Seediest Place

[thaskalos]

Originally Posted by Delta Cone

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.

It's now the dingiest-looking OTB that I've ever been to. And I get around...

[Prairie Bettor]

Originally Posted by 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.

How about Atokad even in the good years? LOL

I was there several times in the early 80's and it was interesting to say the least. Never went back once Canterbury opened.

[ultracapper]

Originally Posted by elhelmete

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

To the west of that about 120 miles is the OTB parlor in West Wenatchee, Washington. My son was there playing in a baseball tournament when he was 13 or 14, and my wife and I wanted to place a bet on some "big" race at Emerald Downs. A friend owned a horse that shouldn't have been in this particular $30k added stake race, but we wanted to show our support with a losing ticket to show him when we got back to Seattle. Anyhow, it's a biker bar with one pari-mutuel window back in a little room with about a half dozen tables and one pool table. The place stank beyond belief, and the guys playing pool seemed very at home in this particular sty. My wife drinks a couple beers and decides to get acquainted.

God, she can be a fool sometimes.

[jahura2]

Originally Posted by wisconsin

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

Continuing a theme here. the seediest place I ever wagered at was the now defunct Key West Kennel Club in the '70s They used to grade the track with a rusted pickup dragging a square of chain link fence weighted down by cinder blocks.
Scary place even during the matinees.

[ronsmac]

Originally Posted by classhandicapper

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.

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.

[horses4courses]

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.

Wow....that surprises me.
I worked for Inter-Track Partners in Chicago for a year (92-93)
That branch at Oakbrook Terrace was a big producer for them.
Times change....

[cj]

I haven't been in a decade, but Rosecroft was pretty bad. I never, ever got excited when I won and would come back during the day to cash tickets.

[thaskalos]

Originally Posted by horses4courses

Wow....that surprises me.
I worked for Inter-Track Partners in Chicago for a year (92-93)
That branch at Oakbrook Terrace was a big producer for them.
Times change....

I was a regular fixture of that place between 2000-2004...and the place was MOBBED. You'd get the shock of your life if you walked in that place today.

[ArlJim78]

In addition to dirty and seedy, do you ever notice that no matter what you will see the same people in those places practically every day? I used to frequent Hazel Park a lot back in the 80's (what a dump) then went back a few times for old times sake about 20 years later, and some of the same people were there! looking like they were wearing the same clothes too. creepy.

[thaskalos]

Originally Posted by ArlJim78

In addition to dirty and seedy, do you ever notice that no matter what you will see the same people in those places practically every day? I used to frequent Hazel Park a lot back in the 80's (what a dump) then went back a few times for old times sake about 20 years later, and some of the same people were there! looking like they were wearing the same clothes too. creepy.

Were they still betting...or were they just keeping warm/cool?

[TucsonGreyhound]

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.

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.

[AlBundy33]

Originally Posted by wisconsin

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

Agreed. And it was a dump the only time I went there in 1995.

[MutuelClerk]

Does it have to be a race track? A couple blind pigs in Detroit many years ago playing poker, craps. 4am. In hindsight, not the smartest thing I've ever done.

[gaz]

hazel park near detroit in 94

[AndyC]

Racebook in downtown Tijuana in early 70s.