There's an old adage in horse racing when speaking to some executives, "I walk the grandstand and no one is talking about takeout." We chuckle about it, but it's true, because the people who care about takeout are not in the grandstand. A lot of them are probably now sports betting.
Unabated.com is a tool some sports bettors are using to line shop, or search for value. Math is hard, and it will tell you not only what line is best, it will allow you to add half points, or compare money lines to spreads with a simple input. As their article linked above says, "pricing matters".
Line shopping for horse racing does occur, but it's mainly in mature gambling markets, and lies in the win pool only. If you're betting an Aussie race you might get 2.5-1 on betfair or 2.3-1 on the tote or 2.35-1 on fixed odds. In the UK there are edges between bookmakers and exchanges like BetDaq or Matchbook. Professional players have been looking to scrounge pennies and half pennies since forever.
It's clearly important, just like it is in sports betting. If you make 2,000 bets at 5-2 over a long period and hit them all, you get back $70,000, at 2-1 it's $60,000.
The North American horseplayer does not seem to think like this, and of course, with late changing odds it's nearly impossible. Here it's more about an exotic hit, or a superfecta score, where we have little idea what the odds even are.
Because of this, it's even more important to examine takeout rates. A 12% Sam Houston pick 3 versus a 22% one is absolutely massive. A 14% early pick 5 versus a 22% late (I think it's 22%, it could even be higher) in Cali racing is equally huge.
When or if a decent fixed odds or exchange system ever comes on shore in the new world, perhaps it will swing the modern horseplayer from not thinking about juice, to thinking about it. It can't come soon enough. In this brutally difficult game an edge on pricing means more people stay in the game longer because they win more.
Have a nice Thursday everyone.
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