Read more: http://horsetalk.co.nz/2015/05/04/lawmakers-bid-end-racing-sweetheart-gambling-privileges/#ixzz3ZDC1Tq9B

Lawmakers in bid to end US racing’s “sweetheart gambling privileges”

Horsetalk.co.nz | May 4, 2015

 

Two US lawmakers are having a crack at the American racing industry in what appears to be a “big stick” tactic aimed at reining in what the pair describe as chronic abuse of performance-enhancing drugs and corruption.

 

Their bill, which would eliminate most betting on American horse-racing, has been labeled a shameless publicity stunt by the head of National Thoroughbred Racing Association.

 

It aims to repeal the Interstate Horseracing Act of 1978, which would put a stop to about 90 percent of the $US11 billion wagered annually on American racing. The Senate bill was introduced by Senator Tom Udall (D-N.M.), with Representative Joe Pitts (R-Pa.) introducing it to the House.

 

The pair say it is aimed at ending doping and cracking down on cheaters.

 

“The National Thoroughbred Racing Association strongly opposes this most recent attack on horse-racing,” its president and chief executive, Alex Waldrop, said.

 

The legislation threatened to destroy the economic viability of the $US26 billion horse-racing industry and the 380,000 jobs it supported nationwide, he said.

 

 

“This bill is a shameless publicity stunt that mischaracterizes one of the nation’s most highly regulated sports,” he added. It ignored the significant progress the industry had achieved at the state level in recent years through widespread adoption of the National Uniform Medication Program.

 

It also unfairly disparaged the thousands of people who worked daily to make horse-racing as safe and fair as possible for all participants, Waldrop added.

 

US Jockey Club president and chief operating officer James Gagliano said his organization had no knowledge of the bill that Udall and Pitts announced.

 

“We are disappointed that they have decided to take this approach,” he said.

 

“The Interstate Horseracing Act of 1978 is the lifeblood of the industry, and we strongly oppose any effort to repeal it.

 

“The Jockey Club believes that medication reform in the thoroughbred industry will come about only with insight and cooperation from industry stakeholders, and we will continue to work with legislative leaders and Thoroughbred industry groups to develop and implement uniform rules and penalties that further ensure the safety of our athletes and the integrity of our sport.

 

James Gagliano

 

“As an organization, the Jockey Club firmly believes that horses should compete only when they are free from the influence of medication.”

 

Udall and Pitts noted that horse-racing was the only sport permitted by federal law to offer online gambling and interstate betting.

 

The pair laid out their concerns around what they called chronic abuse of performance-enhancing drugs and corruption which the pair said had stained the industry.

 

They acknowledged that their bill would spell to end to 90 percent of the $US11 billion wagered on horse-racing.

 

“It’s time to crack down on corruption by ending horse-racing’s sweetheart gambling privileges. We must stop the abuse and restore integrity to this once-dignified sport,” Udall said.

 

Pitts said racing was “plagued” by too many unscrupulous individuals who wanted to win at all cost.
 

“Despite years of promises of reform, horseracing groups have been unable to come together to develop uniform rules that protect both horses and the integrity of the sport. This legislation will end a federal exception for gambling on horse-racing.”

The Pretense to 'SAVE HORSE RACING'

Horse Racing is on LIFE SUPPORT!

In each and every state there is a pretense by the Gambling Vultures that EXPANDED GAMBLING will somehow SAVE RACING....while lining their pockets.

Horse race machines near the finish line

Idaho State Journal

Critics have likened the machines, which feature screens that display the end of actual races and betting information, to illegal slot machines.

 

 

Idaho Senate President Pro Tempore Brent Hill 'strongly leaning' toward instant racing law repeal Idaho State Journal Hill referred to the devices used for instant horse racing — also termed “historical horse racing” by some — as “slot machines,” during a Friday ...

 

They're at the Post: Idaho Lawmakers Honor Gary Stevens Monday, Rethink 'Historic Horse Race ... Boise Weekly ... keep the doors open at Idaho racetracks, but opponents insist that the machines are too similar to slot machines, which are illegal in the Gem State.

Leave it to New York!

When New York State was inspired to open OTB Parlors, they were placed in POOR NEIGHBORHOODS.

Neighborhoods may have been poor, but they were family-oriented with little crime.

That all changed with New York State's Brain Fart!

Bereft of ideas, incapable of fiscal reform or economic development....here they go again!

08/06/2014

NYRA explores self-betting terminals at bars

By David Grening

 

 

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Almost four years after New York City Off-Track Betting closed, the New York Racing Association is hoping to re-enter the market by placing self-betting machines at select bars and restaurants throughout Manhattan.

 

According to Anthony Bonomo, a member of NYRA’s Re-Organization Board, he and NYRA president and chief executive Chris Kay have met with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and hope to finalize a proposal by September that would allow customers who are members of the NYRA Rewards program to wager on machines in some of the city’s establishments. Bonomo said NYRA would attempt to target 50 establishments in the five boroughs.

 

“We’ve had a couple of meetings with the city, the mayor’s office, and the mayor himself to discuss the strategy,” Bonomo said following a NYRA board meeting Wednesday at the Saratoga National Golf Course. “We’re very far down the line, I think, to getting the approval to go forward with this.

 

It’s good for racing, it’s good for the bar owners because they’re looking for things to attract people into their establishments. It will be very controlled under the auspices of the mayor’s office.”

 

In order to avoid needing legislative approval for this to happen, only players who are NYRA Rewards members would be able to place a wager in a bar or restaurant.

 

Re-establishing its presence in the city will be part of NYRA’s long-term planning strategy for re-privatization that it hopes to present to the full board in December, though that plan is not due until April. The plan also will include recommendations regarding NYRA’s two downstate tracks, Aqueduct and Belmont Park.

 

Michael Dubb, who co-chairs the Long-Term Planning Committee with Bobby Flay, said, “There’s no economics operating two racetracks eight miles apart.”

 

Dubb said NYRA has engaged an architectural firm to discuss how to make Belmont “suitable for year-round racing, reducing the size of the grandstand, bring in other potential uses for some of the land,” with the goal of bringing more people to the track. “Every major sports venue in the city has been redone ... so we want to be on a level with them,” he said.

 

Though an alternate use of Aqueduct has not been determined, Dubb said Aqueduct’s “highest value is probably to Genting for future development.” Genting operates the casino at Aqueduct.

In other news:

 

◗ Through the first six months of 2014, NYRA had net income of $13.9 million but had an operating loss from racing operations totaling $5.2 million. NYRA has handled $1.1 billion this year, a 3.1 percent increase over the $1.078 billion handled through the first six months of 2013.

