Dave Portnoy doesn’t just like the affect of CAWs on US horse racing. [Image: Shutterstock.com]
A serious bone of competition
Barstool Sports activities proprietor Dave Portnoy has by no means shied away from expressing controversial opinions. Now, the avid gambler has taken to X over to announce that he’s quitting betting on horse races due to computer-assisted wagering (CAW):
His fundamental gripe is that race tracks profit from folks utilizing CAW programs, resulting in common bettors getting decrease odds for his or her alternatives by the point the race begins. CAWs typically have the sting of accessing particular information feeds, quantity rebates, and late betting home windows with their algorithmic programs.
Breaking down the problem
A bettor would possibly stake $100 on a horse at +500, resulting from generate a $500 revenue if profitable. Nevertheless, CAWs (people utilizing these pc programs to help wagers) would possibly then guess $200,000 on the identical horse, which drops the percentages to +250 because the race begins. This manner, the preliminary bettor will solely get a $250 return, as they receives a commission on the ultimate odds except specified in any other case.
the more cash the CAWs guess, the larger the monitor’s fee might be
CAWs immediately calculate true odds in real-time within the last seconds earlier than the race, giving them an edge. The monitor normally will get a hard and fast lower of the pool, so the more cash the CAWs guess, the larger the monitor’s fee might be. Additionally they typically get a rebate, which may very well be as much as 12% of their wager quantity, giving them extra room for error.
Sad bettors
Portnoy recommended banning tracks from benefiting from the betting swimming pools that they management. The 48-year-old quoted an X publish from racing betting knowledgeable Andy Asaro through which he outlines the continued downside of CAWs:
Asaro believes that the rebate that the high-volume CAWs get and their entry to particular feeds imply that they’re nearly assured long-term earnings. He mentioned this implies the typical horse race bettor will lose extra typically.
a rule that will stop CAW betting within the two minutes earlier than publish time
He referenced a current controversy on the Keeneland Racetrack in Kentucky, the place bettors tried to introduce a rule that will stop CAW betting within the two minutes earlier than publish time, to keep away from last-second odds decreases. Keeneland declined to implement the rule regardless of tracks in New York and California already implementing the restriction.
In a subsequent X publish, Portnoy expressed his opinion that two minutes isn’t sufficient, a five-minute rule must be in place:
He additionally introduced some guesses on what may occur if the CAWs concern persists:
It stays to be seen if Portnoy’s feedback, which have sparked quite a lot of dialog on social media, will result in any significant change.
