Seediest Place

[Teach]

What is the seediest place you ever made a bet from? There were two that stand out for me in my nearly fifty-seven years of making pari-mutuel bets; maybe you have a few of your own?

About twenty years ago (boy, how time flies), my wife and I were visiting her sister and our brother-in-law on Sannibel Island off Fort Myers, FL. It was quite a treat, especially during the harsh New England winter.

Well, I had this “Jones” for some betting action. But where? I ain’t gonna take “Alligator Alley” to Miami. Then, I noticed this dog track south of Ft. Myers in Bonita Springs (It was halfway between Fort Myers and Naples). I remember taking my brother-in-law and my nephew to the track.

As I recall, we initially went into the grandstand (if you can call it that!). It was the most seedy racing place I ever saw (In my life, I’ve been to quite a few low-life places). Dirty. No, filthy. Gross. I immediately suggested to my brother-in-law and his son that we pay a couple extra bucks and sit in the clubhouse. Which we did. As I think back, it was the kinda place you have nightmares about. And all because I wanted to bet the Donn Handicap.

The other place that stands out was in a place called Danielson, CT, right off Rte. #395 south of the MA border. As much as I like to gamble (I'd probably walk over hot coals or shards of glace to make a bet), my wife likes to shop. There was a big race in New York that afternoon. In a day and age before ADW, I suggested to my wife that we compromise. I’ll take her shopping at a TJ Maxx in Auburn, MA about a half-hour from our house and then I’ll head south into CT and make a few bets at a CT OTB in Danielson. My wife agreed.

Well, I leave my wife off at TJ Maxx to look at Eileen Fisher, Nine West and Elie Tahari while I journey a half-hour south to an OTB parlor I’d never been too.

When I arrived, what a revelation! The betting parlor was in this shopping mall. The place was hole in the wall. It was near one of those gas stations that have signs that are so high you’d think they were halfway to the moon.
Anyway, I park my car and walk over to the betting parlor. There are people outside smoking along with dozens and dozens of cigarette butts strewn all over the ground. I go in. It’s crowded. Not so much the fact that there are so many people there. The place is small. Tiny! If someone’s got a contagious disease, we’re all dead. Sleazy. Dirty. Grossitating!

Well, I believe I made one bet. I wasn’t staying in this place any longer than I had to. Oh, another surprise. All we could do was to listen to the race. No video! It reminded me of something out of the movie “The Sting”. Fuhgettaboutit! I was soon headed north and on my way back to Auburn, MA to hook up with my wife to see if she had just bought out the store.

[Robert Goren]

Aksarben in last year was very seedy. I think they knew they were going to close for a couple years and did not spend a nickel on the place. It was a shadow of its former self.

[alydar]

Some of the NYC OTB's I went to over the years were pretty bad.

[classhandicapper]

Originally Posted by alydar

Some of the NYC OTB's I went to over the years were pretty bad.

I always considered getting back to my car with my money part of the gambling action of the day whenever I went to the OTB on Hillside Ave in Queens.

I may have a topper though.

I was in an OTB in Manhattan one time and the manager and one of the better looking female clerks disappeared into his office for awhile (if you know what I mean). While that was going on another clerk was selling porn at his window.

[elhelmete]

Am OTB at a defunct dog track in Coeur d' Alene Idaho.

[horses4courses]

I was 10 years old, in the fall of 1968.
Running bets for my grandmother up on Lower Baggot Street
in Dublin, Ireland, to Kilmartins' Bookmakers.
What a seedy, hole in the wall, joint that was.
Various aromas were in the air from time to time -
none of them pleasant.

Two small holes in a wooden partition that separated
the female staff who graded the tickets from the customers.
That's where you placed the bets at. At any one time, there were
5 or 6 people standing around staring at newspapers
attached to wooden spring devices on the wall.

No past performances - just a list of horses, runners, and riders.
No commentary on the races - just a woman announcing from
somewhere in Dublin that a certain race was "off" at a certain time.
There were a few clipboards up on a shelf. That's where results
were marked on some printed sheets.

The Stone Age of bookmaking........

[thaskalos]

It has to be the Oakbrook Terrace OTB that I visited one day last week. What the heck happened to that place...it was the state's most profitable OTB, only a decade ago.

[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.

[devilsbag]

Originally Posted by classhandicapper

I was in an OTB in Manhattan one time and the manager and one of the better looking female clerks disappeared into his office for awhile (if you know what I mean). While that was going on another clerk was selling porn at his window.

Wasn't sure what you meant with the first part, but yours truly wrote "$5 to show on the X" on many OTB bet slips. Strange looks when instead of a mutuel ticket the clerk would slip a hermetically sealed three pack of adult magazines under the bullet proof glass. Hustler and High Society were usually the outside two, and the middle one was an old Turf and Sport Digest. Hit the jackpot one day...the three covers were: Seka, Nina Hartley, and Ruben Hernandez.

[Tom]

WROTB in Newark, NY.
I was happy to get out with my life, let alone win a damn bet!

[wisconsin]

Has to be Sanford-Orlando dog track in Orlando. 2002-what a dive place it was.

[mabred]

I'm at the Naples Dog Track as i write.Now it's a poker room / simo parlor

and dog track.A lot has changed in 20 years.Quite nice.Come on Down

and no snow..

mabred

[Robert Fischer]

Originally Posted by wisconsin

Has to be Sanford-Orlando dog track in Orlando. 2002-what a dive place it was.

I was there once (maybe in '01?). I had fun, but I was a young knucklehead, and I hit something. Probably was a dive.

Maybe that's the seediest one I've been to?
I also remember stopping in a NYOTB and the place was a dump, and there were some tough characters, and the 5%? surcharge was the icing on the cake!

[Delta Cone]

Originally Posted by thaskalos

It has to be the Oakbrook Terrace OTB that I visited one day last week. What the heck happened to that place...it was the state's most profitable OTB, only a decade ago.

I used to frequent that place...haven't been there in a couple of years. When I was there it felt like a funeral home. It wasn't dirty, just quiet.

[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.