RaceCafe..#1...Tipsters Thread.... Share Your Fancies For Fun...Lets See Who The Best Tipsters Here Are.
LightsOut

John Allen please explain....

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From NZRB 2018 - 2020 Statement of Intent published 2nd August 2017 - The investment costs relating to the Fixed Odds Betting platform (FOB) initiative are expected to be $9.6 million in project expenses and $20.0 million in capital expenditure ( I make that $29.6 million advised to the Industry)

https://www.rita.org.nz/sites/default/files/documents/NZRB Statement of Intent 2018-2020 Final.pdf

April 2017 .John Allen re the Betting Platform A final decision on our partner has yet to be made, but will be within a month. We would expect an investment of $25 million to be made over a period of years.

https://loveracing.nz/News/21415/Prize-money-injection-for-New-Zealand-racing.aspx

7th Feb 2019 John Allen The fixed odds betting platform has been a significant advance for the industry. In the end, the implementation from the business case to launch took about 18 months and the total cost was $40.8m.  This is marginally more than the $38 million the NZRB Board initially approved in May 2017.

https://dochub.com/emily-laws0b3093e7/MByge7/industry-update-february-1-pdf

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John please explain how the NZRB under your leadership you  could advise in August 2017 that the new betting platform would cost $29.6 million but then in Feb 2019 you stated to the Industry that the amount

approved in May 2017  was $38 million. I don't know if finances  is a weak point with you but the sums verse the dates don't add up. It would seem you have plucked the $38 million out of the sky to justify the huge over runs to $40 million plus and rising. Very poor also to fail to mention the $17 million a year to be paid for operating and maintenance cost to Open Bet /Paddy Power  until after the launch.

From the Statement of Intent We are budgeting for the new platform to deliver an additional $11.6 million of net profit in the 2018/19 financial year. 

$11.6 million extra income doesn't go into $17 million expenses too well does it - $5.2 million deficit.Any wonder why the Industry is #@$#ed.

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 June 2019 - Industry Update from John Allen 

. The outgoing Board are leaving the organisation on a strong footing, equipped to be able to deliver increased returns to the industry on the back of a competitive betting platform, solid technology and world leading presentation of racing content betting platform.

.image.jpeg.35d4b3de5d10e25a9274853728a98c9a.jpeg

Finally, we are currently working through our Statement of Intent, which outlines the strategic direction for the organization over a three-year period and  includes a discussion of the outcomes being sought by the main priorities for the three years ahead (your Statement of Intent going by the above is a complete number plucking excercise)

And finally please explain why the NZRB galloping winners don't have the barrier draws listed against the placed runners, important early info when tracks are at 11 like today. Yes one can scroll back to the race fields to find the info but you advised that the site would be quicker for the customer. Strangely enough you stated the web site was based on the Sportsbet site but guess what they have the barrier draws in their results on NZ races. $#%^ me who designed and formatted this piece of crap. Its not hard to get it right but if your clueless guess its near impossible.

Whoever sold this lemon the Board and whoever was in charge of it should have been sacked.  

Pay for itself in 3 years he said %^$% me 

 

 

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'' John Allen told a public meeting at Wingatui last night his organisation was recovering from the poor start its $40.8million website made. Widespread chatter among bettors suggested website users struggled to adapt to using the new site and that had put them off placing bets.'' 

OK while we all know the site has had it's problems the biggest problem is the AGE of site users , most are to OLD and set in there ways , the exact same thing happened when the internationalisation strategy was introduced , in time the oldies court up . Pay for itself in 3years ? , it makes no difference if it takes 10 years as long as it pays for itself . 

And here's a little gem that I know will get some of you excited .

'' "" Allen told last night's meeting the board of the NZRB would be dismantled , rather than the whole organisation .   "The actual board, in terms of the employees, will continue.

"It is not automatic that the 700 people in the racing board lose their jobs.''

 

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1 hour ago, tripple alliance said:

'' John Allen told a public meeting at Wingatui last night his organisation was recovering from the poor start its $40.8million website made. Widespread chatter among bettors suggested website users struggled to adapt to using the new site and that had put them off placing bets.'' 

