When the place is Saratoga and you're going to the races for several days, things might appear to be the same. But they're not. Like a prescription drug whose side effects might vary, success at betting on the horses can vary. Greatly.
There are the usual losses. No one hits every race. But sometimes you do very well and you're not even there.
Take the example from Wednesday, when the day was truly so-so for both. There can be so many races carded that the last race can go off at a point that puts it in conflict with making a dinner reservation at a particular eatery. In this case, the Brook Tavern, directly opposite the track, but a place that was expected to fill up fast.
So, betting the last race was done while walking out of the track with the last race yet to be run. Access to a phone account easily accomplishes this off-track betting activity. And it's a dated technique. A good number of wagers are now be placed online via mobile phone accounts or Wi-Fi connectivity with iPads.
Bettor A placed a $4 win bet on Chairman Now, a horse who had won his last race, but looked good to do it again against the assembled. The ending balance on the account was noted. Bettor B was asked if he wanted anything. They replied, an exacta on Chairman Now and Bedouin Now, who also won his last race. A $1 or $2 exacta box? Make it $2. Thus, the full $2 payout is returned, rather than a fraction of it if the exacta hits. An exacta is betting on two horses to finish one-two. An exacta "box" is betting on either of the two horses finishing one-two. A combination, rather than a permutation. The $2 exacta box bet was placed, and the $4 bet was subtracted from the previous balance, and noted.
Races and race results can be seen on mobile devices, none of which Bettor A or B walks around with. Each has an old-fashioned flip phone that will stay in use as long as it is supported, or legal.
Seated in the restaurant there is still a way to determine the results without asking others. Did the balance go up? This will tell us if something was hit.
Somewhere between the time of placing the order and waiting for food, the phone account was called and the balance checked. The balance had risen $122. Somewhat aware of what the final odds might have been, this meant that Bettor B had hit the exacta. Bettor A's win only bet may or may not have been hit, but so what? Bettor B ordered another brown ale.
Still keeping the details of the results in a blackout, they weren't checked until the next morning when the newspaper was read. The hard copy edition. From there, is was happily learned that Chairman Now had won by a nose and paid $11 in change to win. Bedouin Now was second. The exacta returned an even $100. Eleven dollars twice, and the $100 exacta, fully explained the $122 surge in the balance.
Bettor A and Bettor B have each been playing the horses for over 40 years, coming to Saratoga together perhaps every year for the past 18 years, staying at the same motel in Queensbury, and eating at some of the same restaurants.
Albert Einstein famously defined insanity as, "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
This particular yearly outing of doing the same thing resulted in a relative fat plus-side for both participants. Uncle Albert surely never went to Saratoga for vacation.
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