 

◗ While not taking a stance on the recent proposal by trainers to gradually phase out race-day medication, Kay said there will be meetings with NYRA’s Racing Committee and Equine Safety Committee “to address the efficacy of race-day medication, knowing the state will ultimately make the final decision.

 

“We know there are different points of view. We intend to address this issue promptly, fairly, and with all relevant information available to us and consider all stakeholders in this process,” he added.

 

“We’ll do so over the next couple of months, doing what is right for the horse, for us, and for the horse-racing industry.”

 

◗ Kay was awarded a $250,000 bonus and a 3 percent raise on his $300,000 base salary by the board. “He’s restored NYRA to profitability, built a strong management team, improved equine safety, enforced transparency, and taken significant steps to enhance customer experience,” said Vincent Tese, chairman of the Compensation Committee.

 

◗ NYRA reported its fatality rate for horses on the track as 1.0 per 1,000 starters, a significant reduction from 2.1 per 1,000 starters in 2012.

 

◗ Marc Holliday, chairman of SL Green Realty Corp., was named to the NYRA board, replacing Jane Rosenthal, who resigned from the board in May.

http://www.drf.com/news/nyra-explores-self-betting-terminals-bars

NYRA repays Genting Loan, Horse Deaths, Breakdowns, Injuries SUCK!

For the year 2013, there are 419 Reports listed on NYRA Equine Breakdown, Death, Injury and Incident Database

04/04/2014 1:50PM

NYRA to make final loan payment to Genting

By DRF Staff

 

 

The New York Racing Association was scheduled on Saturday to make its final payment of a $25 million loan to Genting, the company that operates Resorts World Casino, adjacent to Aqueduct.

 

The $25 million loan was made on Oct. 22, 2010 by Genting to NYRA as part of an agreement between those parties and the state of New York. The loan was made to help NYRA continue operations until it began to receive statutory payments from the casino. Resorts World opened on Oct. 28, 2011.

 

“This payment of the only loan on our books is another example of our commitment to run the New York Racing Association in a fiscally responsible manner,” Chris Kay, NYRA CEO and president, said in a press release.

 

In addition to paying off the loan, NYRA will have made total statutory payments to New York State during 2012-2014 of approximately $62 million, including $28 million in pari-mutuel taxes.

 

In its release trumpeting the payment of the loan, NYRA also said that monies it has dedicated to equine safety have resulted in significant positive results this year. From Jan. 1 through March 24, Aqueduct experienced a racing fatality rate of 1.2 per thousand starters. This compares to a rate of 2.0 per thousand starters during the 2013 Aqueduct winter meet and 4.2 per thousand during the 2012 winter meet.

 

There were four racing fatalities over the inner track in the calendar year 2014, but there were three additional fatalities over the inner track in December, bringing the total to seven, two less than the 2012-2013 inner track meet.

 

“We take safety very seriously,” said Kay. “These results are a reflection of a resolute commitment made by a great many men and women here at The New York Racing Association. We will continue to do everything in our power on behalf of our equine athletes and their riders.”

 

 

http://www.drf.com/news/nyra-make-final-loan-payment-genting

 

 

Horse Racing Exposed: Drugs and Death

The failure of racing commissions to protect horses from this level of abuse has been noted elsewhere.

Attendance at Horse Races is declining and this explains part of the reason. Who wants to witness cruelty?





Published on Mar 19, 2014

A PETA undercover investigation of leading thoroughbred trainer Steve Asmussen reveals chronic misuse of drugs, reportedly to enhance horses' performance and mask their injuries.

PETA Accuses Top Horse Trainer Of Animal Cruelty Following Undercover Investigation

Posted: 03/21/2014

After a four-month undercover investigation, an animal rights group has accused a prominent horse trainer of giving his horses unnecessary amounts of performance-enhancing drugs and using illegal electric shock devices to make them run faster.

The investigation, conducted by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), used hidden cameras and microphones to document the staff of Steve Asmussen, a top thoroughbred racehorse trainer who holds multiple horse racing records and has won millions of dollars in horse race purses.

The probe took place at both Churchill Downs in Kentucky and Saratoga Race Track in New York from April through August of last year.

Released on Thursday, the video appears to show Asmussen's workers discussing a top-performing horse's feet being worn down to "nubs." One says they had to use superglue to keep its hooves together.

That horse, who was named Nehro, died of colic -- "a term used to describe a symptom of abdominal (belly) pain" -- in the back of a van on the day of the 2013 Kentucky Derby.

The man can also be heard discussing how he had a jockey use an illegal shocking tool on a horse. ("I'd tell [jockey Ricardo Santana Jr.], 'You got the máquina?'" he says.) He's also heard talking about employing undocumented workers and having them lie to the IRS.

PETA's video also purports to show prominent veterinarian Dr. James Hunt Jr. saying all of Asmussen's horses are given Lasix, or furosemide, a controversial drug that's banned in many countries but legal in the United States.

"They basically all run on it. It makes them lighter," the man PETA identifies as Hunt says in the clip.

Hunt did not immediately respond to request for comment from The Huffington Post.
Asmussen's lawyer, Clark Brewster, told HuffPost that electric shock devices were

After a four-month undercover investigation, an animal rights group has accused a prominent horse trainer of giving his horses unnecessary amounts of performance-enhancing drugs and using illegal electric shock devices to make them run faster.

The investigation, conducted by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), used hidden cameras and microphones to document the staff of Steve Asmussen, a top thoroughbred racehorse trainer who holds multiple horse racing records and has won millions of dollars in horse race purses.

The probe took place at both Churchill Downs in Kentucky and Saratoga Race Track in New York from April through August of last year.

Released on Thursday, the video appears to show Asmussen's workers discussing a top-performing horse's feet being worn down to "nubs." One says they had to use superglue to keep its hooves together.

That horse, who was named Nehro, died of colic -- "a term used to describe a symptom of abdominal (belly) pain" -- in the back of a van on the day of the 2013 Kentucky Derby.

The man can also be heard discussing how he had a jockey use an illegal shocking tool on a horse. ("I'd tell [jockey Ricardo Santana Jr.], 'You got the máquina?'" he says.) He's also heard talking about employing undocumented workers and having them lie to the IRS.

PETA's video also purports to show prominent veterinarian Dr. James Hunt Jr. saying all of Asmussen's horses are given Lasix, or furosemide, a controversial drug that's banned in many countries but legal in the United States.

