Why horse races?


Maybe I missed something in one of the protocols? Are they allowed to gamble at all?

Seems like it would be easier to play a state lottery and maybe hit a mini jackpot not a full one. Too much potential to alter the future with a lottery win?

reply

I wondered that too.

reply

Horse racing is always going on somewhere so it is like an ATM as far as getting cash. The lotteries are twice a week and they may be a source of money for non-expedient activities. The key is staying off the radar, and while one can pickup I believe $600 max at a lottery vendor, bigger prizes have to come from the .gov authority which takes time and exposure. It may be that every traveler at some time gets a $50,000 4 numbers + powerball ticket. These could be spread out over time and location so as to not attract attention.


My Chimp DNA seems to have lost its password temporarily. Sluggr-2

reply

They do also use the lottery. In Ep.1,
Gower: Well, I guess you heard [Philip Pearson] won the lottery yesterday, huh?
MacLaren: You mean you had to drop the charges?
Gower: No, I mean that he won the freaking lottery! Six numbers out of seven. 92-grand and change.
Maclaren: Lucky kid.
Gower: Not if I catch him with the bag of smack I'm pretty sure he's walking around with.

I guess if you're in jail, it's easier to buy a lottery ticket than to bet on a race. Plus, he started off with nothing but the money in his wallet, so to match that, he'd have to make a series of bets, rolling over his winnings, which would probably look more suspicious than getting lucky once.

reply

Keep in they are probably betting through bookies which has the advantage of being even less conspicuous than going to the track. Besides that;

1) Big wins mean big taxes
2) A bunch of small hits are less conspicuous. Big winners gets lots of press which a traveler does not want.
3) They are trying to minimize the changes to history and that what their method does somewhat better than the alternative.

reply

Betting can be done through bookies. Transactions are all in cash, off the grid and untraceable. And with a series of smaller scores rather than one big jackpot no eyebrows are ever raised.

reply

I think it's how they get money to fund their "missions", so I assumed they have permission to do so.

reply

Stocks you need a social security number.

Horse racing is a cash investment, very liquid and there is a big black market to find other bettors.

reply

They did the local lottery in the first episode. 6 out of 7 numbers correct, so it wouldn't be so much money. That was what was used to get the cars and the garage/lair and all of the computers. I think knowing horse races is easier to remember, since it is names, and it isn't as popular to the general public as to whom the winners are. Some of the odds can be crazy high, if the horse wins.

reply

As others have said, it's to keep a low profile. Winning some big lotto for millions would be too attention grabbing.

Also, Phillip most always uses someone else to do the betting for him. I think I saw him ask two different guys to bet on horses for him... and then also gave winning horses to other people in need. I think he never actually bet on them himself, or probably did it one time only... It would raise suspicion if one person kept going in there randomly and winning a lot.

reply

Yeah, and not just from the authorities. Bookies who think you must be getting inside information (and therefore stealing from them) tend to get very testy. You may be visited by some unfriendly guys who want to have a little chat about it. And saying it was pure luck, no seriously you gotta believe me, that's not likely to impress them.

reply