - I think there is 2 strands to this:

The first is, as you say, you can bet on something 24 hours a day.  Betfair have loads of weird football matches from all over the world.

The other is the fact you can bet anonymously without anyone seeing you.  If you hand over 10k over the counter and lose you feel like a bit of an imbecile.  If you lose it online using debit card deposits, less so.

[atdc21]

you are a million to be able to hand over 10k in any betting shop in england (and get a bet for it )

[rfgqqabc]

you are a million to be able to hand over 10k in any betting shop in england (and get a bet for it )

Nothing worse than asking for a chunky bet, then watching the cashier count out the money, knowing a quarter of people in the shop have just seen their largest amount of cash in one place ever. Then, we have the sweat of the extremely loud cashiers phone call, at the desk, in plain sight, despite the obvious back room yards away.

 "Yep, youngish lad, seen him once or twice before. He would like £xK @ 9/4 over 33.5 lengths winning distances at Folkestone" Turns to me; "You can have £50 at 9/4 and the rest at 7/4" "Just the 9/4 please" "Young lad wants  the £50, whats bet reference, ABC123, yep" Numbers get changed, bet gets scanned with reference and handed over. Then you have the wait of watching the cash get counted again and handed back. So tilting.

Although no better feeling when you drive 15 mins down the road, get the rest on and watch it romp home ^.^

[edgascoigne]

you are a million to be able to hand over 10k in any betting shop in england (and get a bet for it )

Strongly disagree.

[redarmi]

you are a million to be able to hand over 10k in any betting shop in england (and get a bet for it )

Strongly disagree.

Really?  The guys that put on for me struggle to get more than a couple of hundred on almost anything and move shops and areas everyday.

[rfgqqabc]

you are a million to be able to hand over 10k in any betting shop in england (and get a bet for it )

Strongly disagree.

Really?  The guys that put on for me struggle to get more than a couple of hundred on almost anything and move shops and areas everyday.

As an unknown your only chance would be that its the worst price available. The guy I worked for had 20+ people running bets for him. He said he'd have retired if he could bet whatever he wanted at prices offered and I don't doubt him

[atdc21]

ed, can you name me the shops please, you cant even get it on on the phone