Opening Day at Gulfstream
 

A bit of news on the improvements, changes & expected horses to be running:

http://www.drf.com/news/article/81586.html

Still not accepting entries from horses coming from Payson Park

Will New York get a signal?

http://www.drf.com/news/article/81589.html

Opening Day Card:

http://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbR...2007&STYLE=EQB

Enjoy the meet everyone! :)

"All we are asking is for a little extra for our horsemen so we can pay decent purses down here."

Um, don't they have a freakin casino????

The signal dispute is with OTB and not NYRA. NYRA will be taking their races.

I've spent a lot of time on the card. Nothing major but it looks interesting. Have to figure out how to play the 3rd as Barcola is a major bet against. Maybe I will structure Pick-3s around it. The two turf races late in the day might be interesting as well.

I'm looking forward to getting very involved in this year's meet.

It's a silly line, I agree, but the idea that NY OTB pays under 2.5% for the premier prime time winter race meet is mind boggling. These racetracks have to stop giving away their signal.

I would love to know what percentage of NY OTB's Gulfstream handle is done at shops and what is done over the phone....as they would lose very little of the account wagering because those people rate to have other accounts or are at least amenable to opening one if OTB is shut out.

Would it affect the on-line betting they are now allowing toward the end of the month?

If OTB can't take the signal then it won't be available on-line through OTB. I am, however, quite certain this will be worked out. OTB may have less leverage now that Gulfstream has slots and may be in a financial position to tell them to take a hike.

I'm obviously not a complete sample but the vast amount of my Gulfstream handle is in-shop (which sucks for the obvious takeout reasons) for NYCOTB because of the fact that it isn't on channel 71 when Aqu is still running and I can't stand the choppy video on Xpressbet. Gotta think I'm the norm rather than the exception on this one.

2.5% is an absurdly low figure, especially considering they tax an additional 5% on all wagers. What a racket. Put up a dingy box with nothing in it except 10 half-broken tv's, a couple self bet machines, and 3 disgruntled ticket takers and you've got yourself a legal goldmine.

Wait a sec, Phil, do you mean to tell me you are paying the surcharge? That's insane. Please tell me you aren't doing that.

I try at all costs not to! I HATE the phone system, hopefully the online wagering will make life easier.

What is wrong with betting over the phone? The NYRA-One operators are good. Open an account there. Paying the surcharge is beyond crazy at this point. You should be getting a rebate...not paying one.

I was thinking the same thing. I only go to Capitol OTB where it is a no brainer as to whether or not you want to pay the $1 to go to the much nicer atmosphere and get track odds or go over to the scary part and have them take a portion of your winnings.

It's crazy. The OTB surcharge is dispicable.

Agreed, I have a NYRA One account and much prefer the operators on there to the NYCOTB surlies...

NYCOTB isn't set up quite the same as Capital OTB, unfortunately- only the "teletheaters" have the pay-$5-to-avoid-surcharge, and there's only a smattering of them. The telephone account is fine but the automated system is REALLY slow, and the phone tellers are really azzholes. NYRA phone people are much better but the deposit/withdrawal can be an issue if you can't make it to the track that day, the credit card companies including my bank card often will deny the charges which means you have to go the loophole method and they stick you with a $29.95 charge for each deposit. Otherwise I'd use NYRA all the time.

NYRA needs to find a way that allows people in NY State to use a bank to make a deposit. It should be managable. I keep meaning to bring that up.

That sucks dude. Sounds like it is time to move up to Albany.

I believe you can, but I had my bank account information breached and a lot of money stolen out of my account from what I believe was bill-pay activity online. So handing my checking account information to a teller freaks me out a bit.

Side note: I just checked the NYRA Rewards website and Magna tracks now qualify for rebates, as of yesterday. Good stuff. Whomever takes over the franchise should keep the rebating program intact.

That house on 5th Ave next to the Oklahoma track calls my name like every day.

bris bet...or reb shop pinnacle..dont know about 5 dimes..

That house on 5th Ave next to the Oklahoma track calls my name like every day.

Which one?