We Don't Have to Only Patronize Apple Downs

In PC Magazine on Friday there was an interesting article about how Windows Phone and Blackberry are falling behind in the availablity of apps for their devices:

• BlackBerry 10 and Windows Phone 8 are still struggling to match the most popular apps on the dominant Android and iOS platforms, which could continue to slow sales of the smaller mobile platforms.

It's not as much the device that matters any more. The Blackberry is excellent but it has had a hard time recapturing a lot of the new market.

RIM has tried to remedy this with some investment.

• BlackBerry identifies the top 100-200 apps per country each month and courts those developers, execs said at the BlackBerry Z10 launch event in January. BlackBerry offers a bounty of up to $10,000 for developers who create high-quality, native apps. That garnered the new platform 70,000 apps at launch, which the company expects to be 100,000 apps by the time the Z10 comes out on AT&T.

Cutting into a market is tough, and even if you have the best product, you still might get lost. The deck is surely stacked against you.

In horse racing, there are some big tracks to bet - the obvious ones are Keeneland, Gulfstream, Belmont or Saratoga. In harness racing the Meadowlands and Woodbine come to mind. The biggest doesn't necessarily mean they're the best. There are a lot of other tracks doing some good things, who rarely get any press.

Some of these tracks are doing what RIM is doing: Trying their best to get you to their platform, though investment (things like lower takeout) and trying to build goodwill.

Here are some lesser known tracks that I've watched and bet this winter, and in my opinion they give me value as a horseplayer:

• Turfway Park: Their 14% pick 4's are as good as it gets, and they've had some excellent cards this season, with really deep fields. The poly has been playing fair and fast this meet. Post time favorites only win at 34.8% and the average win payoff has been a high $14.86 this year to date. Turfway is available at most ADW's for at-home players. If you only watch it for, let's say the Spiral Stakes, try handicapping around that race for a pick 4 or 5 and you might like what you see.
•  Sam Houston: I started following Sam Houston in earnest this year. Their fields are very large, especially on the turf, and if you see a sequence with some deep fields, they have a 12% takeout pick 3 to try. This is an enjoyable nighttime track on the weekends. It's also one of the best value tracks in thoroughbred racing for Monday bettors. If you are looking for something to bet Monday afternoon's give it a look. The crowd seems quite sharp (almost 40% favorites), but often enough a longer shot hits the ticket, and the ticket can pay.
• Balmoral Park: This harness track does not get all the press, or have the best horses behind the gate each night, but it's a good track to play. Pool size is pretty large and their low takeout pick 4 is very good value. The track marketing man is a bettor and he tries to cater to betting customers, with good deep fields.A pick 5 pool with a carryover hit over $150,000 this past meet, and their pick 4 pools are usually north of $30,000.

Upcoming meets I will watch are tracks like Hastings Park. They've been doing some great things and are vaulting up the HANA list of top racetracks in terms of betting value.