RACENITE - running & displaying a TOTE for Racing Fundra

[donjohnson24]

In the .zip package, there is a file - RACENITE.doc - that gives full details of the background and running of the program, but basically, Race Nights are fund-raising evens, where (initially sealed) films or DVDs are shown of horseraces. There are usually 8 or 9 races with 8 horses in each, and punters place bets by buying ticket(s) for the horse(s) of their choice - each ticket usually costing 50p or £1. This happens BEFORE the film or DVD is unsealed ready for projection!

The tickets are numbered, and by entering the number on the next ticket to be sold for each of the 8 horses several times during the betting interval, the RACENITE program displays the TOTE odds for each horse. This is best done with a display projector connected to the laptop running the program, which throws a large picture onto the same screen that is used for displaying the races. The ticket sellers are best sited in front of the screen so that punters can see it as they buy tickets.

At the end of the race, the winning horse number is entered and the payback is INSTANTLY displayed for all to see.

A parameter screen enables the payback percentages to be entered, with a separate one for the first race - hopefully to encourage betting on later races. The betting units can be set, as can an option to round paybacks to 5 or 10 pence to make life easier for the cashier. A 'starting' ticket number enables part-used books of tickets to be re-used (providing ALL have the SAME start number). The name for a file to store the results can be amended - so as to keep results for different events.

An input screen is provided for entering the names of the horses and their 'owners', as well as the title and sponsor for each race. If the first horse name is 'empty' the program assumes that all horse names and sponsors are going to be entered. If the first horse name is not 'empty', all existing horse names and sponsors are displayed, and can be amended by selecting the horse number. The race title and sponsor can also be amended.

The screen that 'runs' the race enables the race number to be selected, and the horse names are then displayed. Bets can be entered for each horse, by reading the next number displayed on the ticket books being used by the TOTE operators - the program automatically takes the 'starting number' of the ticket books into account when doing its calculations. If an error is made on one or more entries, 'R' for Redo enables the offending bets to be amended - the others remain unchanged if 'Enter' alone is pressed. When the bets are correct, 'Y' stores the new figures, and the odds for each horse are displayed.

This process should be repeated several times during the inter-race betting period, as the constantly changing odds add to the excitement of the event, and enables punters who like to bet on outsiders in the hope of making a 'killing' to work out where to place their bets.

Regarding the odds, they are 'real' versions - my first attempt years ago had odds like 7.179 : 1 !!

Analysis of the evening's results can be displayed or printed at any time.

Data from the evening can be Saved, and Loaded for use later. I have included RACENITE.DAT as an example and this should go in the same directory as the program.

I have also included a justbasic1.ini file that changes the editor font, to monosb.ttf - which is also included for installation on your machine if not already present. This font gives a better overhead projector display than Courier, and is the font to be used for testing! (Unless you can suggest a better one!) Obviously, the larger the text on the display, the easier the punters can read it - and from further away!.

My Laptop is set 1024 x 778 pixels, but I would be interested to hear how the display looks on other machines.

If anyone would like to poke the program about and try to get it to 'fall over', I would appreciate your efforts and comments.

Later . . . . . . . 04-11-09

I have now reloaded the zip file after removing the files I should not have included. My apologies for uploading the incorrect version.

Don Johnson