Luck: HBO series: David Milch, Dustin Hoffman, Michael Mann

is it actually on HBO yet?

starts next sunday the 29th

the pilot is on on-demand now tho (at least on nyc cablevision)

Just noticing that not only is the pilot on three times in a row on Sunday night, it is on ever HBO channel except for HBO Family on Monday night at the same time.

every*

god i haven't been able to write 'ever' or 'every' properly all day today.

have you every

ever time i tell you

Wish HBO Family had an alternate version, with just the horses.

couple of Dai1y Rac1ng F0rm articles people might find interesting (disclosure - this is where I work)

Milch interview
http://www.drf.com/news/new-drama-luck-reveals-racing-milch-sees-it

Character bios and some of the real-life people who inspired the characters
http://www.drf.com/news/hbos-luck-cast-characters-real-life-inspirations

they are really pushing this as of late, lotta advertising

yeah it's on pretty much every bus and subway tunnel here. TV ads ran during the Golden Globes.

Im going to Santa Anita this weekend to celebrate

ad running during justified, which is a smart buy

Im going to Santa Anita this weekend to celebrate

haha nice, are you playing the "Sunshine Millions Luck Pick Six"

they really are going all out with the tie-ins

SA has some good races Saturday

dmr tell us abt yr relationship to the horse racing world

theres a fucking bikini contest tomorrow. lucky for all involved its gonna be like 85 degrees out.

I enjoyed this!

So, I've been shooting a longterm project at another SoCal racetrack for a couple of years now. Should I feel delighted or irritated that the sport is back in the public eye? I'm no Michael Mann, but I have some pretty sweet race shots.

Stills a little on the soft side, but there you go:
http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4098/4888023969_421b518f7c.jpg
http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4096/4888023021_e89108ba30.jpg
http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4097/4888626158_affba24668.jpg

what is this all abt, tel

tell us of the racing

I've just been documenting the track and the people that go there, really. I don't know what it will be or is "about". Track is right next to LAX , takes up a hugely outsize parcel of real estate given how little money it makes and has been rumored to be demolished for a few years now. So I've just been hanging out during racing seasons, accumulating footage, talking to people, etc.

I actually don't do a lot of betting but I am still a "Gold Card" holder, haha. I get offers in the mail, cheap beers and such.

can u explain the structure of a pick six, its some sort of knockout pool no

What the show sort of confirmed for me is the sense I get of this being every bit the subculture it seems to be. I don't claim to understand the majority of the pageantry, ritual and lingo involved but race fans capacity for this stuff amazes me.

xp - I think so? Or some kind of accumulator?

From what I see, the majority of the jockeys and trainers are Latino, not sure if this goes for the owners and breeders too.

yeah i was v v confused about how a pick six works, but also i can't understand how craps work either

It's certainly strikingly different to the idea of what horse racing is in the UK, though I've never actually been to Santa Anita or the Kentucky Derby or any of those things. Would love to go.

adamrl otm: i've only been to the race track a few times, only bet on a few races and p much broke even, but hanging out, drinking bloody marys with buddies, and just soaking up this totally weird and foreign vibe that is at the same time toally american and familiar was super fun and way more interesting than i had expected

yah the track is kinda magical ime, tho ive only been a few times too

its really a trip getting excited when everyone else around you gets excited, and then looking around in the same instant and seeing dozens of crestfallen or outright enraged people

thinking abt it the pilot really did capture that heighten energy well didnt it

Yeah, I think that is the abiding memory of the track for me. That it is this regular cycle of almost 30 mins of really quite boring, humdrum ritual followed by two minutes of rising tension/excitement/disappointment that ends in a furious ten seconds of screaming...then starts all over again. I want to do a wide shot where I just train my camera on the crowd for the duration of a race and watch their reaction. Love it when you get these huge, lumbering guys jumping up onto their seats to watch the finale.

^^all this otm but you forgot the alcohol part

and hot dogs

and horses

yeah, the whole "these huge animals that can't talk to anyone are the athletes" thing is really a big part of what makes it so weird, too. it def becomes more apparent when watching racing on tv than being at the track, but i'm really looking forward to how milch plays w/ that.

luck bronys

dmr tell us abt yr relationship to the horse racing world

I'm the managing editor for web at the Form. worked there 8+ years, before that my only involvement in racing was as a fan. group of college friends started road-tripping to the Ky Derby every year and I got hooked.

can u explain the structure of a pick six, its some sort of knockout pool no

pick six is just, pick the winners of six races in a row. I guess you could call it a knockout pool because if you miss one of the winners, you lose.

xp - I think so? Or some kind of accumulator?

the accumulator part is that if no one hits the pick six on a given day (it can be really hard to hit if some longshots win) then they pay out part of the pool as a consolation prize to people who got 5 out of 6 and hold the rest as a bonus jackpot for the next days pick 6. if no one hits the pick six for a few days in a row then that jackpot can get really huge which is what happens in the Luck pilot episode

ok but it looked like some of the races they could have had any horse win, and some they needed a specific horse to win?

yeah, the pick six costs more depending on the amount of houses you are picking to win. so they hedged picking only the one in that one round and then had the cash to spread across a number of different horses in other rounds

^^^

i dont think that's exactly right cause were it true in situations where theres a lot of rolled over money itd make sense just to bet every horse, my impression was that there was an overall cap for the number of horses you could bet in all six races

ok that would make sense

not really. the thing is with each horse you bet the cost of the ticket goes up exponentially

like if you played the field on each race you tick would cost a billion dollars

right, what did they spend on their ticket? $20k?

when you have a large carryover there are like huge conglomerates that pole together to buy a $10,000 ticket

the pick 6 is not set uo to be user friendly

right, what did they spend on their ticket? $20k?

I think they bet $800-something

handicapping wonks who are much wonkier than me (I don't bet pick sixes, costs too much $$$$) claimed that the ticket as written out on "Jerry's" napkin should have cost $3K

looking forward to dmr's posts itt as much as i am looking forward to this show!!

hahaha. hi-5