"They basically all run on it. It makes them lighter," the man PETA identifies as Hunt says in the clip.

Hunt did not immediately respond to request for comment from The Huffington Post.
Asmussen's lawyer, Clark Brewster, told HuffPost that electric shock devices were never used. He said the recorded dialogue in the video was just table talk about the use of buzzers "historically" and not specifically on his client's horses.

"We are reserving comment until we get specific allegations from PETA," Brewster said. "At this point it's just been a media blitz by PETA rather than any substance or information for us to respond to. I think ultimately people will see what this is, an effort by this organization to grandstand because they disapprove of horse racing."

Brewster said he's spent the past two days trying to get PETA to send him complaints but that PETA has declined to do so. PETA, however, says it had offered to provide Brewster with the complaints.

The animal rights group filed complaints with federal and state officials in Kentucky and New York after completing its investigation. The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, a state agency that regulates horse racing in Kentucky, confirmed to HuffPost that it had received documents from PETA alleging animal cruelty "by two trainers working at Churchill Downs."

The Commission said it has not reviewed the information yet but that it plans to conduct a thorough investigation.

Churchill Downs could not be reached for comment. The Saratoga Race Track did not immediately respond to a request for comment from HuffPost.





http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/21/peta-steve-asmussen-animal-cruelty-investigation_n_5001756.html



 

Wild horses are shownn at the Pryor Mountain National Wild Horse Range in south-central Montana. (photo: AP/Bureau of Land Management/Ann Boucher)

Horse Slaughter Blocked by Federal Law (For Now)

By Barry Massey, Associated Press

19 January 14

he resumption of commercial horse slaughter in the U.S. was blocked Friday as President Barack Obama signed a budget measure that withholds money for required federal inspections of the slaughtering process.

Although the measure provides temporary funding for the federal government, it stops the Agriculture Department from spending money for inspections necessary for slaughterhouses to ship horse meat interstate and eventually export it to overseas consumers.

 

"This clear message from Washington echoes the opinions of an overwhelming number of Americans from coast to coast: horse slaughter is abhorrent and unacceptable," said Matt Bershadker, president and CEO of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

 

The president's action came as a New Mexico judge granted a preliminary injunction against a Roswell company from moving forward with its plans to start slaughtering horses.

 

The ruling by state District Judge Matthew Wilson will keep alive a lawsuit by Attorney General Gary King, who's seeking to permanently block horse slaughter in New Mexico. The lawsuit could serve as a possible insurance plan in case the federal government provides inspection funding in the future.

 

Blair Dunn, a lawyer for Valley Meat, said the company will continue to wage a legal fight to convert its cattle processing plant to the slaughtering of horses. He contended that the federal move to withhold money for meat inspections could cause U.S. trade violations.

 

"I don't see them opening now. No matter what, they are not going to violate the law," said Dunn, who also represents a plant in Missouri that wants to produce horse meat.

 

The last domestic horse slaughterhouses closed in 2007, a year after Congress initially withheld inspection funding. After federal money was restored in 2011, plants in New Mexico, Missouri and Iowa began trying to start horse slaughtering.

 

King's lawsuit contends that the Roswell company's operations would violate New Mexico's environmental and food safety laws.

 

Valley Meat is trying to disqualify the judge who's handling the case because of comments posted by horse slaughter opponents on a Facebook page for the judge's election campaign. Wilson issued an order Friday saying he would consider setting a hearing on the company's request.

Is Doping Hurting Horseracing in the U.S.?

Nothing therapeutic...injury masking drugs...




Published on Nov 21, 2013

Rep. Pitts asks witnesses question at the subcommittee hearing looking at his legislation to prevent doping in horseracing.


 

The Death of Horse Racing

Twilight at the Track

By David Von Drehle Monday, May 13, 2013

Jehad Nga for TIME

At Keeneland, a premier track in Lexington, Ky., the stakes can run to $750,000

Correction Appended: May 6, 2013 and May 30, 2013

In the center Island of a sleepy cul-de-sac in my suburban Kansas City, Mo., neighborhood, a pair of huge stone markers stand in memory of two horses buried beneath the stones. lawrin, one stone announces solemnly. A darkly handsome Thoroughbred with matching white socks on his forelegs, Lawrin charged from the pack at Churchill Downs to win the 1938 Kentucky Derby by a length with a 22-year-old Eddie Arcaro on his back. Though Arcaro went on to become an international celebrity, the only jockey to win two Triple Crowns, he would go to his own grave saying Lawrin's run for the roses was the most thrilling ride of his career. Next to Lawrin lies his father Insco, who passed down the genes of his own pop, the great Sir Gallahad, one of four horses to sire three Derby winners.

Quite a lot of racing history to find planted so far from the shrines of Louisville, Santa Anita or Saratoga. This surviving remnant of the local Woolford Farm stables, where brilliant trainer Ben Jones served a stint on his way to the record books, recalls a time when America was still largely rural, most Americans knew something about horses, and racing was a truly national passion.

But the graveyard on Le Mans Court now says something about the endangered future of Thoroughbred racing. On May 4, the nation's fastest 3-year-olds will enter the starting gate for the 139th running of the spectacle at Churchill Downs. But while a huge crowd in Louisville and a vast TV audience marvel at two minutes of thundering excitement, elsewhere the sport of kings is struggling to avoid being buried--as Lawrin is buried under the march of suburbia--beneath inexorable forces of change.

Tracks are closing. Purses are dwindling. Fewer foals are being bred. Veteran breeders and trainers are hanging up their boots. Once privileged as the primary form of legal gambling in the U.S., horse racing now fights to be noticed in a gaudy arcade where strategy-minded punters choose among games from blackjack to Powerball to fantasy football. The arcane art of handicapping a pari-mutuel wager is downright tedious in an age of slot-feeding, card-scratching instant gratification. Very few Americans are raised on farms anymore; even fewer feel confident in their understanding of horses. And those who do know and love the animals are finding themselves turned off by the culture of doping in horse racing and the frequent breakdowns that go with it. Add a massive recession and the near paralysis of racing's many-headed management structure, and a once robust pastime is now scrabbling for a future.

