Raffetto isn't smart enough to do anything beyond the current 10 day meet. He's simply doing a bait and switch deal whereby he's hoping most bettors will forget the 10% reduction is on for 10 days and they'll play Laurel's fall meet beyond the 10 days because they still think the 10% reduction is still in play.

If Laurel loses a lot of play because simulcast outlets won't take the signal, what is the net gain? IMO, there is none - only a big loss. And this comes on the heels of the recent $2k across the board purse cuts. So, combine lower take with a lower handle (due to loss of simulcast money) and I can't figure out how that puts more $$'s into the purse fund. I hope I'm wrong - I pray I'm wrong because MD racing can't continue to take the hits we've taken the last few years.

Then again, maybe this is a genius plan by Raffetto. Perhaps by doing this he envisions the loss of simulcast revenue and loss of exposure via simo signal so that instead of bringing more exposure to MD racing, he decreases exposure by loss of signal. This leads to more lost revenue, which allows the facilities to fall into greater disrepair, which drives away more customers, which reduces handle...... and all just in time for the next MD legislative session in Jan where the slots issue will be re-visited.