Tote outage last night

[dragon49]

I got screwed last night. 8th race, Mountaineer Park. I intended to bet an equal amount on the 4 and 5 horses to win. The nyrarewards.com site didn't respond when I clicked "submit" to finalize my wager, so I tried to call in the bet, but the operator responded that they lost their connection to the tote system and were unable to place any bets. By the time I called it was 1 minute to post, so I didn't have any time to find an alternate way to get the bet in.

I was praying that neither of the horses would win, hoping the outage helped me, but the 5 horse won and paid 9.00, so I got screwed.

It appeared that there was a delay starting the race, as I called the track for the results 20 minutes after post time and they told me that they weren't yet official. Did the delay have anything to do with the outage?

The NYRA phone operators are nice, but they haven't told me exactly what caused the problem.

WTF happened? Did the NYRA computers go down? Was their a nationwide tote outage? Is anybody going to be held accountable for the outage and disservice to the bettors? Did people using other systems have problems placing bets last night? The failed online wager was a little after 9:45 P.M. It looks like the NYRA outage was at least 30 minutes, maybe more.

[bello]

If it wasn't nationwide it was very widespread. Not sure the cause.

[NorCalGreg]

If it wasn't nationwide it was very widespread. Not sure the cause.

I'm in Cali and had not a problem anywhere--Twinspires or XB. I had the video of MNR on and the camera was pointed at a frozen tote with the first 4 finshers-not flashing or anything...and in graphic letters scrolling underneath it said "TOTE MALFUNCTION" I stopped looking and sometime later noticed it was working again.

[dragon49]

I'm in Cali and had not a problem anywhere--Twinspires or XB. I had the video of MNR on and the camera was pointed at a frozen tote with the first 4 finshers-not flashing or anything...and in graphic letters scrolling underneath it said "TOTE MALFUNCTION" I stopped looking and sometime later noticed it was working again.


You reminded me to get a second betting account to cover the future event that an outage is isolated to NYRA.

The whole situation was weird: I attempted to log out, then back into the site, before trying the phone bet. The site didn't allow me to log in, stating a malfunction, but it didn't kick me out earlier when wagering wasn't available.

I was fantasizing that I somehow got the bet in by clicking on "submit,", but the site always pops up a window, prompting for a confirmation, with an option to print the betting slip, and I never got that far.

[NorCalGreg]

You reminded me to get a second betting account to cover the future event that an outage is isolated to NYRA.

The whole situation was weird: I attempted to log out, then back into the site, before trying the phone bet. The site didn't allow me to log in, stating a malfunction, but it didn't kick me out earlier when wagering wasn't available.

I was fantasizing that I somehow got the bet in by clicking on "submit,", but the site always pops up a window, prompting for a confirmation, with an option to print the betting slip, and I never got that far.

If I'm not being too nosy, who's your ADW? The only reason I ask is because I don't think I get the option to print any single bet with the two I mentioned. I sometime make small bets for family and friends when we're watching the Derby, etc, and sometimes get accused of not even making the bets when they lose (which is almost everytime) :)

[dragon49]

If I'm not being too nosy, who's your ADW? The only reason I ask is because I don't think I get the option to print any single bet with the two I mentioned. I sometime make small bets for family and friends when we're watching the Derby, etc, and sometimes get accused of not even making the bets when they lose (which is almost everytime) :)


You are not being nosy at all. My ADW is the New York Racing Association:

https://www.nyrarewards.com/

They provide an excellent service. I can wager online with my PC, or with an iPad or iPhone. They also take telephone bets. They accept EFT deposits and pay out the same way. They cover tracks all over the country and foreign tracks as, well and also offer live streaming video of the races.

The only downside (for Non NY residents :)) is that you must by a resident of New York State, in order to be able to wager online. Check out:

https://www.nyrarewards.com/new_members/eligibility.aspx

[jballscalls]

Talked to a buddy who works in tote and he messaged the Hub. Said it was a RCN Communication error. So either a server went down, a wire got unplugged or something in the communication system between all of the network got disrupted and needed to be fixed and or rebooted. He said he'd let me know if he got more details.

[dragon49]

Talked to a buddy who works in tote and he messaged the Hub. Said it was a RCN Communication error. So either a server went down, a wire got unplugged or something in the communication system between all of the network got disrupted and needed to be fixed and or rebooted. He said he'd let me know if he got more details.

Thanks for the information.

I feel better knowing that my ADW provider wasn't at fault.

[NorCalGreg]

You are not being nosy at all. My ADW is the New York Racing Association:

https://www.nyrarewards.com/

They provide an excellent service. I can wager online with my PC, or with an iPad or iPhone. They also take telephone bets. They accept EFT deposits and pay out the same way. They cover tracks all over the country and foreign tracks as, well and also offer live streaming video of the races.

The only downside (for Non NY residents :)) is that you must by a resident of New York State, in order to be able to wager online. Check out:

https://www.nyrarewards.com/new_members/eligibility.aspx

You sound like you're fine with just the ADW you have now, D-Man. Keep in mind if you want a "back-up" ADW, you have to fund that bad boy. The only reason I have the two is because I left XB for the freebies at Twinspires, and just never closed the XB. Now if I'm running bad, I'll switch up (typical horseplayer--like that's gonna make a difference). Anyhoo, D-man, Good Luck :)

[thespaah]

I got screwed last night. 8th race, Mountaineer Park. I intended to bet an equal amount on the 4 and 5 horses to win. The nyrarewards.com site didn't respond when I clicked "submit" to finalize my wager, so I tried to call in the bet, but the operator responded that they lost their connection to the tote system and were unable to place any bets. By the time I called it was 1 minute to post, so I didn't have any time to find an alternate way to get the bet in.

I was praying that neither of the horses would win, hoping the outage helped me, but the 5 horse won and paid 9.00, so I got screwed.

It appeared that there was a delay starting the race, as I called the track for the results 20 minutes after post time and they told me that they weren't yet official. Did the delay have anything to do with the outage?

The NYRA phone operators are nice, but they haven't told me exactly what caused the problem.

WTF happened? Did the NYRA computers go down? Was their a nationwide tote outage? Is anybody going to be held accountable for the outage and disservice to the bettors? Did people using other systems have problems placing bets last night? The failed online wager was a little after 9:45 P.M. It looks like the NYRA outage was at least 30 minutes, maybe more.
Could have been anything. A failure in a long distance fiber optic cable is a good start.
Or a excavation cut. Server failure. Lots of different causes.
I think the fiber thing is kind of likely. But I could be wrong.
My friend across the street works for Sprint( Ericsson) as a fiber network manager. Often he is called out to reroute fiber traffic in case of a damaged or failed cable. He's told me lightning strikes can cause failures. Fiber cables that travel thru steel conduit which conducts electricity even if buried are sometimes damaged by lightning.

[Hoofless_Wonder]

It's not been as bad a problem as a few years ago, but I like to be prepared for outages. Not only do I have three ADW accounts (TS, XB and TVG), but I also have two ways to get online (Comcast and Verizon). And of course telephone numbers as a final line of defense.

If you've got a hot horse, you don't want to get shut out if it can be helped. Sounds like this outage might have been a show stopper though, 'cause if it's with the tote than nobody can help you.....

[dragon49]

Thanks for all of the informative replies.

I was really pissed and needed to vent. As the problem was with the tote and not my ADW, having a backup account may not have helped. I waited until 2 minutes before post time to attempt the wager as I needed to ensure that the odds warranted 2 win bets, but since it look like the tote went down at least 15 minutes before post, I would have been screwed as well, had I tried to get the wager in earlier.