Belterra Must Have A Death Wish
 

To those of us who play the races at Belterra Park, it is home. We know the horses, jockeys and trainers, and occasionally can make a buck when the stars align and a good thing wins, such as Henny Heffner on Tuesday at 8-1.

The only downside is that we who play from home didn't get the chance to bet Henny on Tuesday, because the Belterra wagering platform was pulled from TVG and all other ADW sites I've been informed.

Belterra gets by with handle of about $500,000 a day under normal circumstances, but for the past three days, their on-track only handle has been $35,000, $25,000 and $26,000. Not $350,000 BUT $35,000. Pick Three and double pools are generating about $125 in action.

This is embarrassing, and should be embarrassing for Boyd Gaming, which was supposed to be horse racing friendly when they took over two years ago.

I was told by a Belterra insider on Tuesday, that it was the result of a dispute with the horsemen, and would be resolved on Tuesday and back up on Wednesday. Well, it's now gone three days without resolution and no word to the players via the website nor e/mail of the existing problem,nor plans to resolve it.

This is a shame, because Belterra Park is a nice place and holds a niche here in Southern Ohio and is part of the Belterra, Thistledown, Mahoning Valley circuit. I do hope they get this resolved and we can get back to providing their service to those of us who can't get the track, nor would want to bet into the meager pools if we could.

Is this why they aren't racing tomorrow or Saturday....DERBY DAY...on LABOR DAY WEEKEND?

No, their normal race days are Tuesday-Friday.
They have advertised for the past two weeks that they would not race live this Friday. This allows them to use the parking garage for drive-through wagering and to sell seats in the Race Book for escalated charges, and comp their high-roller slots players.

Great business plan!

Actually they are better off on normal weeks when they get some national exposure on TVG TV earlier in the week. You would think however, that on big race days such as the Oaks and Derby they would want to take advantage of the large on-track crowd and race live as well as the holiday on Monday.

Management hasn't taken a visible interest in racing since Kevin Kaufmann retired/was run off.

That 8:1 price wouldn’t have closed at 8:1 if everybody sitting on their couch at home and the tech/modeling groups all threw their money in while they’re loading (followed by the obligatory post on here about past posting). It’d be nice to have a separate pool for on track wagering vs adw, and I’d be at hawthorne every day of the year that either breed is running in order to bet into it

You want fries wit dat Super?:lol:

And I agree with you.

River Downs was my favorite track. I have not been back since they changed the name, tore down the grandstands and built the casino. I want to remember it the way it was. I would not be surprised to find that most of their income comes from the slots and they couldn't care less about the racing handle.

Triple Crown races at the Old River Downs was a blast.

Absolutely!!! The casino was built under the guise of supplementing the purses of the racetrack. To some degree they probably have, but the prime interest at Belterra Park is the casino and slots revenue. The racing end is considered and treated like a burden, and is definitely the scond-class citizen in the operation..

Thistledown ran live on Derby Day and did $562,000 handle with no TV or national support. I'm sure they had a large on-track crowd, who also played the local product.

I was able to bet Thistle Down today from Sam Houston.

I stand corrected and should know better.
Thistledowns was available on all of the ADW sites and via their normal simulcasting network, ergo the half million dollar handle. They were not carried on TVG TV I guess was my thinking, which obviously wasn't very clear. :confused:

Week two of NO ADW wagering. Another $26,000 handle day.

I talked to my source at Belterra who informed me that management and the horsemen are still in discussions.

Most Pick 3 Pools had les than $150 in handle, and the Pick 6 (with a $294 carryover) generated $95 in new money.

How would you like to be the lucky Pick 3 player to select three consecutive longshots, only to receive $85???

I realize that Belterra Park is a very minor league track, and has sort of a cult following, but they do handle a half-million some days with TVG coverage and ADW.

We are making fools of ourselves.

It's funny that you're upset about this, but earlier in the thread you thought separate on-track wagering pools were a good idea. You do realize these pool sizes are what you'd be betting into, right?

So don’t bet the horizontals? They’re going to be inefficient pools across the board, most handicappers not playing the chalk would love that

You must have mis-read something I said. I've been complaining about no AWD wagering since my first post. Solely operating on on-track handle is the Death Wish.

You would think that they would eliminate the horizontals until they get this thing resolved.

I need AWD wagering. I haven't been on-track since Thanksgiving and won't be back until they relax the mask requirements etc.. Playing Belterra via TVG was a godsend to me. I wish I had discovered "play from home" years ago, it would have saved me a ton of slots and dinner money.

The pools look like Lebanon Raceway circa 2007. Fall in love with the ALL button, scoop some pools. :jump:

About 15 years ago I hit a P3 at River Downs that paid $273.
The highest priced winner in my ticket was $5.20.
When I went home and checked the the charts, I discovered that I won the whole pool.

Amwager is taking bets from Belterra today.
The pools are still pathetic.

Once again another dispute with horsemen which results in the consumer getting shafted. Time and time again, across the nation horsemen's groups get their panties in a wad and believe everyone is out to screw them. In turn they behave like 1950's style union thugs .
I am waiting for the day when a track or state decides to put their foot down and tell the horsemen "no, we're not shutting down anything. You guys get your ass to the conference room and hash this out. Meanwhile, we go on as normal"
If they threaten to boycott the entry box, kick 'em off the grounds. They won't leave. Where are they going to go?

https://www.paulickreport.com/news/t...year-contract/


back tomorrow

Returned on Tuesday with a handle of $422,000 as opposed to the $26 to $30k daily handles they have been experiencing for the past three weeks.

There must be a bean-counter at Belterra who must realize that we need ADW, that we want ADW, and that we can't survive without ADWs.

There were a lot fewer 9999's in the will-pay columns yesterday. :jump: