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Originally Posted by classhandicapper
I understand some of the inconsistencies is these rules, but when the industry is in such disarray I'm having a tough time understanding Crist's passion on this issue. Something like this is probably 100th on my list of things that should be changed. Not that I don't appreciate the effort. I just don't understand why he isn't writing about more pressing issues.
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When you think about it, the Palm Sunday/Easter Sunday ban in NY is a pressing issue, as the amount of money wagered by New Yorkers both on live and out-of-state races is significant.
Point #1: Handle that would have gone on Aqueduct (or any horse racing product running in NY) re-directs elsewhere, or is lost entirely.
Point #2: Out-of-state simulcasts (e.g. Santa Anita, Gulfstream, Keeneland) lose out on any handle generated by the NY tracks and OTBs.
Point #3: Major stakes races, especially Triple Crown preps, become unaccessible to New Yorkers, thus, the tracks lose NY handle that way. I have watched preps and other major races on ESPN over the years that looked like supreme betting affairs, but were unavailable to New Yorkers.
Point #4: Major exotic wagers, such as a Pick 6 carryover, become unaccessible to New Yorkers. Why do you think Gulfstream forced its Rainbow 6 carryover into a mandatory payday last season? New Yorkers would have gotten the shaft.
All of this ties into your argument that the industry is in disarray. By leaving New York out of the equation, it is even more so in disarray, as the current laws disenfranchise New Yorkers.
Of course the obvious solution would be for a player to open an account with either an out-of-state ADW, or an offshore shop. If a player wants to play THAT badly, they will do so, but should it have to be necessary?
It is a farce, plain and simple, to think that the sounds of one-armed bandits will be echoing throughout Aqueduct on Palm and Easter Sundays, yet horse racing, a form of gambling that is older than the State Lottery that controls the VLTs, is illegal.
Gambling is gambling.