OK while we all know the site has had it's problems the biggest problem is the AGE of site users , most are to OLD and set in there ways , the exact same thing happened when the internationalisation strategy was introduced , in time the oldies court up . Pay for itself in 3years ? , it makes no difference if it takes 10 years as long as it pays for itself . 

And here's a little gem that I know will get some of you excited .

'' "" Allen told last night's meeting the board of the NZRB would be dismantled , rather than the whole organisation .   "The actual board, in terms of the employees, will continue.

"It is not automatic that the 700 people in the racing board lose their jobs.''

 

Did anyone ask him why they no longer hold jumps racing at Oamaru and why Wingatui now races through the winter months?

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'' John Allen told a public meeting at Wingatui last night his organisation was recovering from the poor start its $40.8million website made. Widespread chatter among bettors suggested website users struggled to adapt to using the new site and that had put them off placing bets.

I have seen plenty recover from heart attacks but guess what they don't last long. #$%# me he is going to say as much crap as he can to extend his lifeline we have seen it time and time again. Last week he said The outgoing Board are leaving the organisation on a strong footing". Hello that one  statement throws all his previous quotes in the bin where they belong.

Quote

OK while we all know the site has had it's problems the biggest problem is the AGE of site users , most are to OLD and set in there ways , the exact same thing happened when the internationalisation strategy was introduced , in time the oldies court up . Pay for itself in 3years ? , it makes no difference if it takes 10 years as long as it pays for itself .

Biggest problem ha ha age of the site user $%#^ me you couldn't make  that up. How about the biggest problem was the age of the CEO and Board Chairperson who approved it. If the age was the problem how the hell did they use the earlier platform but accordingly to you they struggle with this one. Hello John Allen said the new platform would be more user friendly,so your saying just another spin story?  

Quote

Allen told last night's meeting the board of the NZRB would be dismantled , rather than the whole organisation .   "The actual board, in terms of the employees, will continue.

"It is not automatic that the 700 people in the racing board lose their jobs.''

 

The Board goes first, then the CEO, then the GM's then there is a reduction in staff that's what happens in the real world where we live not in a Grimms Brother fairy tale.  The NZRB has no money they owe an o/d of $25 million due for repayment next year, sold all their assets, have a crap betting platform that cost millions in overruns and isn't returning the dollars promised and is actually proving to be a liability when you take into account  the annual cost to maintain and run it so its a good thing your not connected to the Industry when you say it doesn't matter if it takes 10 years  or more as long as it pays for itself. That's the clueless mentality that has put the Industry into the position we see it in today. 

Take all the above into account no its not automatic re staff losing their jobs its blatantly obvious. Through  possible outsourcing which = job losses.

 And guess what John Allen has a cheek giving his employees false hope, he won't have any say in what is going to happen RITA are there because he needed someone to hold his hand.  

The outgoing Board are leaving the organisation on a strong footing" ha ha you poor delusional soul if you want to believe what John Allen says.If you do then you and John Allen have something in common your both clueless.

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1 hour ago, tripple alliance said:

'' John Allen told a public meeting at Wingatui last night his organisation was recovering from the poor start its $40.8million website made. Widespread chatter among bettors suggested website users struggled to adapt to using the new site and that had put them off placing bets.'' 

OK while we all know the site has had it's problems the biggest problem is the AGE of site users , most are to OLD and set in there ways , the exact same thing happened when the internationalisation strategy was introduced , in time the oldies court up . Pay for itself in 3years ? , it makes no difference if it takes 10 years as long as it pays for itself . 

And here's a little gem that I know will get some of you excited .

'' "" Allen told last night's meeting the board of the NZRB would be dismantled , rather than the whole organisation .   "The actual board, in terms of the employees, will continue.

 

 

 

 

"It is not automatic that the 700 people in the racing board lose their jobs.''

The jobs of 50 is all that should remain to run the organ  ...700 is some 'city' of suits, Jeepers

 

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And here's a little gem that I know will get some of you excited .