As Dan Singer of McKinsey & Co. reported to the Jockey Club--the venerable protectors of the Thoroughbred breed--after completing a head-to-hoof examination of the industry in 2011: "Handle is down 37% ... attendance is down 30%, starts per horse and race days are both down 14%." "By any measure," Singer noted, "Thoroughbred racing has declined over the last decade," primarily because of "a failure to innovate fast enough and well enough to compete for new fans." Unless things change significantly, the situation will get much worse over the next decade, McKinsey projects, as horse owners see an already expensive sport submerged in a sea of red ink, while 1 in 4 tracks will be forced to close.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2142495,00.html#ixzz2d6tzwUmZ

Photo Essay

Thursday, May 2, 2013 | By David Von Drehle

The End of Horse Racing: Photographs by Jehad Nga

In its heyday, horse racing had it all. It was the speed and danger sport before NASCAR came along; movie stars and gangsters rubbed glamorous elbows; and a couple sawbucks on a winning long-shot could put you on Easy Street.

As with all nostalgia, the reality could never match the legend. But there was a current of excitement and passion around horse racing back in the days of fedoras and two-toned shoes. Perhaps the popularity of racing was as simple as the fact that Americans used to grow up around horses and knew them as personalities.

(MORE: Twilight at the Track)

And they are personalities. Some are born with loads of talent, but won’t do the hard work to become a champion. Some love a challenge, and won’t stop working until they win. Some are playful; some are mean. Some are smart; some aren’t. Such traits seared the names of great racers into the public consciousness as deeply as the names of some presidents and some billionaires: Gallant Fox, War Admiral, Citation, Seabiscuit.

The glory days endured through a golden age of racing in the 1970s, when Affirmed battled Alydar to join Seattle Slew and the incomparable Secretariat as winners of the Triple Crown. Since then, a long twilight has settled over the Sport of Kings. Attendance, wagers, purses, and new foals all are in decline. Such storied tracks as Hialeah in Florida, Bay Meadows in California, and Garden State in New Jersey have padlocked their stables and turned out the lights for good.

The causes are many. Competition for the gambling and entertainment dollar is more intense than ever. But even more damaging is the widespread culture of doping in the racing business, and the high rate of fatal breakdowns that goes with it. As these photographs make clear, amid the fading memories of glamor and excitement, the beating heart of the sport is, and always will be, the horse. Whoever wants to save racing must first care about that.

---

Jehad Nga is a photographer who lives in New York. LightBox previously featured Nga’s Memories of Libya and his Green Book project.

David Von Drehle is an editor-at-large for TIME, where he has covered politics, breaking news and the Supreme Court since 2007. He is the author of four books, including Abraham Lincoln and America’s Most Perilous Year, published in 2012, and Triangle: The Fire That Changed America.

Read more: http://lightbox.time.com/2013/05/02/the-end-of-horse-racing-photographs-by-jehad-nga/#ixzz2d6uQX1iG

New Mexico horse slaughterhouse likely to get permit soon

Proposed New Mexico horse slaughterhouse likely to get permit soon

Valley Meat Co. owner Rick De Los Santos stands in a corral area outside the former cattle slaughterhouse he has converted to a horse slaughter facility in Roswell, N.M.. The plant has been waiting more than a year for federal approval to begin operations. (Jeri Clausing / Associated Press / April 15, 2013)

By John M. Glionna

May 3, 2013, 12:43 p.m.

The battle over the opening of the nation’s first domestic horse slaughterhouse since a government ban six years ago has ramped up as a company in Roswell, N.M., moves closer to reinstituting the practice.

 

Activists throughout the West say they are preparing for a public-relations battle if the owners of Valley Meat Co. receive a federal permit to begin killing horses.

 

“This is going to happen and we need to stop it for so many reasons -- moral, healthwise, economic, the whole ball of wax,” animal advocate Yvette Dobbie told the Los Angeles Times. “If they move ahead and open this plant, there will be a huge protest presence at that facility.”

 

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack this week warned that the Roswell plant, which has been fighting for more than a year for permission to slaughter horses, will open soon, unless Congress acts.

 

“We are going to do this, and I would imagine that it would be done relatively soon,” he told the Associated Press. “It will open unless Congress restores the ban on horse slaughter that they had in place. If that doesn't happen, then we are duty-bound to do what needs to be done to allow that plant to begin processing.”

 

Rick De Los Santos, the owner of the New Mexico facility, sued the Department of Agriculture last year, claiming the agency was stalling in its review of the application due to public pressure. The lawsuit charged that the delays had cost the company hundreds of thousands of dollars. The USDA reinspected the plant last week.

 

De Los Santos has has not returned repeated calls from The Times for comment.

 

The horse slaughter issue has also played out in Washington, where President Obama is at odds with Congress over the issue. The administration’s recent budget proposal eliminates funding for inspections of horse slaughterhouses, which would effectively reinstate a ban on the practice.

 

Congress eliminated such funding in 2006, which forced a shutdown of domestic slaughter facilities, but restored the funding in 2011. That move prompted several companies nationwide, including Valley Meat, to seek permission to open plants.

 

This week, the battle to prevent the opening got personal when New Mexico Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, sent a letter to Vilsack, saying “it saddens me that thousands of horses, a majestic fixture of the American West, could be methodically and inhumanely put to death in my home state.”

 

Grisham’s letter, reviewed by The Times, also cited a series of past violations at the plant, which previously slaughtered cattle, including a USDA notice of inspection last year “for violating requirements for the humane handling of animals.” Grisham also said that De Los Santos has failed to disclose in two of three applications with the Department of Agriculture that he has felony convictions, as the law requires.

 

In granting inspection for the first horse slaughter plant in years, she warned, the USDA must ensure a high standard for quality sand safety.

 

“Unfortunately,” Grisham wrote, “Valley Meat’s past behavior suggests that it does not adhere to such a standard.”

 

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-horse-slaughterhouse-20130503,0,7195228.story

 

 

 

The Tail that Wags the Horse

New Mexico continues to follow the same failed path.....

From: Stop Predatory Gambling

Racinos Don’t Save Racing

Slots and Safety at New Mexico Tracks

One of the first states to approve slot machine gambling at horse tracks, New Mexico now has been tagged with the worst safety record in racing. Nationwide, the newspaper found the industry “still mired in a culture of drugs and lax regulation and a fatal breakdown rate that remains far worse than in most of the world.” In addition, slots are now the tail that wag the horse, accounting for most of the revenue at tracks and turning racing into a side business, and perhaps the biggest reason for safety plummeting.

Slots and Safety at New Mexico Tracks


Additional articles: New Mexico

At least four groups seek 6th license for racino

By Charles D. Brunt / Journal Staff Writer on Fri, Apr 12, 2013

At least four groups are interested in applying for the state’s sixth racino license should the New Mexico Racing Commission reopen the application process that has been stalled for nearly four years....

Pitches appear likely from at least Raton, Hobbs, Tucumcari and Lordsburg.

