Friedman got it right.

[TGJB]

Len Friedman just posted on the Ragozin site about the new moves that are going to be made to supposedly stop past posting, and why those moves are cosmetic. I agree with him, and want to make a couple of broader points.

1-- The articles on this on Bloodhorse and other sites keep refering to \"fans\" who have a misperception. This is infuriating. A) We are either CUSTOMERS or the biggest part of the industry, depending on how you look at it, and should be treated as such. B) Misperception my ass. Kids hack into NASA for fun. There\'s MONEY in this, and it ain\'t NASA-- it\'s an antiquated system with thousands of points of vulnerability.

2-- One of the things you hear, quoted in some of the current and many past articles, is that to stop betting earlier would cost the industry handle. Even if that nonsense were actually true, think about what they are saying-- it would cost US money to ensure YOU have an honest game to play. This is the same argument that says proper drug testing costs too much. It\'s beyond infuriating.

[Boscar Obarra]

C\'mon, this suggestion is pure genius and whatever they are paying these consultants, it\'s not enough.  Who would have thought to display the actual decimal odds? This should pacify even the most jaded of players for at least 5 or 10 nanoseconds.



The stop-betting project, when implemented, will also allow tracks to transmit and post win odds in decimals, such as 2.50-1, instead of 5-2, according to the TRPB. Display of decimal odds would provide bettors with a more precise measure of the potential payout on a horse, and it would lead to reductions in the sweep of any late-odds changes.

For example, under the current odds system, a horse that is just barely 5-2 will be displayed at 2-1 if late money forces the odds even one cent lower than 5-2, due to longstanding custom and practice in the racing industry. With decimal pricing, late money that forces a horse\'s odds to drop just below 2.50-1 would be displayed as 2.40-1, a 2.5 percent drop, instead of the 20 percent drop displayed through fractional odds.