'' "" Allen told last night's meeting the board of the NZRB would be dismantled , rather than the whole organisation .   "The actual board, in terms of the employees, will continue.

"It is not automatic that the 700 people in the racing board lose their jobs.''

 

TA unless your been totally sarcastic why and how could you possibly say and think that anyone involved in the NZ Racing Industry would  see that comment as been a gem and get excited? The only recent bit of excitement for those involved in the NZ Racing Industry has been the establishment of RITA. The Industry is going downhill in a big way and is in financial turmoil so your actually throwing the shit not 'gem' at those involved in the Industry including RITA. 

Please confirm that 100% you were been sarcastic otherwise any future comments by you need to be thrown in the bin like John Allens.

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2 hours ago, LightsOut said:

I have seen plenty recover from heart attacks but guess what they don't last long. #$%# me he is going to say as much crap as he can to extend his lifeline we have seen it time and time again. Last week he said The outgoing Board are leaving the organisation on a strong footing". Hello that one  statement throws all his previous quotes in the bin where they belong.

Biggest problem ha ha age of the site user $%#^ me you couldn't make  that up. How about the biggest problem was the age of the CEO and Board Chairperson who approved it. If the age was the problem how the hell did they use the earlier platform but accordingly to you they struggle with this one. Hello John Allen said the new platform would be more user friendly,so your saying just another spin story?  

The Board goes first, then the CEO, then the GM's then there is a reduction in staff that's what happens in the real world where we live not in a Grimms Brother fairy tale.  The NZRB has no money they owe an o/d of $25 million due for repayment next year, sold all their assets, have a crap betting platform that cost millions in overruns and isn't returning the dollars promised and is actually proving to be a liability when you take into account  the annual cost to maintain and run it so its a good thing your not connected to the Industry when you say it doesn't matter if it takes 10 years  or more as long as it pays for itself. That's the clueless mentality that has put the Industry into the position we see it in today. 

Take all the above into account no its not automatic re staff losing their jobs its blatantly obvious. Through  possible outsourcing which = job losses.

 And guess what John Allen has a cheek giving his employees false hope, he won't have any say in what is going to happen RITA are there because he needed someone to hold his hand.  

The outgoing Board are leaving the organisation on a strong footing" ha ha you poor delusional soul if you want to believe what John Allen says.If you do then you and John Allen have something in common your both clueless.

A little one sided in your assessment Lights Out. You have failed to factor in that they will no longer be racing at Waimate. When those savings start to flow through to the industry as a whole everything will start to come right.

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There are a few things to consider when closing any race course. The biggest one is what can you do if you have a registered race club that is domiciled in a building on a race course, what does that mean? Answer in next instalment while you all think about it 

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John Allen is a muppet ,Because his web site is such an un user friendly site .He blames us old soldiers because its a dog to navigate .I consider myself pretty good on a laptop and by the look of the rest of you cafaians [think thats a word] Im sure you are to.I bet he would struggle to log in.He is reminding me of George Costanza in Seinfeld when he worked for  the Yankees, they sacked him but every day he turned up for work again . Just remember Allen its not us old soldiers to blame but your crap web site .And were the f###did you find a word like OUTRIGHTS what happened to ODDS so simple.Cheers

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Great comments and research on here people from Lights Out's opening stanza to Boss Hogg  above my post. I have enjoyed reading them. They are right on the money. Some fine research (Lights Out) to remind us of what an unmitigated disaster the new website has been since the day it went 'live' (I use the word "live" in its loosest sense you understand). The feature film should be coming out soon:  "Let's Re-Invent The Wheel And Make It Square This Time" (With the great comedian John Allen in a starring role). I wonder what the title of the other film would be if it were a double feature? Any suggestions?

