Fifteen Wakefield MAG members, family and friends met at Kinsley Greyhound track for our 14th Birthday Party do, on Saturday 16th April. We had two long reserved tables in a cracking spot, right next to the track. Once we were all settled inside it was off to the drinks bar, off to the food bar (good selection and good quality too), and off to the bookies to place the bets on the evenings 13 races. Our £12 entry bought us a programme, a meal, two free drinks (we were only supposed to get one ... Result !!!), and two £1 Tote bets. Some of us tried to study past form to make an assessment of likely future performance, others bet on the same numbered dog in every race, whilst others just randomly picked a number for each race (or a combination of all 3 tactics). No matter what we did though, no one seemed to be luckier than anyone else.
The great thing about the dog racing is how cheap it all is. The bets are cheap so even if you lose them all, the cost is comparable to an evening around town. The bar is a bit steep though - £4 a pint ... OUCH !!!
The cheering of the races got more vocal as the evening wore on (no correlation to the volume of beer consumed, obviously). Most of us just about broke even, made a modest profit or a small loss.
Chas, our relentless fund raiser and never one to miss a raffle opportunity, ran a raffle which netted £7.10 towards the branch funds, after the winning amount had been awarded.
All in all, a great night out with our Wakefield MAG family, and a splendid way to celebrate our 14th Birthday. Gambling ... pah ... it's a mugs game ... but it was still an hilarious night.
Will we go again ..... absobloodylutely !!!!