So, I went to Arlington Park last Saturday. I haven't been out there in a few years. Lately, when I had the urge to play the ponies I've been firing up the PC and using xpressbet.com and/or youbet.com. Jonnell was out of town so I headed on out to the track.
I ended up acting the high roller part & I bought a clubhouse seat in a box with a TV. It was expensive, at $12, which was on top of the $7 admission fee, but I really liked being outside in the sun and still being able to watch the races at Saratoga.
A crazy thing is Arlington has free wifi. When I was growing up in NY, it was illegal to make a phone call from the track. Now you can gamble online while you play the ponies. I guess the track no longer is worried anyone has their own horse racing book.
I made one big mistake on Saturday, I bet with a teller for one race. It was the third race at Saratoga and I ended up hitting the 12:1 winner and the exacta. As I was walking up to the window I noticed that the teller screwed up my win bet. His mistake cost me $66. Yeah, it was also my fault since I didn't check the tickets before I left the window, but come on, how hard is "$5 to win on the 5". So I used the betting machines for the rest of the day. They are much nicer than they were the last time I went to the track.
The craziest thing that I saw was the 7th race at Saratoga. An 88:1 shot won, a 20:1 shot came in second, a 30:1 shot (or so) came in third and another longshot came in fourth. The race had the largest triple and superfecta prices I have ever seen:
| 14 | Slambino | Channing Hill | 179.00 | 70.00 | 23.60 |
| 13 | Blazing Dynamo | Alan Garcia | 21.60 | 11.60 | |
| 8 | Key Event | Rudy R. Rodriguez | 16.00 | ||
| Also ran: 3 - Holiday Trip , 12 - Teide , 1 - Broadway Producer , 11 - Whata Ya Mean , 7 - Yario (IRE) , 5 - Baron Von Tap , 9 - Prussian , 2 - Ketchikan , 10 - Elchase | |||||
| Scratched horses: Pennington , Sir Lowry , True Resurgence , Russian Sage | |||||
| Wager Type | Winning Numbers | Payoff | |||
| $2 Pick 3 | 10-3-14 (3 correct) | 7,838.00 | |||
| $2 Daily Double | 3-14 | 1,588.00 | |||
| $2 Exacta | 14-13 | 2,565.00 | |||
| $2 Superfecta | 14-13-8-3 | 1,523,188.00 | |||
| $2 Trifecta | 14-13-8 | 105,914.00 | |||
So, how did I do? I ended up $25, which was disappointing but still better than losing. I spent a lot more than $25 to win that money, though. Getting in to the track & the fancy seat cost $19. The fancy seat came with waitress service & I spent $27 on food and drink. Add in the cost of 4 gallons of gas, too.
I enjoyed my day at the track. I'll probably head back out more now. If I was a pro, though the math is totally against playing live. It just costs too much to go, even if you get free admission. The cost of food will kill you.
Next time I will take pictures :)
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