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Thanks HS You must remember it is not the person who invented the wheel that was smart, but the person who invented the other three. We could have a case against him for aged discrimination.Being one of the old soldiers when we poke our heads over the trenches there is always someone there to shoot at us .So p####s like Allen who is about our age has got the cheek to take a shot at us,at least we left our employments or businesses in a far better place and proud of what we did,which is more than he can say,Cheers

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9 hours ago, LightsOut said:

 TA unless your been totally sarcastic why and how could you possibly say and think that anyone involved in the NZ Racing Industry would  see that comment as been a gem and get excited? The only recent bit of excitement for those involved in the NZ Racing Industry has been the establishment of RITA. The Industry is going downhill in a big way and is in financial turmoil so your actually throwing the shit not 'gem' at those involved in the Industry including RITA. 

Please confirm that 100% you were been sarcastic otherwise any future comments by you need to be thrown in the bin like John Allens.

Well a small portion of sarcasm for sure but also a dose of reality , those at the coal face working for the RB will be very pleased to read Allen's  little gem , their thoughts must be , we are needed and here to stay . As for getting excited , yep those who think the demise of the RB was the cure for all of racing ills will be in a little shock if Allen's comments that the 700 are here to stay are correct which moves us on to what is the true purpose of RITA .

Now look what's happened , the cost to the industry of Winston delaying racefields must be around $50/$70 million (forecast benefits from r/fields and poc levy)    plus the stake increases that were applied to lift minimum stakes to 10k so if we are to believe the forecast savings of $50/$70 million plus $12 million for stakes then the RB is out of pocket by around $60 million ????? , it's no surprise the RBs reserves are down the drain but that's the plan . 

Now given the fact that Recefields / POC tax are 100percent RB strategy and have been bought into law confirming this then what is RITAs role , RITA is locked into RB strategy so no room to move on financial matters . 

So that leaves RITA with only one purpose , the restructuring/closing of  tracks and track development , the rest has been done for them .

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You left out the restructuring of the racing Board as another purpose by RITA eg staffing levels need to be cut big time and make no mistake 100% it will happen.

Sorry if you think Allens little gem is a dose of reality your are truly f#$ed. Needed and here to say ha ha what a joke. 

Last time I will waste my time replying to your idiotic comments and good luck to anyone who believes them. Do a DNA check you have to be somehow related to John Allen.

I just found this site has an ignore user tool I am only giving money back to anyone who wants to bet who I just put on it.  

 

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38 minutes ago, LightsOut said:

'You left out the restructuring of the racing Board as another purpose by RITA eg staffing levels need to be cut big time and make no mistake 100% it will happen.

Sorry if you think Allens little gem is a dose of reality your are truly f#$ed. Needed and here to say ha ha what a joke. 

Last time I will waste my time replying to your idiotic comments and good luck to anyone who believes them. Do a DNA check you have to be somehow related to John Allen.

I just found this site has an ignore user tool I am only giving money back to anyone who wants to bet who I just put on it.  

 

Restructuring the RB is a done deal but basically a zero rated result , the RB had about 6/7 on the board , RITA has , I think 7 so in terms of savings not a hell of a lot .

Only time will tell what happens about the 700 staff remaining but Allen thinks they are likely here to stay  and we know  HE IS HERE TO STAY  , that will surprise many .  The financial savings of sacking 10/15% of the staff will be a disappointment , a drop in the ocean to what's required to return racing to prosperity .

So yes this reality doesn't suit some , some had visions of slash and burn  but if the workload is there then some one has to be employed to do it .

What is UNDENIABLE is the way forward regarding financial matters , like it or not the whole financial strategy forward is RB strategy , clearly endorsed by Winston and presumably supported by RITA .

Let's just sit back and see what happens ,  I suspect track closures will be a RITA priority .

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18 minutes ago, tripple alliance said:

Restructuring the RB is a done deal but basically a zero rated result , the RB had about 6/7 on the board , RITA has , I think 7 so in terms of savings not a hell of a lot .

Only time will tell what happens about the 700 staff remaining but Allen thinks they are likely here to stay  and we know  HE IS HERE TO STAY  , that will surprise many .  The financial savings of sacking 10/15% of the staff will be a disappointment , a drop in the ocean to what's required to return racing to prosperity .

So yes this reality doesn't suit some , some had visions of slash and burn  but if the workload is there then some one has to be employed to do it .