Recent state Court of Appeals rulings upholding the expiration of Canadian developer Michael Moldenhauer’s gaming and racing licenses for the unfinished La Mesa Racetrack and Casino in Raton could result in issuing the state’s last racino license.

The state’s compacts with casino-operating tribes, which expire in 2037, allow a total of six racinos. Five are up and running.

Moldenhauer, who failed to complete the planned $50 million racino and conduct live horse racing by Memorial Day 2010, has until April 22 to appeal to the state Supreme Court.

Calls and emails seeking comment from Moldenhauer and his Albuquerque attorney, Sam Bregman, have not been returned.

Racing Commission chairman Rob Doughty III said Wednesday that the sixth racino license will be discussed at the Commission’s next regular meeting, slated for April 25.

When the sixth racino license first became available in 2008, Moldenhauer and three groups applied for it.

Coronado Partners, a group headed by Albuquerque businessman Don Chalmers, sought a license to open a $50 million racino along I-40 in Tucumcari.

Attorney Warren Frost said Wednesday the group will apply again.

“We’re in the process of putting together an updated application, and we’ll file that at some point — in six weeks or so — when they open that (process) up.,” Frost said.

Penn National Gaming, which owns Zia Park/Black Gold Casino in Hobbs, did not apply in 2008, but is considering doing so.

“Yes, we are still interested,” Penn National spokeswoman Karen Bailey said Wednesday. She declined, however, to say what the Pennsylvania-based gaming conglomerate would do with a second New Mexico license.

Speculation has emerged among some regulators that Penn National might use the additional license to increase the number of slot machines at its Hobbs casino.

David Norvell, chief counsel and former chairman of the New Mexico Gaming Control Board — which issues state gaming licenses — said Wednesday that if an existing racino obtained a second license, it could double its maximum number of slots, currently set at 750.

Racinos must obtain a racing license from the Racing Commission before applying for a gaming license from the Gaming Control Board.

Moldenhauer’s troubles has not deterred Raton from trying to revive racing there.

Two years ago, then-Raton Mayor Scott Berry told the Racing Commission that an investor, who he declined to name, was interested in applying for the sixth license.

“The same investor group is still interested,” current mayor Bobby Ledoux said Wednesday. He said the investors are from Texas and New Mexico, but declined to identify any of them. He said Raton “is completely behind any group that tries to bring a track here.”

Hidalgo County in southwestern New Mexico backed an unsuccessful license application in 2008, hoping to build Hidalgo Downs adjacent to Interstate 10.

Lordsburg Mayor Frank M. Rodriguez said Thursday he still supports a racino for Lordsburg.

“I think it would be a great asset that would increase our tourism and benefit our economy in general,” he said, adding that he is contacting a Native American tribe in California that is interested in partnering with the city and county on a racino.

Pojoaque Pueblo, which bought the shuttered Downs at Santa Fe in 1995, also applied for the sixth racino license in 2008. Several calls to pueblo Gov. George Rivera this week seeking comment on whether the pueblo will reapply for a racing license were not returned.

— This article appeared on page C1 of the Albuquerque Journal

http://www.abqjournal.com/main/2013/04/12/news/at-least-four-groups-seek-6th-license-for-racino.html

Horse deaths, injuries, druggings: No One Cares

And no one cares!

Massachusetts has NOT adopted regulations to prevent the injuries, drugging and deaths of horses.

Aqueduct Breakdowns Lead to Order for Necropsies

By JOE DRAPE

Published: January 12, 2013

 

The New York State Racing and Wagering Board announced Friday that it would order necropsies for all horses that sustain deadly racing injuries at Aqueduct after four fatalities at the track's meet, which opened Dec. 12.

 

On Thursday, Pleasantfriday broke her right front leg while turning for home, sending jockey Cornelio Velasquez to the ground. Pleasantfriday, a 5-year-old mare, was taken away in a van and later euthanized.

 

Necropsies of horses that are fatally injured were among the recommendations of a task force requested by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to investigate the increase of fatal breakdowns at Aqueduct Racetrack last year.

 

The four-member panel concluded that more than half of the 21 racehorses that died might have been saved had racing authorities more closely monitored their health and the liberal use of prescription drugs used to keep them racing for purses inflated with money from the track's adjacent casino.

 

"Necropsies for two horses that have died at Aqueduct - Pleasantfriday and Gulltopper - were ordered by the board because circumstances of those incidents raised red flags with investigators and required more information," Lee Park, a spokesman for the board, wrote in an e-mail. "Going forward, the board is ordering necropsies for all horses that are fatally injured while racing on the inner track at Aqueduct."

 

New York racing authorities have also enacted a series of rules - among the most aggressive in the nation - to restrict the use of legal drugs on horses and require trainers to disclose what treatments their horses have received.

 

"The Racing and Wagering Board continues to closely monitor and investigate the circumstances of every breakdown at Aqueduct," Park said. "Comprehensive investigative reports for the four equine fatalities from the inner track meet are being completed by board staff."

 

The rules come as racing wrestles with a drug culture that many of its most experienced officials contend is diminishing the sport. There have been Congressional hearings, stricter drug rules in several states and calls for an outright ban of drugs.

 

The breakdowns also offer the first test of a new New York Racing Association board that was handpicked by Cuomo. He appointed David Skorton, president of Cornell, as chairman, completing his takeover of racing in the hope of ending decades of scandal and mismanagement in an industry important to the state.

 

"NYRA is very concerned with any equine breakdown during a race or training, and we are constantly examining our procedures," the association said in a statement. "We have been aided in this by the recent New York Task Force Report on Racehorse Health and Safety, which was very clear on the safety of NYRA's inner track racing surface."

 

It says it is continuing to put into effect new safety policies recommended by the task force.

"NYRA is working to enhance preventative measures, monitoring and reporting with respect to breakdowns; and we are working with Chairman Skorton and our regulators to prevent future fatalities as much as we possibly can," it said.

 

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/01/12/sports/aqueduct-breakdowns-lead-to-order-for-necropsies.xml

an inhumane atrocity

Killing N.Y.’s horses for an extra buck

The shame of Aqueduct

By Lawrence Cunningham / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Thursday, October 25, 2012

A horse dies after finishing a race at Aqueduct.

With the appointment of Cornell President David Skorton to head a new board that is intended to steer the troubled New York Racing Association into calmer waters, Gov. Cuomo has a chance to reform the shameful manner in which racehorses are treated right here in New York City.

