Seediest Place

[thespaah]

Before the makeover to the Empire Casino and Racetrack, I'd have to say the Yonkers Raceway lower level grandstand was about the nastiest racetrack I'd been to.
The place was filthy. The paint peeling. The smoke( and I smoke) was like a San Francisco Bay fog bank. Even though the place was crowded typical Sat nite crowd was over 15k, there seemed to be one degenerate for every 5 bettors.

[taxicab]

I'm in Nor Cal,so everything out here is decent enough.
Once I was in Chicago and I went to an OTB on Lake St.
The neighborhood was fine,but the parlor was rundown and dirty.
It could of been a nice enough place if they would of put some time and effort into it........that was 2006,perhaps it's nicer now.
Of course the next day we hopped the train to AP,easily the most beautiful track I've ever been to........nothing else is even close.
I used to get through Detroit a bit.
I always enjoy Grandstands at live racing venues.
I never upgraded to a Clubhouse/Turf Club quicker then DRC.
My wife is from Puerto Rico......she says they have some flat out dangerous OTB's there.

[appistappis]

in the late 70's in montego bay Jamaica at a, I'll call it, an off track betting shack.

[Hoofless_Wonder]

I'm no Track Collector, but I've been to a few places, one that was the seedy runaway winner. A few comments:

I disagree with the OP's opinion of Bonita Springs. When I went to South Florida in 1987, I thought both Hialeah and Bonita were very nice - though my frame of reference at the time was Fairmount Park. Bonita had colored lights in the fountain in the infield, a decent crowd, and excellent service. I've been back there over the years, and it went downhill for sure, but still isn't close to being seedy.

Rosecroft - bad part of town, but not so seedy. Went there quite a bit in 1994-1995.

My List:

Honorable Mention: Greenetrack Dogs, Eutaw, AL - 1987 - went once. Not so seedy, but very poor. Expected a crowd similar to Fairmount, but found the grandstand filled with about 1000 people, and only 20 or so of us white. Didn't feel in any danger, but definitely out-of-place. Only venue I've been to with fried chicken livers and gizzards on the menu. The dollar bills returned by the tellers were very, very worn. Crowd was friendly though, and having a good time.

5th Seediest: Sunland Park, 1988 - before casinos inflated the purses, very run down.
4th Seediest: Bluegrass Downs, early 1990s - smoke as thick as a battlefield in the grandstand, in stark contrast to the fall leaves of the trees on the backside and decent racing surface.
3rd Seediest: 2002 - Capital OTB, Springfield, IL - the stench of urine and tobacco smoke, dirty latrines, and horrible service make this one of the worst - was glad that ADW wagering was putting it out of business.
2nd Seediest: OTB, Lake Havasu City, late 1990s - in some bar on the west side of town, very run down, patrons looked as tough as any crowd I've ever seen.

The Seediest: OTB in San Luis, Mexico (near Yuma), late 1980s. Talked my dad into going here one day, expecting something similar to the OTB in Algondones, which is near by. Total dump. Peeling linoleum which hadn't been mopped in years, two TVs, no live signals for American horses, beat up, beat up and beat up some more. Four people in the place, with me trying to bet Aqueduct. No Forms, no programs, only scratch sheets. "We'll let you know if your horse wins, senor". Check. While coming back through the border crossing:

Border Agent: "Did you purchase anything during your visit to Mexico?"

My dad: "No. We went to the OTB to bet the horses, but they weren't on TV."

Border Agent: Eyes growing wide, "You went in the OTB?"

Me: "Yeah, not a nice place."

Border Agent: "No kidding. We hear gunfire coming out of there a couple of nights every week...."

[horses4courses]

Originally Posted by taxicab

I'm in Nor Cal,so everything out here is decent enough.
Once I was in Chicago and I went to an OTB on Lake St.
The neighborhood was fine,but the parlor was rundown and dirty.
It could of been a nice enough place if they would of put some time and effort into it........that was 2006,perhaps it's nicer now.
Of course the next day we hopped the train to AP,easily the most beautiful track I've ever been to........nothing else is even close.
I used to get through Detroit a bit.
I always enjoy Grandstands at live racing venues.
I never upgraded to a Clubhouse/Turf Club quicker then DRC.
My wife is from Puerto Rico......she says they have some flat out dangerous OTB's there.

taxi, was that the OTB at State and Lake in the Chicago Theater?
It was in good shape when I worked there in the early 90s.
I think it's gone now, though.

[plainolebill]

Originally Posted by parlay

Was in Bridgetown this past December. I was walking though town and suddenly saw 2 OTB'S. I walked into the seedier looking one just to see what was going on and for some unknown reason my wife followed me in. She took one look and ran out, and i quickly followed. It was a zoo, so bad that even i wouldn't go there if it was my only option.

