Kenchar: I wasn't aware of that, thank you for pointing it out. Yes, if there is only one TAB, then I suspect the takeout might be at risk. I don't necessarily think it's certain it will go up, but it's a real possibility.

Becareful: Divi+ is only available on win bets on the gallops. I also do a lot of exotics betting, place betting, and betting into the Harness and Dogs (although the latter is more for fun than business). Not so long ago I won a $1,400 trifecta.. Not to shabby I hear you say... It paid $2,000 odd on each of the other TABs.... That's a lot of difference.

I recall reading somewhere that Mark Read states that his target takeout is 5% or thereabouts. Unless it's a short-ish priced favorite, quite often his "plus" can be 8 or 10 or 15c better than the best tab. The other day, on a $100 bolter, his "plus" was $4 and change...... Why does he do this I always ask? Because his "take" is 5% not 15%.

I haven't done the math around this, so I'm very happy to be proven wrong, but your 8% improvement is based upon the Average TAB price.... What do you think you're going to get with a single pool????? - The average TAB price. I strongly suspect that if IAS stay with their 5% take, then your 8% will remain reasonably stable. Makes sense doesn't it... 15% vs 5% should be about 10%... (BTW: I've sometimes been accused of being an optimist :smile: )

The other thing that I'm interested in is pool sizes. I'd like to think that I'm going to be successful enough to want to place large wagers midweek - this is for win / place and exotics.... This is just not possible with 3 separate TAB's unless I split my bets amongst all 3. A right royal pain in the butt if you ask me.

Why this concentration on the TAB's??? I've also noted, again without keeping hard records, that the Tote pays better than the bookies in most cases. Just take a look down the list of results on IAS at the end of a day.. compare IAS's open, close, the official SP, to the Divi+ dividend... Apart from the shorter priced horses, in the majority of cases the Divi+ is better... My betting is into the mid-range horses, so I'm almost always better off on Divi+

Lastly, and sadly, I've been reading a post on Ausrace that suggests that Divi+ is going to be removed from all races, and go back to Metro only... that will be a shame, as more than 50% of my bets are on non-metro meetings.

Cheers,
Chris.

PS. I know it's possible to shop around the bookies and get the best price, which may often beat the tote... This is a skill I simply do not have yet, and one that I need to acquire.... In the meantime, with my $20, $50 and $100 bets, the tote is the place for me.

[ This Message was edited by: stebbo on 2003-10-17 20:31 ]