State Casinos: Lucky Star

[Dustin]

I was meeting someone in the business offices of Remington Park on a Tuesday morning and walked through their casino.

It was busy and full of the saddest-looking people I've ever seen. It depressed the hell out of me.

Remington Park is disgusting. Sketchy people and filthy casino floor. The horse race stands are in need of major repair also. Once was enough for me.

[Ward]

wow. a thread started in 2004. I had no idea OKCtalk was even around back then.

[PhiAlpha]

I was meeting someone in the business offices of Remington Park on a Tuesday morning and walked through their casino.

It was busy and full of the saddest-looking people I've ever seen. It depressed the hell out of me.

Unfortunately that's any casino I've ever seen with only slots and no table games.

[catch22]

I work with several gambling addicts. No problem spending several hundred bucks just on scratchers to play in the breakroom. (We have cash lottery machines in the concourse) They work an insane amount of overtime to go to the mountain casinos or fly to Vegas to blow thousands of dollars over one night. They are back at work the next day.

A sad addiction. I gamble for fun on occasion, but that is the extent of it. Probably a total of $200 over the course of a year. Maybe more if someone invites me to a casino for a special celebration. I rarely go to a casino by myself, always someone else's idea and I'll play along. It's fun for an hour or two at most.

[kukblue1]

Remington Park is disgusting. Sketchy people and filthy casino floor. The horse race stands are in need of major repair also. Once was enough for me.

I agree. All those seats are ripped upstairs. It's been what 30 years now I think it's time for new chairs. The casino isn't bad but too small. I'm shocked they haven't found a way to make it bigger seems like they have room. Maybe they are not allowed too? Speaking of making it bigger I'm shocked newcastle stays the way it does. I would of torn all that down and build a nice giant casino but I guess if your making money and I'm sure they are there is no need too

[Pete]

^

The number of machines they can run is highly regulated by their agreement with the state; they've lobbied several times to have the number increased.

I was told they would make the whole thing a casino and not run horses at all if they were allowed. As it is, they run the absolute minimum of races that are required.

[Dob Hooligan]

^

The number of machines they can run is highly regulated by their agreement with the state; they've lobbied several times to have the number increased.

I was told they would make the whole thing a casino and not run horses at all if they were allowed. As it is, they run the absolute minimum of races that are required.

I believe that last sentence is no longer accurate. I am not a "horsemn" by any stretch. But I am a pretty interested observer. I have heard from track PR that the race participation is on an upswing the last couple years.

The track set up is mostly as follows (remember, I am an amateur) -

Number of racing days per year. This is set by the state IIRC. Might even be in the constitution via the Racino law. not sure.

Split of those days into "meets". Lately it has been 2 per year- Quarter Horses in the spring and Thoroughbreds in the fall. I think the state Horse Racing Commission set these in partnership with the tracks.

Overall number of races per meet. I think this the Horse Race Commission tells the tracks the minimum, but tracks have some input.

The number of races per meet has been increasing the last few years. This is supposed to be driven by higher purses being paid for each race, which draws more horses.

What I do know is happening is that there are more races per day with more horses per race lately. In 2005 there may have been 8 races per day with 8 horse per race average, today it is more like 10 races per day with 10 horses per race.

A horse seems able to race one every 2-3 weeks. They mostly stay at the track during the meet. An average week is 4 days X 10 races X 10 horses = 400 horses per week. I recall Remington Park has added horse barns and n\can now host over 1000 horses. It is a busy place.

[Dob Hooligan]

I think the Remington Park horse operation and grandstands are some of the most extreme examples of "disruption" in recent memory. Remington Park opened in 1989 IIRC, and had 5-8 years of solid returns and operation. Today...the track...the actual horse racing just finished the "fall thoroughbred meet" (66 days of racing) with a record betting handle of just over $101 million. But, about 99 percent of that was bet out of state. The money bet at Remington Park was around $2 million. The vast majority of horse bets (pari-mutual?) stay within the betting "pool", so Remington gets a small percentage of the pool, not a huge cut of all losses.

The 1-2 percent of bettors who go to Remington Park are what supports the grandstands vendors, bars and restaurants. This inverted percentage is an extreme due to COVID, but still represents how big the shift is becoming.

In 1989, I'm guessing 80% of the betting on Remington Park was at the track and supporting all those stands, dining and drinking. Today it is probably 90% off track. This leaves most of the square footage looking like Crossroads Mall in it's disuse.