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Off-track betting (or OTB; in British English, off-course betting) is sanctioned gambling on greyhound racing or horse racing outside a race track.
Before the 1970s, only the state of Nevada allowed off-track betting. [1] Off-track betting in New York was legalized in 1970, after years of unsuccessful attempts. By the 1970s there were 100 betting parlors in New York City, [1] and twice that number by the late 1980s. [2] In New York City, the thought was that legal off-track betting would increase revenue while at the same time decrease illegal gambling activity, but one effect of the legalization was a decrease of revenue at racetracks. The 1978 Interstate Horseracing Act [3] struck a compromise between the interests of horse tracks and owners, the state, and OTB parlors, and stipulated that OTB revenues were to be distributed among the tracks, the horse owners, and the state. Another stipulation was that no OTB parlor was allowed to operate within 60 miles (97 km) of a track. [1]
Revenues at the track indeed lessened, but rather than fight off-track betting, the industry sought to increase its income via new ways of gambling, betting on the OTB potential, and came up with "exotic wagers" such as exacta and trifecta. Thus the industry's revenue increased even as the number of spectators at the track went down. [4]
At legal off-track betting parlors, if bettors win, they have to pay the parlor a surcharge taken directly from the winnings. Bettors in New York can avoid paying the surcharges by placing their bets via an off-track betting corporation's account wagering service or at so-called super branches or teletheatres that charge a daily admission fee. Other jurisdictions such as Pennsylvania do not levy a surcharge on winnings. Most booked bets are now placed with licensed services in the Caribbean and Central America who entice bettors by offering them rebates on their bets.[ citation needed ]
In December 2010, the New York City OTB closed due to lack of profitability. [5]
After years of unsuccessful attempts and public anticipation in Canada, off-track betting (OTB) establishments (also known as 'Teletheatres') were finally legalized on the federal level, in Ottawa on June 29, 1989. Since then, the industry has flourished nationwide, with hundreds of off-track betting facilities across the country. [6]
This industry is federally regulated by the Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency (CPMA). The CPMA makes regulations in respect to pari-mutuel betting, and is responsible for ensuring the integrity and fairness of betting systems in Canada. Among the responsibilities of the CPMA include administering drug tests to horses to enforce the anti-drug policies. [7]
All off-track betting in Ontario is licensed by the Ontario Racing Commission (ORC) and is responsible for the integrity of the industry in the province. They are also responsible for distributing racing licenses, keeping a horse registry and running a problem gambling group. [8]
To apply for a license the operator would need to purchase a permit from the ORC. If accepted, the site operator receives no profit from the betting exchanges—they make money from the increased traffic of customers and other creative methods. (i.e. cover charge, selling racing programs) [9]
There are approximately 70 off-track betting facilities that have been licensed in Ontario. There are also a number of racetracks located in Ontario. [9]
The Woodbine Entertainment Group is the most prominent organization, that owns a number of racetracks but also owns a number of off-track betting facilities across Canada. [10]
Parimutuel betting or pool betting is a betting system in which all bets of a particular type are placed together in a pool; taxes and the "house-take" or "vigorish" are deducted, and payoff odds are calculated by sharing the pool among all winning bets. In some countries it is known as the tote after the totalisator, which calculates and displays bets already made.
A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays out bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds.
Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic premise – to identify which of two or more horses is the fastest over a set course or distance – has been mostly unchanged since at least classical antiquity.
Greenwood Raceway was a horse racing facility in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Mohawk Racetrack is a harness racing track in Campbellville, Ontario. It is owned by Woodbine Entertainment Group and is about 40 km southwest of the company's other racetrack, Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario. Woodbine Mohawk Park also has a large slot machine parlour with over 1,000 slot machines, which is operated by Great Canadian Entertainment; some of the revenue from this operation is used to increase the horseracing purses. Ken Middleton is the longtime track announcer.
The superfecta is a type of wager in the United States and Canada parimutuel betting in which the bettor, in order to win, must pick the first four finishers of a race in the correct sequence. This is even more unlikely than a successful wager in the trifecta, which requires correctly picking the first three finishers in order, and as such will have a correspondingly higher payoff.
Stronach Group, doing business as 1/ST, is an entertainment and real estate company in North America with Thoroughbred horse racing and pari-mutuel wagering at the core.
