SA Footy

Strong rumors have it that Strathalbyn Greyhounds will be without a bookie for the forseeable future. Word has it that the bookie has given it away after consistently low turnover has made it an unviable service. The last straw being the last 2 meetings where what bets of any note were taken resulted in signifigant payouts. Clever punters taking the bookie to the cleaners despite in most cases the winners were paying double the price on the tote.
What will be the ramifications for the club?
Apparently on-course turnover has been well below what is needed to break even and with the absence of a bookie for the few serious tote punters to compare the tab prices and invest thru the tote., turnover looks likely to drop further.

jackpot jim wrote:Strong rumors have it that Strathalbyn Greyhounds will be without a bookie for the forseeable future. Word has it that the bookie has given it away after consistently low turnover has made it an unviable service. The last straw being the last 2 meetings where what bets of any note were taken resulted in signifigant payouts. Clever punters taking the bookie to the cleaners despite in most cases the winners were paying double the price on the tote.
What will be the ramifications for the club?
Apparently on-course turnover has been well below what is needed to break even and with the absence of a bookie for the few serious tote punters to compare the tab prices and invest thru the tote., turnover looks likely to drop further.

there isnt much that can be done unfortunately - the clever punters wouldnt have got the same price though if tehy backed them on the tote as the pools wouldnt have been strong enough to sustain any bets. unless australia has 1 tote serious tote punters cant do much in teh dogs/trots especially in south australia

clever punters could have placed the bets on via corporate bookies where they dont influence tote fluctuations unless the corporates lay off

Whats the problem, sign of the times.

Dutchy wrote:Whats the problem, sign of the times.

Totally agree.
Punters only have a certain amount of $$ to bet with but TABs and Race clubs DON'T seem to realise this. They think the more meetings they can cram onto Sky 1 & 2 equates to more turnover BUT all it does is just spreads the same amount of turnover over more races and the poor relation meetings on Sky 2 (like Strath dogs) suffer and it's even worse when there's no lead in time to the race for the pools to build in the last minute when a gallop or trot race is running late leading up to the race as they then just cut straight to the start with no chance for punters to get on. Thats why they deliberatley run races a min or 2 late to gain more exposure and signifigant turnover increases.

The clubs should become the Bookmaker on course
The Bookie who goes there, tries to make a profit
The Club would only need to break even
The break even would be subsidised by on course turnover, meals, drinks admissions etc


I suggested this about a decade ago when I could 4see the extinction of on course bookies at these lesser profiled meetings

mal wrote:The clubs should become the Bookmaker on course
The Bookie who goes there, tries to make a profit
The Club would only need to break even
The break even would be subsidised by on course turnover, meals, drinks admissions etc


I suggested this about a decade ago when I could 4see the extinction of on course bookies at these lesser profiled meetings

Disagree, clubs running their own bookie would fail. Especially if they try to "break even". All clubs need to make money.

Should be left to the professionals to run a book, not the clubs.

what % does the bookie bet these days?

is it more competitive with the tote in operation?

Spoke with Greg MCAtee and he will be the bookie there for the next 12 months. Strom in a tea cup

Greg is 140 - 150%

Maybe Greg could save himself a few $$$ by doing his own form and not purchasing the markets

mighty_tiger_79 wrote:Maybe Greg could save himself a few $$$ by doing his own form and not purchasing the markets

he does do his own markets

since when does Greg do his own markets??

if so that would make it a very enticing fact to go up there and have a punt

Are you suggesting Greg knows little about dogs?

overloaded wrote:Spoke with Greg MCAtee and he will be the bookie there for the next 12 months. Strom in a tea cup

Greg is 140 - 150%

I didn't go to Strath yesterday but i was told that their would be NO bookie there.
Can anyone confirm whether Greg Mcatee was there or not?
I believe Greg does his own markets but also purchases a market off VG to compare with.
I know whose market i would use as a guide.

can Greg take wednesdays off - i assume he still works at a bank and field the angle park meeting!

overloaded wrote:

mighty_tiger_79 wrote:Maybe Greg could save himself a few $$$ by doing his own form and not purchasing the markets

he does do his own markets

not all the time from my understanding.

Greg Mcatee has stopped fielding at Strathalbyn Greyhounds
Ive had this confirmed
Can add that fielding at Strathalbyn meetings had become a futile exercise

does anyone reckon Greg looks like Meatloaf?

perhaps greg couldve put up a more competitive market to attract business

mighty_tiger_79 wrote:perhaps greg couldve put up a more competitive market to attract business

but isnt that the whole point, he didnt want to take bets as the only people who would bet with him were people who knew what they were doing, there isnt enough patronage to generate a balanced book so what chance does he have?