Saratoga Self-Exclusion

- I picked up the brochure on the Self-Exclusion program at Saratoga Gaming and Raceway. I was there for awhile three nights in a row before the Head Chef arrived on Sunday morning. Not for the slots of course. Nope, not tempted even a bit. If you take a look at the chart of the 12th race on Saturday, you’ll see that when Ideal Shuffle rallied to get up, I missed by a nose, nose, and head hitting a triple that would have had an 18-1 shot second and a 52-1 shot third.

Of course, since there’s around $2000 in the win pool total, the win odds are really meaningless in terms of predicting what a triple would pay. But I can’t help but think that it would have been a nice one. Darn.

Well, I’m not yet ready to be excluded; though it’s not clear if it applies to the racetrack anyway. And you can exclude yourself for life, in which case “you cannot be removed from the list.” As Keanu Reaves might say, “Whoa!” That is serious stuff.

After you are placed on the self-exclusion list, property personnel will be permitted to refuse your wagers or ask you to leave the gaming area. If you do place a wager, you would be unable to collect any winnings or recover any losses.

Additionally, you will not be able to receive complimentary goods or services or participate in promotional offerings.

Whoa! No comps!?

You can decide to exclude yourself for one or five years too; and I suppose anytime amount of time in between. But again, you can’t change your mind until that time is expired. There's no scientific way of keeping people out though. I suppose a simple disguise would suffice for anyone who really wanted to go. No talk of implanting a chip that would set off sirens if someone tried to enter. When you file the form, you will be photographed. That photo, and other identifying information, will be displayed to employees in non-public areas with enforcement of your request.

One thing I must say about the mind-numbing racino here is that it employs some extremely happy people. Creating jobs is one of the positives of casino gambling, and you can certainly tell from the employees’ attitudes that slots have provided them with a steady job under good working conditions (aside from the constant drone of the machines’ music and sounds).

- And congratulations are in order for.....me! The Head Chef and I are officially engaged as of last night, when I presented her with a ring on her XXth birthday. So while my betting, blogging, and writing may not be going quite as hoped, the more important deal has been sealed. We'll be tying the knot rather informally sometime early in 2007. I can assure you that it will not be in the Aqueduct clubhouse.