The deaths of 21 racehorses at the Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, Queens, last season is an inhumane atrocity. Bad management and disempowered veterinarians are to blame, according to a new report issued by a task force formed at Cuomo’s behest.

In May, the state seized control of the track from NYRA — and the governor is rightly promising radical changes. But Skorton has his work cut out for him.

He should not ignore an important culprit: The track’s new gambling profits fueled these senseless deaths. Last year, the race track became a “racino” — a race track with a casino inside. At the Resorts World Casino, operated by Malaysian gambling giant Genting, bettors play the slots on video and wager in video games such as poker and roulette. Stakes are high, with casino profits reaching into the hundreds of millions.

The racino channels 6.5% of those profits to purses — winnings awarded to horse owners and trainers — which added up to $14.8 million during the 2011-12 racing season. Purses for certain types of races rose to multiples of what the horses were worth on the market. These included “claiming races” for less competitive horses, where all entered horses can be bought (i.e., “claimed”) for a given price.

For example, horses that could be claimed for as little as $7,500 were run in races where the purse had been inflated, thanks to incoming gambling funds, to be as high as $30,000 and $40,000. That radically devalued the horses: Those that win but die from running too hard are worth vastly more than those that live but lose. Consequently, horses are run harder than they should be, causing broken legs that lead to death.

Of the 21 horses killed last season, 17 were running in claiming races. The recent task force report concluded that “inadequate protection was afforded to this class of horse.”

The purse-to-claim multiple should never approach 2 to 1, the report said. The actual multiples — more than 5 to 1 — contributed to an attitude of anything-for-victory that now requires reform.

Debate over this subject stretches back a decade, when New York politicians began a push to expand the kinds of gambling that are legal in the state, starting with gaming machines at horse race tracks.
Some of the pressure that led to the installation of the racino at Aqueduct came from a surprising source that should have no place in the debate: federal prosecutors.

NYRA had been accused of tax fraud in 2003; a settlement required that NYRA continue its efforts to open a racino at the track.

Prosecutors never explained their reasoning when inking the settlement, but clearly, politics were in play. NYRA worked earnestly to move its gambling program along amid growing agitation and pressure.

It finally prevailed — Genting opened its doors at Aqueduct in 2011 — and the tragic results are in, with gambling money going to inflate race purses, which has in turn led to the irresponsible treatment of horses.

We can’t necessarily blame federal prosecutors or say what effect their deal had on NYRA’s quest to deliver a racino and related revenues to the track. The deadly results arose from naked greed.

The lesson, though, is important: Politicians and prosecutors should not direct business changes without understanding their significance. What’s happening to the horses at Aqueduct could have been prevented.

The lesson for Skorton is clear as well. He should exercise independent business judgment about the proper operation of horse tracks, putting the humane treatment of the horses over money.

Cunningham is a professor at George Washington University Law School and visiting professor at Fordham University School of Law. His latest book, written with Maurice (Hank) Greenberg, is “The AIG Story,” to be published this winter.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/killing-n-y-s-horses-extra-buck-article-1.1191320#ixzz2AYWInMmF

 

Aqueduct: Almost 3 Slot Machine per EMPLOYEE

In terms of CRIME, what does 'negligible' mean? Let's talk facts and statistics! Having grown up in New York, I watched as OTB sucked the lifeblood out of poor communities, made them unlivable, chased out small businesses and caused unimaginable blight. New York politicians have never been honest about the effects of Predatory Gambling. 

New York politicians are a dazzling bunch that refuse to do the hard work of 'reform' and instead seek the lazy way. Wait until they reveal the Wizard!  

Aqueduct racino and tax coffers in the chips

• By CARL CAMPANILE

October 13, 2012 

This is one gamble that paid off.

The Aqueduct Resorts World “racino” in Queens is celebrating its one-year anniversary — amid positive reviews from state officials and community leaders that the facility has boosted jobs and swelled Albany’s coffers in a fragile economy.

Gamblers have waged more than $11 billion in bets playing at the Big A’s 5,000 video lottery terminal slots and electronic table games.  [AUTOMATED TABLE GAMES.] 

Operated by Malaysian-based Genting, the casino has more than 1,750 workers and has generated more than $410 million in revenue for the government. Of that, $263 million funds public education and $86 million goes to prop up New York’s horse-racing industry. [Taxpayer subsidies for the DEAD Horse Racing Industry]

2.9 Slot Machines per Low Wage Employee

“I give the casino an ‘A’ grade. It’s running. It’s making money. The impact on the community has been negligible,” said Betty Bratton, chairwoman of Community Board 10 in Ozone Park, where Aqueduct is located. 

“The two concerns we had in the beginning was traffic and crime — neither of which materialized. Overall, we are very pleased,” added Bratton.

[In terms of CRIME, what does 'negligible' mean? Let's talk facts and statistics! Having grown up in New York, I watched as OTB sucked the lifeblood out of poor communities, made them unlivable, chased out small businesses and caused unimaginable blight. New York politicians have never been honest about the effects of Predatory Gambling.]

The casino opened its first wing on Oct. 28 of last year. The second level opened by year’s end.

“Resorts World is proud to have far exceeded all first-year revenue and tax expectations this year, even while being completely open for just ten months,” said RW casino president Michael Speller.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/queens/aqueduct_racino_and_tax_coffers_wjTWLWlDWQV1GSvz9HFMHO

Plainridge: Gagging the Opposition

In an effort to prevent the Plainridge folks from suffering boredom [since they crawl all over this blog numerous times each day, not having discovered google alerts or anxious to slap a lawsuit on this blog as well], there is additional information below regarding the attempt to silence the Slot Barn Opposition in Plainville.

Plainridge, it would seem, has an elevated opinion of its business that is not universal. Surely, they are entitled to their opinion, but not when it contradicts facts and statistics.

Is Plainridge afraid of the TRUTH?

Horse racing is a DEAD Industry, declining in attendance and purses around the nation.

Without the salvation of Slot Machines [taxpayer subsidies], horse racing would die.

Experts speaking at the Massachusetts Gambling Commission Edumacational Forum were forced to acknowledge that there is NO indication that Slot Machines increase racing attendance. To the contrary, Aqueduct and other race tracks have proven that the drugging and deaths of horses increased.

The previous Massachusetts Racing Commission web site was so lacking in disclosure, discerning the cause or location of 53 horses' deaths of Massachusetts horses was impossible.

