Just a quick post on the venue for themugpunter.com trotters handicap. The team gathered at the heart of the Melbourne gambling community. The need for a full Saturday session at Crown is obvious, and had been clearly in a blindspot for The Mug. This post is not to make the assessment therefore, but just to pick out a couple of the “special” features of Crown.

• Mr Pokies - a man dressed as a poker machine walking up and down the floor of the casino, with an assistant in tow carrying a portable amplifier, singing about the virtues of gambling on the pokies and how you can win the chance to go shopping. I’m not sure if the irony of the chance to go shopping by losing the most money has dawned on them.
• The size of the screens. Their racing screens are bigger than most cinemas
• The crowds. It’s early Thursday afternoon. It’s packed. Who are these people and what drugs are they selling
• The air conditioning. No need to ban smoking here - the aircon saved me from having to shave my head by just sucking the remaining hair off it.

So a mugpunter field trip is in the offing. Stay tuned