Ohio Racing Commission

[porchy44]

A friend of mine who has been getting a "Racing Commission Pass" ( for the last 30 years) that allows him free admission to all Ohio tracks for the year. He got a letter from the Racing Commission stating that "passes have been discontinued".

I was just wondering with a new casino coming to OHIO, is it a good idea to alienate the last "50 or 100 fans" (at least in columbus, OH area) that attend the races on a daily basis ?

[cj]

Most racinos don't even charge admission. Is that possible here?

[Robert Goren]

Now that they have got slots, they don't have to worry about the horse race bettor. In the view of the people who run racing, handicappers in Ohio have gone from being a "necessary evil" to being a "pain in the ass".

[lamboguy]

Originally Posted by Robert Goren

Now that they have got slots, they don't have to worry about the horse race bettor. In the view of the people who run racing, handicappers in Ohio have gone from being a "necessary evil" to being a "pain in the ass".

interesting that you should say that. i have found the gambling business to be a very cyclical business. i remember when hotels in nevada decided that the space they use for poker games prevented them from showing greater profits with slot machines. what happened is the ones that got rid of the poker tables all struggled and wound up having to bring them back. the poker tables turned out to be the largest draw that the casino's had to get the people in to play the slot machines.

the exact same thing will happen with racino's. there is going to come a day where they are going to need the horseracing in order to get people in for slot machines.

the one thing in life that we all know is that wingtips always come back in style.

[aaron]

Originally Posted by lamboguy

interesting that you should say that. i have found the gambling business to be a very cyclical business. i remember when hotels in nevada decided that the space they use for poker games prevented them from showing greater profits with slot machines. what happened is the ones that got rid of the poker tables all struggled and wound up having to bring them back. the poker tables turned out to be the largest draw that the casino's had to get the people in to play the slot machines.

the exact same thing will happen with racino's. there is going to come a day where they are going to need the horseracing in order to get people in for slot machines.

the one thing in life that we all know is that wingtips always come back in style.

I sure hope you are correct.

[lamboguy]

Originally Posted by aaron

I sure hope you are correct.

looking at the handles of both santa anita and gulfstream, it looks like at least those 2 places are getting back on the right track. i also think NYRA is going to be giant this year and sulfolk downs looks better as well.

i can also tell by the amount of people that are looking at my 2 year olds this year every day. those people all want to be notified when specific horses are going to start breezing. this type of interest has been missing for the last 25 years.

we shall see

[JustRalph]

Originally Posted by porchy44

A friend of mine who has been getting a "Racing Commission Pass" ( for the last 30 years) that allows him free admission to all Ohio tracks for the year. He got a letter from the Racing Commission stating that "passes have been discontinued".

I was just wondering with a new casino coming to OHIO, is it a good idea to alienate the last "50 or 100 fans" (at least in columbus, OH area) that attend the races on a daily basis ?

I am sure that every speck of the gambling business in Ohio is under the microscope right now. With the Lawsuits and the political pressure on Kasich I bet they are killing anything that could cause somebody to write a news story or scandalize an issue.

[Tom]

Finger Lakes has had free parking and admissions for many years now.
Why in the world would a track charge admission if they wanted people to attend? Anyone pay to get into a diner?

[CincyHorseplayer]

I just want to see how slots are going to affect Ohio racing period.I still make some money on Ohio races but since every state around has stolen horses my betting in state has gone down by 70% since 2001.The races suck for the most part.Lesser of evils cards for weeks at a time.

[tbwinner]

Originally Posted by Tom

Finger Lakes has had free parking and admissions for many years now.
Why in the world would a track charge admission if they wanted people to attend? Anyone pay to get into a diner?

I agree. It's $8 to get into Arlington Park. And that's NOT including a program. You wonder why they complain about attendance.

[Uncle Salty]

Originally Posted by lamboguy

the one thing in life that we all know is that wingtips always come back in style.

Aww, wingtips never go out of style...