Bettors last on Hinsdale priority pay list..

[Suffolk Shippers]

Originally Posted by Kasept

Hasn't been discussed much here but the abrupt Hinsdale bankruptcy caught a lot of players by surprise... Will be lucky to get .20-.30 on each dollar at the end of next year.

Herschel Bird out $138,000.. Andy Beyer $20,000.. Another player $50,000..

Other racetracks owed simu money also will get short-changed..

http://www.drf.com/news/article/100599.html

Yours truly out a few hundo...nothing compared to the others, but I hadn't even heard this happened, thanks for the news Steve. Hinsdale was my "ADW-proof" account...no more!

[Mike]

I live across the river(in Vermont)from the Hinsdale dog/otb track. I never had money in an account there, and am surprised at the losses bettors will have to endure here.
However, this track has been struggling big time for several years, with many rumors of it closing and becoming a WalMart superstore.
Hinsdale was where I bet on horses years ago, and where I did enjoy many closed circuit boxing matches. But, once the Internet and online wagering came around, there was no reason for Hinsdale's existence anymore. They gave up on dog racing a while ago, I think, and tried to get interest in Poker
It was mainly a very depressing place

[herkhorse]

I spent quite a bit of time at Hinsdale in the 80's, it was actually a premier simulcasting facility. Hard to believe they fell this far.

I had my first harness racing experience there when I was in high school. I bet the 6 horse to win, and he broke before the start. I was like WTF? I thought the horse had broken his leg Took my a long time to get over that.

None of my business, but 138,000 is a lot of money to have in a wagering account.

[Suffolk Shippers]

Just wanted to give this a bump for those out there, like me, who were affected...you should have or should be getting a court document from Presti, Flaherty, Beliveau and Pachios regarding a meeting of "creditors" scheduled for some time in January, and it also lists the amount you have in claim as a "nonpriority claim". It is also has a claim form to begin the process of getting some of our money back.

[djw]

The Keene Sentinel is the only daily on this side of the state. It ran this AP story in todays editions:

A call for a probe into the sudden closing of the Hinsdale Greyhound track

Published: Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Agency asks AG to look into Hinsdale track

CONCORD — The New Hampshire agency that oversees the state’s race tracks wants to know if the Hinsdale Greyhound Park broke any laws when it declared bankruptcy last month.

Timothy Connors, head of the state’s Racing and Charitable Gaming Commission, has asked the attorney general to look into whether the track broke the law by declaring bankruptcy without alerting bettors who had accounts at the track.

Connors said the track had promised it would cover the money in wagering accounts, but did not.

The track’s lawyer says some of the $400,000 to $500,000 in the accounts was used to pay off employees. The lawyer, John Sullivan, says the track broke no law. (AP)

It is VERY odd that as the State of NH start to finally take a serious look at VLT's that this sompany turns in a license they could sell for more than the track itself is worth. All along there have been only 4 locations that have ALWAYS been mentioned as outlets: the 3 dog tracks;Seabrook, Hinsdale, and the Lodge at Belmont (Lakes Region) and Rockingham Park which has reverted back to Harness Racing.

[djw]

Over the past weekend, teh Saturday edition of the local Daily in the Hinsdale Area, the Keene Sentinel (www.sentinelcource.com) had as its lead beneath the masthead a new story about Hinsdale Racetrack and the Phone Bet Issues. This story gets a worse aroma each time it rears its head. Steve Crist is quoted in the story, and it talks about some "interesting" land deals between the owner of the track, the development company which bought some of the land, which is owned by the main owner of the track, and also where they were on their bills - or not paying them. Lists the Salary of Sullivan while the shipw as taking on water from all sides and also while the state was sending in auditors on a weekly basis to keep an eye on things.

On a personal note, the most interesting aspects of this story are that Hinsdale went before the NH Gaming Board in non-public (NP) session. Having served on muncipal boards in the state before, there are VERY specific rules for which you can and can not go into NP, what you can discuss, and what minutes must be kept. The commissioners to a man say that Sullivan )the owner) said that the bettors would be paid. He denies this. (I'm shocked to find gambling going on in this establishment!) The fact they are discussing in general what took place in NP tells me which way teh state is leaning, and Sullivan's response as to why he never told the bettor's or brought it up at the hearings/discussions ("They never asked") is not going to set well with any of the other parties involved.

Crist's quote is a classic. If anyone wants more on thh local flavor of the discussion as it continues, I will try to keep you up to date as it not only effects some of the people I enjoy reading and learning from here on DT but also because this could be what is used as a case study for how other states set-up/adjust their Phone Betting systems. If no one cares to ask or follow-up with thoughts, I will leave you all alone on this one and I will drop the local updates.

Thanks for all the enjoyment you bring to me on a subject I love greatly, and I just wanted to amke a contribution since so many of you have taught me so much about this sport we hold so dear.

[herkhorse]

thanks djw, keep 'em coming