it doesnt look good for this outcome. with the TAB up for grabs this year and court cases pending on sydney racing locking out sky channel I think we can give up on getting racing back onto austar.
if things go as they are the racing industry is staring at a drop of 12% in its payout from the tote
looks like an own goal to me.

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laurie

heres hoping all involved die slow horrible deaths, they deserve nothing less.

Probably best to just develop computerized horse racing and do away with the "live " industry all together.

Will this be the future of the industry in this country ?

darky.

texas holdem will lay waste to a large chunk of the racing industry in this country darkydog.

btw that we can only play poker online via overseas websites is another example of the lunacy of current govt. gambling policies, all that cash lining the pockets of the yanks etc.

i only participate in racing for the interest. i certainly dont make money or need to make money out of it.
but i do work in a service industry that has always believed that customers are "gold". it really fires me up to see what the racing industry and tabcorp and the governments are allowing to happen to the customers and the industry. sydney racing management has always left something to be desired but i am surprised that victoria got involved.
the item i was quoting is on the gambling aid website and written on 11/2/06 also an item was published in the australian and also smh on the issue.

i said last week that i am prepared to cancel my austar membership over it and go back to the radio and the more i read on it the angrier i get.

on another matter. great effort by craig newett this weekend. seems to be something special.

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laurie

Funny you should mention texas holdem. I joined up only last week. I've never had an interest in poker, but racing was so boring during December and January I wanted to try something different.

here is a promising article i just come across:

Racing broadcast wars over soon Long suffering country and regional racing fans will soon be able to watch TVN on the Austar platform, well at least thats the 'late mail' coming from the last round of talks between the warring parties- TVN and Sky. The broadcast split, which has dragged on since May last year, revolved around who could broadcast racing, from where and to whom. Sydney and Victorian racing has been unavailable to Austar subscribers due to an exclusive deal it had previously signed with Sky channel. And with Sky appearing to go out of its way to ensure its new rival, the industry set up and owned TVN failed, there was no end in sight for Austar and regional viewers. But with Sky's master Tabcorp forecasting a further drop in earnings (EPS) from 5% down to 2-4%, and with the TVN aligned clubs squealing in the background over costs and the drop in revenue, a compromise was needed. The main points are... Sky wants to broadcast to the Pubs and Clubs combining the TVN signal with its own. TVN would then be available to Austar home viewers. Split signal to continue for homes. TVN continue its sole focus on thoroughbreds and 'new media' opportunities. eg mobile phone, etc. It seems like a win, win deal. Sydney metrop and Victorian racing gets dedicated home viewing, the hardcore fans. And Pubs and Clubs (with further rationalising of races) get back the wall to wall coverage on which they thrived previously. Throw in Skys new found dedication to country racing and the expected increase in turnover that should come with the one signal into gambling houses and maybe the future isnt that grim after all.

Yeah topsy99 a great long weekend for Craig! Particularly good effort today with a treble. Showed great judgement to win on Browneyed Boy then even better ride to take out the Hobart Cup with True Courser.

To my mind the big loser in the so called war is Victorian racing which basicaly gets no coverage except on Tvn and thats not available outside metro area.I believe they are cuting down on the number of races at a meeting from march to save money whats next prize money i guess.T he sport i follow harness racing seems to be fairly healthy with good coverage.
As for tvn went to watch a horse we have interest in last sunday at Kyneton and the coverage is very average no better than Skys if anything worse, as they tend to folow the winner past the post and you are left wondering where your horse finished to you see a replay.

More like the poms than the yanks davez, the largest of the on-line poker sites is Gibraltar based, UK owned.