NY Senate: Raise Takeout to Save OTB

[Zman179]

"The state Senate wants to impose a 1 percent surcharge on all winnings bets that it says would keep reductions to 15 percent across the board.

http://www.saratogian.com/articles/2...a029196842.txt

[Horseplayersbet.com]

Why not raise takeout by 4 or 5 points instead, and become profitable?

[Tom]

Why save OTB?
They are leeches who contribute NOTHING to racing.

They have THREE VPS of marketing, yet have done no marketing for two years!

OTB is a slush fund for political hacks and relative unfit to pick up garbage. NO ONE at OTB is worth a nickel in pay. NO ONE.

But you can say exactly the same thing about NYS, who, btw, MAC, is the WORST state in the Union, bar none.

NYS and OTB = thieves.

[Horseplayersbet.com]

Originally Posted by Tom

Why save OTB?
They are leeches who contribute NOTHING to racing.

They have THREE VPS of marketing, yet have done no marketing for two years!

OTB is a slush fund for political hacks and relative unfit to pick up garbage. NO ONE at OTB is worth a nickel in pay. NO ONE.

But you can say exactly the same thing about NYS, who, btw, MAC, is the WORST state in the Union, bar none.

NYS and OTB = thieves.

They are a dinosaur. Totally unnecessary. However, the loss of jobs is a concern.

Handle might increase if OTB's go under because the surcharge will be gone, and the horseplayers who flock to either the computer or the track will have a lot more to churn with.

[badcompany]

Originally Posted by Horseplayersbet.com

Why not raise takeout by 4 or 5 points instead, and become profitable?

The hurdle which keeps OTB from being profitable is that it has to give back 80% of its gross income to the bettors. So, obviously the answer is to eliminate all payouts

[point given]

Originally Posted by Zman179

"The state Senate wants to impose a 1 percent surcharge on all winnings bets that it says would keep reductions to 15 percent across the board.

http://www.saratogian.com/articles/2...a029196842.txt

I think NY OTBs already charge 2-3 % vig on winning bets unless you patronize one of the places where they charge you admission. So in fact they are just adding 1% to it and if those patrons are dumb enough to bet there, thats their business.

[hibiscus]

Originally Posted by Horseplayersbet.com

They are a dinosaur. Totally unnecessary. However, the loss of jobs is a concern.

Handle might increase if OTB's go under because the surcharge will be gone, and the horseplayers who flock to either the computer or the track will have a lot more to churn with.

Loss of jobs is never fun for anyone but keeping people employed in useless jobs that contribute nothing is not a solution. Why not just pay them to count paper clips somewhere?



Instead OTB needs to go. If that were to happen and the New York racing system can become functional then the net-net result will MORE jobs as upstate breeders can thrive and NYRA can grow and employ more people. All of those jobs will have direct involvement in New York racing and everything would have a much more realistic chance to grow healthily rather than by dragging around the anchor that is OTB.

[Zman179]

Originally Posted by point given

I think NY OTBs already charge 2-3 % vig on winning bets unless you patronize one of the places where they charge you admission. So in fact they are just adding 1% to it and if those patrons are dumb enough to bet there, thats their business.

Try a 6% vig. This plan would make it 7%.

[Tom]

Originally Posted by Horseplayersbet.com

They are a dinosaur. Totally unnecessary. However, the loss of jobs is a concern.

Not to me. Wasted money is wasted money. Go pack groceries at Piggly Wiggly.

[upset]

not one of the OTBs here in rochester turn a profit theres a higher handle at a 1 table poker joint in the back room of a computer store in Webster,ny than the webster OTB.

[Charlie D]

This move may be counter productive. If bettors have to give more back will they not be more inclined to drift towards illegal betting or other gambling mediums where they are not taxed at every turn.


Sounds like the patients are in charge of the asylum to me.

[Tom]

Charlie, in NYS, patients in an asylum know FAR more about racing than the powers that be, or the NYC horse press. The Post and Daily News writers are clueless about the game. Their articles are hogwash.

[Charlie D]

Here is what some in the business were saying at the announcement of UK betting tax being abolished.

This is fantastic news," said Warwick Bartlett, chairman of the British Betting Offices' Association. "Our members have been badly-hit by the attractions of tax-free offshore betting - now I'm sure all the punters will come back again. I might even start betting myself!"

William Hill chairman John Brown said: "The British punter wins because this will make it possible for us to offer deduction-free betting for the first time since betting shops were introduced 40 years ago.

"The Treasury wins because at this level of duty we will be able to repatriate our offshore bookmaking operations, so the taxman will share in all the profits we make on our fast-growing international business.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/art...abolished.html



If you create conditions where a boom may take place, you create job prospects, you create tax revenues from these booming businesses and thier employees.



Seems the patients are in charge of the asylum in NY and the USA to me.

[upset]

Originally Posted by Tom

Charlie, in NYS, patients in an asylum know FAR more about racing than the powers that be, or the NYC horse press. The Post and Daily News writers are clueless about the game. Their articles are hogwash.

Its the same way with property tax here in NY the politicians don't understand if you lower the property tax it would raise the value of the property same principal as lower takeout. These guys are nuts, look how long its taken the bigA to get the slots, 8 years and thir right back to square one. I remember 8 years ago the horsemen were talking about 80k MSW races.

[Charlie D]

Reading this forum over years and these type of threads you get to understand why the pools are probably not what they should be.


A radical overhaul is neeed to stimulate growth.