I saw those dives and decided not to go in, they had a live meet at Garrison Savannah going on at the time so I went there. Pleasant country meet.

Seediest place I've bet in was the old Caliente sports book in downtown Tijuana.

[taxicab]

Originally Posted by horses4courses

taxi, was that the OTB at State and Lake in the Chicago Theater?
It was in good shape when I worked there in the early 90s.
I think it's gone now, though.

I'm not sure of the neighborhood,but the OTB was only a short cab ride from The Magnificent Mile(we were staying at the Knickerbocker).
It was kind of weird,I remember they charged a dollar to get in and you had to walk up a short narrow flight of stairs to get to a smallish room on the second(?) floor........I think.
The place could of been decent,but it looked like the parlor was ignored by management.

[Elliott Sidewater]

Pimlico simulcast, in the summer of 1992. The horses were running at Laurel at the time. Maybe I have it backwards, it was a long time ago.
I was sitting in the "Sports Palace" but got restless and wandered down to the grandstand to see the rest of the place. Half of the people down there were spitting on the concrete floor, the other half were lying on it. Standing there in the stench and scattered trash, you could close your eyes and imagine what Calcutta is like.

[horses4courses]

Originally Posted by taxicab

I'm not sure of the neighborhood,but the OTB was only a short cab ride from The Magnificent Mile(we were staying at the Knickerbocker).
It was kind of weird,I remember they charged a dollar to get in and you had to walk up a short narrow flight of stairs to get to a smallish room on the second(?) floor........I think.
The place could of been decent,but it looked like the parlor was ignored by management.

Sounds right - it was probably in better shape in the 90s.

[Inglewood Flamingo]

Originally Posted by ReplayRandall

Las Vegas has a very seedy place just off Fremont St. downtown. Right behind the Pioneer club, in all its glory sits Leroy's Race and Sportbook. When you first enter, you will immediately be engulfed by the smell of urinals and cheap cigars. Eyes of every bust-out and pickpocket in Vegas will follow your every move as you slowly walk through yesterdays trash on all tables and floors, dingy would be a compliment to describe the 20 year old blurred, nicotine stained monitors for your viewing pleasure. I never would have walked in the joint but was doing someone a "favor" by picking up their friend who, for some reason, liked to wallow there.....A truly unforgettable experience in the late '80's.

http://over50vegas.com/114_S_1st_St_Saratoga_Club.html

[ReplayRandall]

Yes, that's the place....minus the windows, it still looks the same...

[AFilly4theAges]

At the time I resided in downtown Chicago,but was leaving a business meeting at Abbot Labs in Waukegan Illinois.It was Oaks Friday,and I wanted to place a wager on Rachel Alexandra.I GPS'd where the nearest O.T.B. was located in Waukegan.It was hidden behind a White Castle,the parking lot was pot-holed,the guards at the entrance were passing a bottle within a brown paper bag amongst themselves.Inside there was not one female except the tellers,and it was packed.The place was filthy,seedy,dank,dimly-lit,and funky! And so were most of the occupants.I got my ticket and got the hell out.

[theiman]

As a few mentioned. The Caliente OTB just over the border in TJ. I haven't been there in 20 years, and never will be on that side of the border again.

In NYC, some of the OTB's in Manhattan were incredibly seedy. Especially in the cold and the hot weather. Free heat and AC all beggars welcome.

By the way, there was a guy at Del Mar satellite back in the mid 90's who was called the Turk. On the second floor of the facility in what was called the sports club there were chairs and tables to sit at. Many people during the races would leave their seats and walk to the front of the room to watch the races on 3 large screen TV's. This guy, the Turk, would walk by the tables, during the races, and take a bite of peoples food or sandwiches and drinks, as the people walked up front to watch the races. He was finally caught and tossed from the facility.

[pele polo]

Bluegrass Downs in Paducah, Ky. Not necessarily seedy but the biggest dump I've been to. Harness track.

I was Tijuana 10 years ago and they must have had close to 50 OTBs around the city (at least half that). Some were indeed seedy, the others are still the nicest and classiest OTBs I've ever been to, one was at or near a hotel and large bank... name escapes me now. Many of you are probably remembering the one that was literally at the border. There was also the jai alai on Revolution as well others on that strip. Overall OTBS anywhere are usually dumps.

A couple people mentioned Sanford Orlando. I was just there 2 weeks ago. This place is far from a dump but that was my first visit there. Clean and they have a fairly new sports bar/simulcast parlor separate from grandstand that is nice.

Recent trip to Turfway was disturbing.

[pele polo]

The Caliente book at Pueblo Amiga was very nice. Americans would come over and bet big on sports. I saw plenty hand over 10k, 20k in cash at one time on one bet.

There was another to that was very nice but can't remember the name. The upstairs part of the track was cool as well.