Woodbine Entertainment Group (WEG), known as the Ontario Jockey Club from 1881 to 2001, is the operator of two horse racing tracks, a casino and off-track betting stations in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada. It also owns and operates the Canadian digital television service HPItv and operates Canada's only online wagering platform for horse racing, HorsePlayer Interactive. WEG is responsible for operating Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, and it also runs Woodbine Mohawk Park in Campbellville, Ontario. It employs over 2,300 people in its operations. WEG also ran the Turf Lounge on Bay Street in Toronto from 2003 to 2015.
Manor Downs was a horse racetrack located outside Manor, Texas, United States. It was Texas' oldest pari-mutuel horse racetrack. Live racing in the spring featured both quarter horse and thoroughbred racing. Simulcast racing was also available.
Batavia Downs is a harness racing track and casino in Batavia, New York. It is located in Genesee County between Buffalo and Rochester just off of the New York State Thruway. It opened on September 20, 1940, and is the oldest lighted harness racetrack in the United States. The track is exactly .5 miles (0.80 km) long.
Gambling in Pennsylvania includes casino gambling, the Pennsylvania Lottery, horse racing, bingo, and small games of chance conducted by nonprofit organizations and taverns under limited circumstances. Although casino gaming has been legal for less than two decades, Pennsylvania is second only to Nevada in commercial casino revenues.
Bally's Twin River Lincoln Casino Resort, previously Twin River Casino Hotel, is a casino, hotel, and former race track in Lincoln, Rhode Island, owned and operated by Bally's Corporation. The facility has 202,000 square feet (18,800 m2) of gaming space, with 3,900 slot machines, 110 table games, and 23 poker tables. The hotel has 136 rooms. Other amenities include a 29,000-square-foot (2,700 m2) event center, 16 eateries, 8 bars, and a racebook.
Historical horse racing (HHR), originally known as Instant Racing, is an electronic gambling product that allows players to bet on replays of horse races or dog races that have already been run, using terminals that typically resemble slot machines.
Horse racing in the United States dates back to 1665, which saw the establishment of the Newmarket course in Salisbury, New York, a section of what is now known as the Hempstead Plains of Long Island, New York. This first racing meet in North America was supervised by New York's colonial governor, Richard Nicolls. The area is now occupied by the present Nassau County, New York, region of Greater Westbury and East Garden City.
Advance-deposit wagering (ADW) is a form of gambling on the outcome of horse races in which bettors must fund their account before being allowed to place bets. ADW is often conducted online or by phone. In contrast to ADW, credit shops allow wagers without advance funding; accounts are settled at month-end. Racetrack owners, horse trainers and state governments sometimes receive a share of ADW revenues.
In the U.S. state of New York, off-track betting on horse racing is offered by five regional, government-owned corporations. As of 2014, the five operators had a total of 89 betting parlors and 5 tele-theaters around the state. They accepted a total of $558 million of bets in 2016.
Legal forms of gambling in the U.S. state of Connecticut include two Indian casinos, parimutuel wagering, charitable gaming, the Connecticut Lottery, and sports betting.
Betting on horse racing or horse betting commonly occurs at many horse races. Modern horse betting started in Great Britain in the early 1600s during the reign of King James I. Gamblers can stake money on the final placement of the horses taking part in a race. Gambling on horses is, however, prohibited at some racetracks. For example, because of a law passed in 1951, betting is illegal in Springdale Race Course, home of the nationally renowned Toronto-Dominion Bank Carolina Cup and Colonial Cup Steeplechase in Camden, South Carolina.
Long Branch Racetrack was a horse-racing facility in Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada. It was situated in Etobicoke, then a township, just north of the village of Long Branch and just west of the city of Toronto. It operated from 1924 until 1955 at a location west of Kipling Avenue, north of Horner Avenue and south of Evans Avenue. The track is the originator of two stakes races that are still run today - the Canadian International Stakes and the Cup and Saucer Stakes. The track opened in September 1924. It was owned by Abe Orpen and his family which also owned the Dufferin Park Racetrack in Toronto. The track was 1 mile (1.6 km) in length.
Rosie's Gaming Emporium is a chain of gambling parlors in the U.S. state of Virginia, owned by Churchill Downs, Inc. and affiliated with its Colonial Downs racetrack. The Rosie's brand was established in 2019. As of 2023, there are seven Rosie's locations throughout Virginia, including a parlor at Colonial Downs in New Kent; five standalone parlors in Dumfries, Emporia, Hampton, Richmond, and Vinton; and a Rosie's Game Room in Collinsville within a Quality Inn hotel. A $389-million Rosie's property called The Rose Gaming Resort is under construction in Dumfries.
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