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Originally Posted by ronsmac
I don't remember the OTB on Hillside Avenue but I went to Hillcrest High School right up the street. Did you ever catch the bus at Parsons and hillside that took you straight to Belmont Park? The neediest place I made a wager was Caliente in Tijuana Mexico.
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This is the winner, without question.
I recall Caliente having about a dozen OTBs in Tijuana, most of them were actually fairly nice relics with the big chalkboards, ample seating and windows. They had a couple in lobbies of hotels that were nicer than your typical Las Vegas book. Some of my fondest memories were taking the trolley down from San Diego and spending a Saturday afternoon at a neighborhood OTB throwing back $2 Dos Equis and eating street tacos while mixing in some dog and horse wagers. A couple times I cabbed it down to the actual Caliente dog track which was a little sketchy.
BUT, they had a couple OTB's which have to take the award for seediest OTB place. In particular the "Last Chance" OTB which was just off the border. It was open-air, from what I recall an aluminum roof and infested with flies and rodents. There were typically about 100 people jam packed in there, with maybe a small handful who were actually placing bets, the rest being homeless vagrants. I was a big, young dude back then and probably cared less about my safety than I should have, but I still felt a little uneasy walking around with anything more than $100 on me around there.
