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Friday, December 02, 2011

A Steady Stream

I didn't realize that it was an issue, but the NYS Racing and Wagering Board approved the continuation of online video streaming of thoroughbred and harness races in New York through 2012. Authorization for streaming would have expired on December 22. Of course, it took the closure of NYCOTB to finally bring it about. The law had stated that NYRA could stream only if all the OTB's could as well, and it took a look into the abyss to finally bring it about. Soon afterwards, NYRA obtained agreement with out-of-state tracks to stream their races, and in-state harness tracks followed shortly thereafter.

This story reminds me that the one year anniversary of the closing of NYCOTB passed without much fanfare or notice [updated - actually jumping the gun here, it closed last Dec 8]. I'd guess that streaming has a fair amount to do with how little it seems to be missed; even, as far as NYRA was concerned, before Resorts World opened.

NYRA alone saw a major boost in its account wagering program, known as NYRA Rewards. Its year-to-date figures show that the Internet handle is $79.6 million. That’s up 195% from the $26.9 million that was wagered via the internet during the same period in 2010. The total NYRA Rewards handle — which includes telephone-account wagering and at-track betting via accounts — is $206 million this year, as opposed to the $107 million for the same period last year. [Metropolis]
The purse increases that will result from the slots money will impact racing far beyond New York, as Jennie Rees noted the other day in the Louisville Courier Journal:
Stalls might not be as hard to get next year with no Breeders’ Cup here and a likely stream of horses heading to New York for slots-fattened purses that will dwarf Churchill’s.
.....
..let’s see what purse Aqueduct provides in 2012 for its Remsen and Demoiselle for 2-year-olds; both were $200,000. It’s going to be increasingly tough for Churchill to compete for the best horses.
Interesting dueling op-ed pieces the other day in the Atlanta Journal Constitution for and against horse racing in Georgia. One, titled Horse racing a good bet for Ga., is by State Rep. Harry Geisinger, a Republican who introduced the bill. And he rather oversimplifies things, and twists the facts as well.
Let’s get the “gambling” issue out of the way. This amendment does not allow for casinos, dog racing, slot machines or Elvis wedding chapels. All of that can stay in Vegas. So what makes pari-mutuel wagering different from gambling?

In simple terms, when you gamble, you are betting against the “house,” and the odds are stacked against you. With pari-mutuel, you are betting against the other bettors in each race. If you bet $1 on a horse, the “track” will take 18 cents to operate the track, pay taxes, purses to the horses and other overhead, while you share 82 cents with each of the other bettors.
For one thing, a lot of horseplayers would be happy with an 18% takeout if it applied to all wagers. But, as you may know, the takeout by the casino "house" is actually far lower than those at the tracks.

The opposing opinion piece, Gambling Leads to Dire Results, was authored by the second vice president of the Georgia Baptist Convention. So you might guess what's coming next.
Gambling creates a climate with a concept that one can strike it rich based on luck, rather than work and personal responsibility. The providence of God and personal accountability are overlooked with an aggressive campaign to entice people to depend upon luck for their success.
I thought that luckiness was close to Godliness, or something like that? Guess not.

11 Comments:

jk said...

4 grass races tomorrow at the Big A, not bad. I might have to head out and play some slots in between pick 3's.

Robert Berg said...

No matter how you serve the baloney, there is a verifiable $750 million of the former NYC OTBC's handle up for grabs, and I wholeheartedly believe that a high-percentage of the former OTB's gross-handle is falling fortuitously in the laps of Damon Runyon characters; whom, I am sure will celebrate an extraordinarily joyous holiday season this year, at the expense of OTB retirees, who are without health benefits, without a job, and without hope--thank you for all your past efforts Senators Lanza and Golden; Mayor Bloomberg who canceled OTB retirees health insurance; Governor Cuomo who vetoed OTB health legislation; and former Governor Paterson for his total lack of leadership throughout the entire OTB controversy: Happy Holidays, one and all!!

steve in nc said...

Hope I'm not out of line for continuing a discussion from the previous string here.

