Truly Astonishing -- Palm Sunday

[SoCalMan2]

I cannot believe this.  I am not allowed to bet online because today is Palm Sunday and I am a new york resident.  I have been betting online on Palm Sunday for years.  All of a sudden the laws changed?  What on earth does Palm Sunday have to do with anything?  Why am I allowed to buy lotto tickets or play slots on Palm Sunday, but not allowed to bet on horses online? What ever happened to the separation of church and state? Doesn\'t this violate the first amendment and the prohibition of establishment of religion?  I feel like the state of NY is imposing catholic restrictions on Non-catholics.  If this is the way NY Law works, then why not outlaw bacon on saturdays or meat on fridays?  Seems completely ludicrous.

[TGJB]

You want to reay hear some screaming, watch out if someone takes down the GP jackpot today...

[Tavasco]

Yea, about as crazy as a New Yorker with as SoCalMan handle. We feel your frustration! The master looks great so far even for non golfers.

[heatherk]

SoCalMan-Close you\'re NYRA account and open a TwinSpires account. I bet on Palm Sunday, no problem. FYI all Christian religions celebrate not just Catholics.

[TreadHead]

TwinSpires is NOT available for NY residents, nor is any other ADW from what I\'m reading.  Plus, why would you give those jerks at CDI any business regardless.

Wagering Unavailable for New York Residents Tomorrow
April 12, 2014
11:45 AM
New York State Racing, Pari-Mututel Wagering and Breeeding Law Section 109 prohibits all New York licensed internet wagering platforms, including TwinSpires.com, from accepting wagering from residents of the state of New York on Palm Sunday (4/13/2014), Easter Sunday (4/20/2014 and Christmas (12/25/2014).

We apologize for any inconvenience. You will still be able to log in to your account, view handicapping information and watch live video. If you purchased any handicapping products through TwinSpires.com for tomorrow, they will not be charged to your account.

Sincerely,

TwinSpires.com Team

[CHOWDERMAN]

nyra, xpressbet, and twinspires not accepting from nyers....un____ing believable..

[FrankD.]

A very archaic law that goes back to the opening of the OTB\'s in 1974ish; a political deal to make nice with everyone. Back in those dark ages there was only wagering on NY tracks 9 at NYRA and or 9 at Finger Lakes then you went home. No simulcasting, No co mingling of pools, you got out of state tracks on dark Tuesdays, some big races, another track if NYRA cancelled and separate betting pools.
 
There are a couple of non pari mutual off shore houses who are legit and will  pay up to 30K per race on a A level track with sweet rebate programs.They are open today; not sure if anyone runs on Easter Sunday, I know Calder used to run a Christmas day program years ago but no longer does.

Frank D.

[drbillym]

Wish I wouldn\'t have been allowed to bet today.

[Boscar Obarra]

I think they should allow betting on Palm Sunday, but raise the takeout to 50%, which would make the rest of the year seem cheap by comparison.

 Another marketing coup squandered.

[TMW]

Funny. I live in California and was thinking exactly the same thing.

You will be tested again next Sunday (don\'t know you but bet you will toss a few down even though NY will be down again for Easter).

[toppled]

I remember the old days as recent as in the late 1980s, maybe even into the early 1990s when they didn\'t take most tracks or co-mingle pools. There were days in the winter when we\'d be at the old Teletheatre rooting for Aqueduct to cancel so we\'d get Gulfstream.  Sometimes I\'d get so frustrated I\'d drive to Connecticut to bet other tracks that weren\'t available at Capital OTB. When they started taking out of state tracks & didn\'t co-mingle with California I used to go to the Teletheatre where we had the California feed & could compare the track odds to the NY State odds & there were some very profitable times when a live horse on track would pay twice as much or more in NY.

[PapaChach]

Oh it\'s ludicrous, alright. I whined about this earlier, cannot believe it. On top of it all, as a fully lapsed Catholic, I feel guilty, too: my people did this to us all. And yes, you could buy lottery in NY today. Got caught behind several scratchers when I went out to get half and half for tomorrow. Nothing beats standing in line at Stewart\'s behind someone who\'s having a ten minute long existential crisis over which $20 ticket to lose on next. That\'s livin\' right there, my friends.

Then again, they probably did me a favor.

Keeneland once again kicked my fat rear end yesterday. Oh when will I ever learn? Never, apparently.

I hardly ever post here, but yesterday, I was a few breaths away from hitting send or post of whatever you hit to post that Hogy and some horse, the 11, I\'ve pretty much stricken his name from my memory, but I\'m almost certain his name ended in the letters \"il\", were a mortal lock to run 1-2 in the Shakertown. But why jinx it, I thought. The horse with \"il\" at the end of his name ran DFL. The other one clunked up for a non-threatening fourth.

That was about as well as I did all day. I did single on Judy The Beauty in some pick fours and pick fives, so I had that going for me. In some of those I even had the Blue Grass winner also. Unfortunately they don\'t pay for two outta five.

Actually, the more I think about how awful I was yesterday, the less guilty I feel about my forefathers. Maybe they knew what they were doing; they knew nobody could beat Keeneland and figured might as well find an excuse to give the boys a couple of days off for their own good.....

[richiebee]

PapaChach Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Oh it\'s ludicrous, alright. I whined about this
> earlier, cannot believe it.

\"Whining\" is a word that came to mind when I read a lot of these posts The Head
Whiner on this issue was always Steve Crist.

Sometimes when others are whining it is time to be contrarian and take stock of
what is good. I remember that when I first started following the game I lived in
Brooklyn, and there were three alternatives for betting the races -- a subway or
shuttle ride to the track, a visit to the OTB or (if you were in the know) a
visit to the local \"Social Club\". The Social Club provided programs, food and
light beverages gratis, showed a hijacked live feed from the track, and
paid track prices. At OTB, you got surcharged and harassed by the branch manager
if you brought food in or nodded off in a chair. Instead of watching the races,
you got the minimalist audio live call of Marshall Cassidy. (If OTB had adopted
the \"Social Club\" model, it still might be viable today.)

When I moved back to Staten Island and had a car again, the sacrifice made to
play horses had a different dimension. Imagine the extreme torture of a long
losing day at the races, or a tough photo or bad ride beat in the last race of
the day, followed by an awful trip home on the Belt Parkway, stewing in your own
juices.

We have it all now. Living Room Downs allows us to bet on races all over the
world at all times of day, all days of the week (except in NY on Palm Sunday and
Easter Sunday). An extensive wagering menu which allows us to make certain wagers
in denominations of less than $1. We have so much information available to us,
though we are entitled to more and eventually will get it.

Papa, you of all people know that life is short. I hope you made good use of your
unwanted dark day.

Sorry for the diversion. Back to doping out a solid Derby selection. At this
point I would say that Gilligan and the Skipper had a better chance of getting
the Minnow back to port in three hours.

[Boscar Obarra]

\"Imagine the extreme torture of a long
losing day at the races, or a tough photo or bad ride beat in the last race of
the day, followed by an awful trip home on the Belt Parkway, stewing in your own
juices.\"

  Thanks for reminding me.

[TGJB]

I was once in a car, on the Belt, after a long, hot Belmont day. At the wheel was Neil Cook. editor of DRF, next to him a friend of his whose name I don\'t remember. That guy was Australian, and from his cell phone was delivering a report on the Belmont that was being carried live on radio all over Australia.  Somebody cut us off, and Neil started cursing him out, loudly and comprehensively... they cut off the broadcast, evidently.