Animal Cruelty
Horse Deaths
Horse Racing

From: No Plainville Racino --

Plainridge sues No Plainville Racino supporters

 

ACLU says lawsuit against Plainville racetrack gambling critic should be thrown out

Lawsuit tries to silence petitioning activity protected by the First Amendment

 

 

One of the founders of No Plainville Racino was recently sued by Plainridge Racecourse for allegedly defaming them through his opposition to the addition of slot machines to the racetrack's facilities. The ACLU of Massachusetts has risen to his defense, calling the action an unjustified "SLAPP suit"--i.e., a strategic lawsuit against public participation--that should immediately be dismissed.

"Residents of Plainville need to know that they have a lot of protection for their participation in important debates, for example, whether casinos and gambling have harmful effects on their community and neighborhoods," said ACLU cooperating attorney Jeffrey Pyle. "They should not be scared off by lawsuits like this, which have no merit and often are aimed at making people too afraid to get involved in local issues."

Read the full ACLU Press Release

In the spirit of transparency, below is what was filed with the Norfolk Superior Court:

• Plainridge's Lawsuit
• Keen's Response to the Lawsuit
• Plainridge's Response to Keen's Response
• Keen's Response to Plainridge's Response

No Plainville Racino would like to sincerely thank the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts and their cooperating attorneys for representing us in this matter. Whether you are pro- or anti-racino, ensuring open and free public debate is important as this decision may affect the character of Plainville forever.

Interesting video worth watching about the abuse of horses and the declining
horse racing industry [link below].

Horses under attack?

By Jackie Taurianen

Fri September 07, 2012

 

 

Thousands of race horses in Canada may be killed all because of money. Right now Ontario race tracks get more than half of their money from government owned slot machines. But the government is removing those machines from the racetracks. The result could mean those race tracks and the horses could be eliminated. If that happens, anywhere from 7,500 to 13,000 horses could be killed.

 

 

http://www.hlntv.com/video/2012/09/07/horses-under-attack

New York: Deluding yourself

1. New York may top the list in crime and corruption.

2. New York may top the list of fiscal disasters, fiscal mismanagement and sheer incompetence.

3.  Once presented with the Golden Ring, New York lawmakers can't get enough!

They haven't figured out it isn't real.

4. When New York State legalized Off Track Betting, they plunked the betting parlors down in the poorest neighborhoods. When CRIME, DRUGS, PROSTITUTION and DESPERATION  destroyed those neighborhoods, they refused to make the connection. I know. I was there.

5. Aqueduct was part of a pretense to 'preserve racing' which we've seen around the nation. Did it really? NO!

6. Add the other issues for yourself: increased crime, increased personal bankruptcies, increased spousal and child abuse, community destruction,
and the Gambling Industry's Dirty Little Secret - SUICIDES.

Aqueduct revenue boost spurs casino debate

 September 1, 2012

By OLIVIA WINSLOW

 

The day before her 63rd birthday, Carol Clark-Iacovelli of Mineola was having a ball playing the slots with two girlfriends at Aqueduct Racetrack's "racino."

 

"I hit the jackpot," she said, smiling, of $128.50 in winnings, as she and her friends paused to have lunch. "I really like it here."

Her friend Maria DeGrottole, 53, of Levittown, said the three were on a "ladies' afternoon out" at what officially is called Resorts World Casino New York City, taking advantage of games of chance that are closer to home than Atlantic City.

The Queens racino, which is the term for a combined racetrack and casino, quickly moved to the top of some revenue charts after it opened in mid-October. In May, it netted more slot-machine revenue -- $57.5 million -- than any other casino in the United States, surpassing Mohegan Sun in Connecticut and individual casinos in Atlantic City and on the Las Vegas Strip, according to the Genting Group, its Malaysia-based operator. The racino's slot machine revenue of $59.75 million in July was just a bit behind Mohegan Sun's $59.97 million, spokesman Stefan Friedman said.

And the state has gotten a new revenue source. Through July 31, the racino pumped more than $212 million into the New York State Education Fund -- 44 percent of its "net win," according to the state Lottery Department's website.

Potential casino destination

Those numbers bolster supporters' case for expansion of gambling venues on Long Island and at other sites in the state. The Island is seen as a potential casino destination now that the Shinnecock Indian Nation has federal recognition and with it the ability to operate a casino.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has proposed changing the state constitution to allow full-fledged casino gambling, with Las Vegas-style table games that currently are prohibited at the racinos and other non-Indian venues.

This year, the legislature approved a plan to allow up to seven non-Indian-run casinos in the state.

The constitution change requires the approval of two successive legislatures followed by statewide voter approval, which probably could occur no earlier than fall 2013.

The lines in the national debate over gambling have long been drawn and a casino on Long Island could bring benefits or costs -- along with the challenge of possibly having too many gambling venues in the era when discretionary income is limited.

Supporters look to the potential of jump-starting a local economy, increasing revenue for governments and creating jobs. But some experts point to the likelihood of attendant social costs -- more problem gamblers, bankruptcy, unemployment and family crises, and increased crime.

Pros and cons

"No question about it, gambling has its downside, as does alcohol or any other type of issue like that," said Suffolk Legis. Wayne Horsley (D-Babylon), the legislature's deputy presiding officer and chair of its Economic Development Committee, which established that county's Gaming Task Force.

"On the positive side, we're talking literally thousands of jobs . . . between the building of the casino and the people working at the casino."

At Aqueduct, the sheer number of slots places it in the top 10 of casinos nationwide, according to the Casino City Press, a Massachusetts trade publication on gaming. The casino has 4,525 video lottery terminals, as the slot machines are called, and 475 electronic gaming tables [WITH NO PEOPLE!].Spokeswoman Andrea Mullaney said the publication doesn't include electronic gaming tables in the totals or compile slot-machine revenue information at individual casinos.

Daily, thousands play the slots. Friedman said the Aqueduct facility attracts an average of 47,000 people on Saturdays, 35,000 on Fridays and Sundays, and 20,000 daily from Monday through Thursday.

Mary R., a married mother of five and a spokeswoman for the Long Island Gamblers Anonymous group, offered a perspective of the new racino that illustrates the risks of gambling. The Island resident said her former online gambling addiction led to personal bankruptcy. Though she hasn't gambled in nine years, Aqueduct gives her qualms.

"Oh, I'm tempted, because I know it's there," said Mary, who would not give her full name, citing Gamblers Anonymous rules. "I wonder what it looks like. I wonder if I can go in and take a look at it." She doesn't dare, fearing the personal costs.

For cash-strapped governments, the lure of casino revenue is a powerful draw.

Casinos mean jobs, and at Aqueduct that is more than 1,800 people. The Seneca Nation's casino in Niagara Falls employs about 2,500, Mayor Paul Dyster said.