If you want to know what happened with the famous Gulfstream timer errors in 1999, read Beyer's vintage column here:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1755&dat=19990210&id=j28fAAAAIBAJ&sjid=330EAAAAIBAJ&pg=6422,8021623

Beyer indeed noticed the problem (as I indicated in my post) and gave credit in his column to two clockers for proving to GP's management that there was a problem, and showing them how to come up with the correct time from video replays.

Beyer's column doesn't mention that one of the clockers, Toby Callet, was Ragozin's Florida observer. Here's Callet's website which mentions that long association:
http://www.tobycallet.com/whoistobycallet.html

I didn't smear Beyer. Beyer, in his column, admits that he had been one of the "suckers" who had made bets based on the wrong published times.

My point was that those who don't use Beyers, which are based on published times, but instead rely on speed figures generated from accurate gate-to-wire times (that includes Sheets as well as other products) could have a strong edge once again if GP has timer issues with its new configuration.

If you think that's lame, go right ahead and explain why. But please show a little respect for Alan's blog and if all you've got to offer is personal sniping, take it somewhere else.

steve in nc said...

Sorry the Beyer article link doesn't work - just google Gulfstream Park timer error Toby Callet and you'll find it.

Anonymous said...

Gulfstream has Trakus this year.
RG

Anonymous said...

Stop being a whiner steve. Just say what you have to say and move on with it. Take your whining somewhere else son.

Figless said...

Re-read the blog and what's shocking to me is that streaming was only approved for another year. They can't even give NYRA this obviously successful business necessity for more than one year? What other industry has to deal with this crap?

If/when Coumo gets his way and there is a proposed constitution amendment to legalize all gambling in the State, I am certain they only allow craps for a year, subject to approval each and ever year? In the interest of fairness of course.

Figless said...

Re-read the blog and what's shocking to me is that streaming was only approved for another year. They can't even give NYRA this obviously successful business necessity for more than one year? What other industry has to deal with this crap?

If/when Coumo gets his way and there is a proposed constitution amendment to legalize all gambling in the State, I am certain they only allow craps for a year, subject to approval each and ever year? In the interest of fairness of course.

jk said...

I made it out to Resorts World on Saturday. You can no longer call this location the Big A.

The new food choices are tremendous and the prices were reasonable.

They need to put a few nyra terminals in the casino so I do not have to waste my time going back in time to make a bet. If they had a tv with ch. 71 I could phone in my bets to NYRA.

I watched the races from the balcony outside the casino, they did not even have the live race call outside. Instead it was the music they play inside the casino. I got to listen to "Jessie's Girl" during the running of the 2nd.

Bottom line: very comfortable surroundings in the casino which happens to have a race track adjacent to it. I doubt I will go back until they integrate horse betting into the new facility.

It is unreasonable to expect anyone to spend time in the "cave" with luxury accommodations next door.

jk said...

One final comment: I spoke to a few casino workers who said the crowds are down from the initial surge. Still busy but not jam packed.

Figless said...

Perhaps NYRA needs to rent wireless head phones so one can actually hear the racecalls and changes, even in the cave, where the garbled background noise is only a tad better than listening to Jessie's Girl (ok a lot better).

The food choices ARE in fact superior, the service incredibly fast and friendly (think NYC Deli with a smile), the prices reasonable ($2 LESS than I used to pay the grumpy NYRA bartenders for the same beer) and a tip cup nowhere to be found, not even sure its allowed.

I paid $5 for a hot, fresh, personal pizza, use to pay 4.75 for a horrible Sbarro slice that had been sitting under a heat lamp for three hours. And I wasn't sick the next day. I did not sample but the hot dogs on the grill appeared to actually be cooked, a great concept that may catch on in sporting venues all over the country. And coffee was $1.25.

So the overall experience is better, but not as good as it could be if NYRA spruced up their side of the building and Resorts would cooperate and put a few self service machines and a TV or two in the lobby (or even a kiosk outside), a la Belmont and Spa.

Doubt the latter will ever happen but hopefully once the dollars starts flowing NYRA will spend a few bucks.