What is UNDENIABLE is the way forward regarding financial matters , like it or not the whole financial strategy forward is RB strategy , clearly endorsed by Winston and presumably supported by RITA .

Let's just sit back and see what happens ,  I suspect track closures will be a RITA priority .

I suspect dissolution of Clubs assets is a priority, they won't save themselves a single cent by going about closing tracks(not to mention the cans of worms that will be opened). Well at least the ones they have said they are prioritising to close. I've not heard a single sensible argument for closing tracks in this country, is there one?

They need to get getting punters punting again as the main priority I'd have thought.

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I would have thought that “Cost Reduction” would have to be the No 1 priority. Any business, be it banks, airlines, telcos etc, when faced with diminished revenues, cuts their costs accordingly. I went to a “really good” award winning restaurant in the Gold Coast Hinterland thinking it would be a nice lunch spot to take the missus. We were the only persons there. on arrival, the Chef took us to a great table looking into the rainforest. The same Chef took our drinks orders, opened and poured our wine, took our food orders, cooked the food and delivered it to the table. Collected our plates, made and delivered us coffee and finally, placed the Bill on our table. I asked him where his waiters, barista’s and bar staff were? He replied, “I have to cut my cloth to suit the day and a rainy tues in the Hinterland is always going to keep the tourists away, so I can cater for about 8 max today - but I think you’re going to be it!”. The meal and service was superb and a kookaburra even perched on the chair next to us and dined on the missus’ bread roll! So, my point is to use our dining experience as a analogy, you have to cut your cloth accordingly. I think costs could be trimmed quite easily. Even a 5% cut will return additional funds to other needy areas

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43 minutes ago, Trump said:

I would have thought that “Cost Reduction” would have to be the No 1 priority. Any business, be it banks, airlines, telcos etc, when faced with diminished revenues, cuts their costs accordingly. I went to a “really good” award winning restaurant in the Gold Coast Hinterland thinking it would be a nice lunch spot to take the missus. We were the only persons there. on arrival, the Chef took us to a great table looking into the rainforest. The same Chef took our drinks orders, opened and poured our wine, took our food orders, cooked the food and delivered it to the table. Collected our plates, made and delivered us coffee and finally, placed the Bill on our table. I asked him where his waiters, barista’s and bar staff were? He replied, “I have to cut my cloth to suit the day and a rainy tues in the Hinterland is always going to keep the tourists away, so I can cater for about 8 max today - but I think you’re going to be it!”. The meal and service was superb and a kookaburra even perched on the chair next to us and dined on the missus’ bread roll! So, my point is to use our dining experience as a analogy, you have to cut your cloth accordingly. I think costs could be trimmed quite easily. Even a 5% cut will return additional funds to other needy areas

Trump you are so right. I am not sure what Tripple is on, but he is miles away from reality.

The question I need an answer to is, where is the money going tome from to;

- to sustain the industry

- pay the exit clauses on the contracts that prevail under the Allen regime

-  create the marketing change that delivers more to racing than the focus on sports that delivers very little to us

- so where does the dosh come from, Allen and the Chair have exposed the industry to the extent that we have become a risk to lenders on any platform.

Just saying............

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1 hour ago, Trump said:

I would have thought that “Cost Reduction” would have to be the No 1 priority. Any business, be it banks, airlines, telcos etc, when faced with diminished revenues, cuts their costs accordingly. I went to a “really good” award winning restaurant in the Gold Coast Hinterland thinking it would be a nice lunch spot to take the missus. We were the only persons there. on arrival, the Chef took us to a great table looking into the rainforest. The same Chef took our drinks orders, opened and poured our wine, took our food orders, cooked the food and delivered it to the table. Collected our plates, made and delivered us coffee and finally, placed the Bill on our table. I asked him where his waiters, barista’s and bar staff were? He replied, “I have to cut my cloth to suit the day and a rainy tues in the Hinterland is always going to keep the tourists away, so I can cater for about 8 max today - but I think you’re going to be it!”. The meal and service was superb and a kookaburra even perched on the chair next to us and dined on the missus’ bread roll! So, my point is to use our dining experience as a analogy, you have to cut your cloth accordingly. I think costs could be trimmed quite easily. Even a 5% cut will return additional funds to other needy areas

I'm sure there is some room for cost reduction , but this business in particular like most others I guess needs to generate cash first and foremost the cost cutting can occur and I'm sure will be the business really needs to generate revenues to sustain itself not only that if it doesn't attempt to reconcile with its customers there may not be a business to cut costs out of in the future.