[See notes below. A previous article indicated that Aqueduct employed 1,500. These figures are changing. Ask yourself why? And don't trust them to be honest.]

"It's been a major benefit to the city to have casino revenues," he said. "We used to be called 'pothole city.' We've been able to catch up on road paving using casino revenues and to help leverage other government funds for economic development projects." He said officials had budgeted $17 million to $18 million annually in casino revenue.

But Dyster noted a significant drawback. Niagara Falls' share of slot-machine revenue from the casino dried up in 2010, victim of a dispute between the tribe and the state. The city estimates it is due $60 million in slot-machine revenue, he said.

A tribe official accused the state of violating the compact giving the tribe "exclusive" rights to operate casinos in a 16-county area of western New York. Until the Seneca Nation began holding back revenue, it distributed $475.2 million to the state, a portion of which goes to municipalities in which the tribe's casinos are located, the official said.

His lament: "We wish that the mechanism was direct payment from the Seneca Nation of Indians."
William Johnson, a former mayor of Rochester who now is a professor of public policy at the Rochester Institute of Technology, said, "I think it remains to be seen whether or not these revenue streams that are being predicted are going to materialize. Twenty years ago, it was either Las Vegas or Atlantic City. Now, you can almost go around the corner to find a casino." Even though there are more casinos, he said, "there's still the same number of people gambling."

Money and jobs

David Just, an economics professor at Cornell University, said casino saturation is a danger. While they can create jobs and bring in money, "if you get to a point where there are more casinos than people really want in the area, then you stop adding those jobs and you stop bringing in that money."
Many at the Aqueduct racino cited its convenient location, a point made in Resorts World's advertising that touts it as being "minutes not hours away."

Frank Fahrenkopf, president and chief executive of the American Gaming Association, said in an interview that while gaming expanded incredibly across the United States in the 1990s and 2000s, the percentage of "pathological gamblers" in the population has stayed virtually the same, just over 1 percent, since studies in the 1970s. He said members of the gaming association are committed to promoting responsible gaming, and some states, including New York, require it.

"We have a code of conduct for our members," Fahrenkopf said. "Not only are we concerned about the 1 percent who can't gamble responsibly, we're also concerned about underage gaming." He said member casinos fund hotlines for agencies that assist gamblers and work with treatment providers and researchers.

NO ONE has ever been trained in Mr. Fahrenkopf's "RESPONSIBLE GAMBLING PROGRAM."

NO ONE has ever been stopped from Gambling as a result of Mr. Fahrenkopf's phony program.

Gamblers Anonymous groups on Long Island and in Queens say anecdotal information suggests Aqueduct's racino is having an impact on gambling addicts. The group doesn't take a public stand for or against casinos.

Calls to helpline up

Chuck R., a spokesman for the New York Gamblers Anonymous group, said though it doesn't keep statistics on callers, hotline volunteers are "starting to hear people calling our hotline that have said their gambling problem is exacerbated by the racino."

Mary, the Long Island Gamblers Anonymous group spokeswoman, agreed. "I have seen an increase in calls coming after Aqueduct opened last fall," she said.

However, data from the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services' addictions helpline show a drop in calls between 2010 and 2011: 4,378 in 2010 to 2,778 in 2011.

There is no breakdown of the type of calls, -- whether for alcoholism, drugs or gambling -- and officials had no explanation for the decline, agency spokeswoman Jannette Rondo said.

As talk about casinos ramps up on Long Island, Mary R. acknowledged her unease. Before she stopped nine years ago, gambling took a big toll on her life.

"I wasn't paying my bills. I was lying. I just wasn't present in anything," she said. "Say, one of my kids was playing baseball. I could be there on the field, but I was thinking, planning and scheming to place a bet."

She came close to losing her home, but was able to refinance the mortgage. "Every time I make that payment," she said, she thinks about how gambling has affected her life.Now, when she hears Long Island officials talking about bringing a casino here, Mary said, "I'm fearful about it. I don't want it in my backyard."

John Welte, senior research scientist at the Research Institute on Addictions at the University at Buffalo, said a national random study in which he participated has found "people who lived within 10 miles of a casino had twice the chance of being a problem gambler than the average person." He added: "I'm not saying there's no positive results from expanded gambling. What I am stressing is you've got to expect some negative effects."

http://newyork.newsday.com/news/new-york/aqueduct-revenue-boost-spurs-casino-debate-1.3945110


For additional information: Aqueduct and Genting

Robo Dealers

The casino already houses about 5,000 computerized slot machines known as video lottery terminals.
From Genting buying support in New York

Animal Abuse and Gambling and Greed
Killing Horses

New York’s Bad Bet

The difference between table games and slot machines is that slots are entirely predictable. They’re like A.T.M.’s, but in reverse — programmed to take money from players, usually about 9 cents of every dollar wagered, while producing frequent near misses, the illusion that a big jackpot was at hand if only, say, just one more overstuffed burger had landed on the pay line. The lower the house’s hold on a slot machine — and the higher the number of small payouts — the longer a player’s T.O.D. (time on device). It’s a fine balance. Casinos want customers to lose their money, but not so rapidly that they’ll feel the whole experience was a bummer and not want to return.
From: Foxwoods Is Fighting for Its Life


In November, the first month since the casino opened, petit larcenies in the precinct rose 53.3 percent to 92, from 60 in the same month in 2010.

There were 41 misdemeanor assaults, compared with 26 in November 2010, a 57.7 percent increase.

In December, petit larcenies went up 8.2 percent compared with December 2010, and misdemeanor assaults were up 31 percent.

During the months immediately before the casino opened, the two quality-of-life crimes had been trending downward.
From: Crime up near Aqueduct, No Honeymoon!

....more than 1,500 jobs* created. With the addition of more machines to Resorts World’s current license of 5,000* in the expanded convention center construction, the state would ultimately see even more revenue from gaming. [That's 3.3 MACHINES FOR EACH EMPLOYEE, not the thousands of jobs Proponents pretend.]
Calculate for a 24 hour/7 day a week/365 days per year operation.

From: New York State: Genting wants subsidies

Genting brings in own staff, lays off lifetime employees

The first new business to open: New pawn shop open for biz near Aqueduct
...critics of gambling said pawn shops are omens of the dark side of the industry.

Aqueduct put 500 vendors out of business: Slot Machines In, Flea Market Out

Exporting local discretionary income

Crime and Corruption New York Style
The Mashpee Wampanoag's Malaysian Investors