Historical racing (a.k.a. instant racing)

Quote: terapined

This could be a game that interests me if the house edge was slim.
Occasionally I'll play the horses but the cut the track takes from parimutuel betting is horrendous
Over 20 %

Quote: Jumboshrimps

Races have fingerprints. With data points like number of horses, morning line odds of each horse, and past performances, the race could be identified or the list at least substantially narrowed down, yes?

Quote: Jumboshrimps

Races have fingerprints. With data points like number of horses, morning line odds of each horse, and past performances, the race could be identified or the list at least substantially narrowed down, yes?

Quote: ThatDonGuy

Yes, but you have to take into account (a) the sheer number of races that have been held where recordings exist, especially if you include the possibility of including races not held in the USA, and (b) the possibility that some of the past performances may be incomplete, making searching that much harder.

Quote: ThatDonGuy

Let's assume, for the same of argument, that you can see a DRF Past Performances chart on each horse in the race (which I don't think is true - the YouTube clip earlier in the thread mentions that the information is only shown in pie charts). How do you access the database?

Did you use your smartphone on the casino floor? If you're in Nevada, that's illegal - and going by the letter of the law, if it's your second or subsequent offense, it's a minimum one year prison term (minus time off for good behavior) with no suspended sentence or probation.

Quote: Jumboshrimps

At slots? Using a phone while playing slots is commonplace. I doubt it would even be noticed. The database would have to be online or programmed into an app, but that’s not a major financial obstacle these days.

Quote: ThatDonGuy

Taking a photo, or even a video, is one thing. Using it to look up information that you can use in gameplay is what is illegal. This is why you can't use, for example, the Wizard's Video Poker app when playing a VP machine in Vegas.

Quote: mtcards

We live just across the border from Kentucky, one of the states where the historical racing machines operate. Many of them, if not most, look EXACTLY like regular slot machines. There may be a way, but I didnt see it, to actually pick winners and losers of races. Basically you hit the button like a regular slot and it spins and you win according to the paytable and usually a small amount (1-5 cents) of a parimutuel payout. It isnt complicated if you think of them as a regular slot.

I did hit a $7k jackpot at Kentucky Downs a few years ago with the older slots. My guess is the house advantage is similar to most slot machines

Quote: Jumboshrimps

Thanks for the first-hand report. It’s interesting that the machines you describe don’t seem to have a traditional racing format as opposed to a slot format. It looks like the KY courts currently have historical racing on hold. The only state going full bonkers on it at the moment is VA. Here are two interesting paragraphs of the applicable Virginia regulations:

4. The terminal shall make available true and accurate past performance information on the historical horse race to the patron prior to the patron making wager selections. The information shall be current as of the day the historical horse race was actually run. The information provided to the patron shall be displayed on the terminal in data or graphical form; and

5. After a patron finalizes wager selections, the terminal shall display the official results of the race and a replay of the race, or a portion thereof, whether by digital, animated, or graphical depiction or by way of a video recording. The identity of the race shall be revealed to the patron after the patron has placed a wager.

Quote: p13man

The best hope you have of gaining an edge here would but to use AI - specifically facial recognition - of the jockeys. That would help you narrow down the field - but only if you'd gone to the trouble of creating a database of jockey's faces! I imagine that there's already a lot of historic race data in the public domain, so if you could ID the jockeys you'd be getting close to determining the outcome. That said, if the picture is lo-def, the horses are in flight and we only ever see the jockeys face for a fraction of a second, the technology isn't going to work. On a related note, I can't imagine that this type of gaming is going to win over slot players - too slow and not enough buzz IMHO.

Quote: Jumboshrimps

"The best hope you have of gaining an edge here would but to use AI - specifically facial recognition - of the jockeys. That would help you narrow down the field - but only if you'd gone to the trouble of creating a database of jockey's faces! I imagine that there's already a lot of historic race data in the public domain, so if you could ID the jockeys you'd be getting close to determining the outcome. That said, if the picture is lo-def, the horses are in flight and we only ever see the jockeys face for a fraction of a second, the technology isn't going to work. On a related note, I can't imagine that this type of gaming is going to win over slot players - too slow and not enough buzz IMHO."

Interesting idea. But as I understand the game, you don't get to see a horse or jockey until after wagering is complete. Very true on the latter point, but the jurisdictions where this exists, currently just VA and maybe KY, don't allow casino gambling.