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9 hours ago, Huey said:

I'm sure there is some room for cost reduction , but this business in particular like most others I guess needs to generate cash first and foremost the cost cutting can occur and I'm sure will be the business really needs to generate revenues to sustain itself not only that if it doesn't attempt to reconcile with its customers there may not be a business to cut costs out of in the future.

You may be right Huey. However, in my “own” corporate experience and also observation of corporate “behavior” (or “strategy” if you like), when faced with having to look for an increase in cash to (a) Support growth or (b) diminishing revenue or (c) increased competition in the market that you are competing in, there are a number of things you have to do to turn things around. The first thing to look at is all aspects of the Product you are offering eg, Suitability, attractiveness, pricing, marketing etc. The second thing is your Costs, be they Fixed, semi-Fixed or Variable. Now the next thing is to agree on a Plan and execute it. You have to be ruthless and make some really hard boned decisions (I’ve made plenty of them!). In me humble experience and observation, most companies look firstly to the quickest course of action that can improve the cash availability and that is their Cost Base. Some idiots look at costs as a % of revenue. For example, if a business has a turnover of $1m and they run it with a total cost of $300k, they will have a cost base of 30%. If they stick to that cost ratio and grow revenue to $10m, the costs go to $3m. If there’s a slowdown in revenue due to my explanation above, let’s say it falls to $9m, Then to stay at 30% you have to have costs at $2.7m, a cut in costs of $300 or 10%. you get my drift huh? It’s a pretty simple example.  Now, racing in NZ has to look at its Product (eg, the latest offering from the NSW TAB to a targeted market), it’s competitiveness through it’s revenue sources and finally, it’s Costs. The easiest and quickest action to start the process of improving the cash in the business is to slash costs. Most astute businesses do that and without any creative accounting. They also close unprofitable branches that continually make losses with no prospect of improvement and strengthen the profitable ones. Didn’t The Warehouse recently do that? Banks, Airlines. Look at Qantas. Imho, I would put an immediate target of cutting costs by 10%. I’d then tackle the rest. 

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9 hours ago, John Clydesdale said:

Trump you are so right. I am not sure what Tripple is on, but he is miles away from reality.

The question I need an answer to is, where is the money going tome from to;

- to sustain the industry

- pay the exit clauses on the contracts that prevail under the Allen regime

-  create the marketing change that delivers more to racing than the focus on sports that delivers very little to us

- so where does the dosh come from, Allen and the Chair have exposed the industry to the extent that we have become a risk to lenders on any platform.

Just saying............

You ask the question , where's the money coming from , well that simple , it's from racefields and the POC tax , IF and that's a big IF this strategy is successful then we will be between $50 and $70 million a year better off , only time will tell if this is a fairy tale or not .

Assuming it proves itself then that's  the time to look at doing some fine tuning .

The only reason the now non existent  RB could be described as exposed is because they invested $40 million in a new business strategy and bankrolled stakes to a minimum of $10 , all based on racefields and the POC tax , they weren't to know Winston would delay the introduction of this strategy costing the industry many many millions in lost profits. 

I do remember Winston and many in the industry running around quoting each other on racefields , ITs NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE , well that must have been wrong as it's gone through parliament exactly as it was initially set out .

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1 hour ago, tripple alliance said:

You ask the question , where's the money coming from , well that simple , it's from racefields and the POC tax , IF and that's a big IF this strategy is successful then we will be between $50 and $70 million a year better off , only time will tell if this is a fairy tale or not .

It's not just a big IF, it's plain delusional. If those two generate 10% of that I'll be amazed. There's no significant money there.

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