"Since NYRA keeps 10 percent of wagers considered to be made ontrack -- which includes phone, Internet, and Belmont -- the $52 million increase helped offset the $50.4 million decrease in handle that was associated with the closure of New York City OTB. NYRA only got 2.5 percent of a dollar wagered at OTB. Thus, NYRA realized approximately a $5.2 million revenue increase."

"What most everyone underestimated was the resilience of New York's horseplayers. They like the game and they like to wager. Take away OTB and most will find a way to get a bet down."

"Overall, daily average total handle at NYRA in December was down 8.1 percent compared with 2009, though daily average attendance was up 39.4 percent, most of that coming following the Dec. 8 closure of OTB."

"Outside the shuttered parlor near Times Square, a man recognized a reporter from an earlier visit and asked if there had been any developments. Told that NYRA had taken over the television programming, he beamed. 'So NYRA is taking over OTB?' he asked excitedly. No, friend. Just the television part. He sank. 'This is a crazy situation,' he said."

"The possibility that residents of New York City will remain unable to place a legal wager at any storefront property has led to discussions about the potential of NYRA to open offtrack betting sites under a law passed in 1990. With the elimination of New York City OTB from the political scene, NYRA would appear to be in position to seek the licenses, according to officials."

"Greg Rayburn, the NYCOTB president, said Dec. 14 that half of the OTB’s ADW account holders have withdrawn their funds, taking its balance down from about $1.5 million a week ago to $700,000."

"The New York City system wagered $9.6 million on Turfway Park races in 2009, resulting in $169,000 in revenues that were split between Turfway and its horsemen through purses ..."

"Hayward said he sent a letter to the New York State Racing and Wagering Board proposing a 120-day pilot program, during which any regulated in-state advanced deposit wagering entity could video stream NYRA's races."

"But the complexities of the state’s racing money distribution formula presents some opportunities for NYRA. NYCOTB had been paying NYRA about 2.7% of its handle on bets made at parlors and over the internet and phone accounts. But NYRA gets to keep 10% of the handle on live bets, and the state considers live bets to also include wagers made through NYRA’s ADW operation. Also, if a NYCOTB ADW patron migrates to an out-of-state ADW, NYRA would get about 50% more per wager than it had gotten on bets on its races made through NYCOTB."

"Racing is more than about people sitting in betting parlors. It is about the sport -- making the tracks viable as racing entities -- not just places where VLTs are played. We need to focus on helping the breeders and horsemen since they are the infrastructure that develops a successful racing product. We then need to market racing in a manner which brings fans to the track and generates interest in the sport overall."

"As is often the case in New York, politics trumped logic."

"State officials say they do not have numbers yet on how many NYCOTB ADW customers have closed their accounts, but sources say the accounts have been sharply draining down 48 hours now since the OTB closed its doors. They say even if the NYCOTB were to come back to life, it would be difficult to get those bettors back."

"Asked if he expected some resistance to opening Belmont for simulcasting from Nassau OTB -- which has as a nearby branch in Franklin Square -- Hayward said, 'If NYRA were to reduce its race days and go out of business, the other regional OTBs would be right behind us; we're 40 percent of their business. They should be thrilled we're trying to stay in business.' A spokesperson for Nassau County OTB said it had 'not yet received any proposal from NYRA or any information about this plan. But when we do receive it, we do look forward to reviewing it with Charlie Hayward.'"

"There was a longer-than-usual line at NYRA Rewards Customer Service at Aqueduct on Wednesday -- when 61 new NYRA One accounts were opened -- as presumably New York City OTB customers came to the track to open NYRA One accounts. NYRA reported that 56 new NYRA One accounts had been opened from Friday through Monday."

"The 58-year-old Leonardo, who lives in Wanaque, N.J., has devised a plan that will allow him to continue searching for someone else’s lost treasure. He has increased his ticket-collecting staff to six, and has started dispatching them on a rotating basis to racetracks in New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia."

The board approves emergency measures following the closure of NYC OTB on December 8, 2010.

"The purpose of this hearing is to evaluate the economic impact of merging all of the regional OTB corporations into one single entity in order to cut duplicable administrative and operating expenses, maximize the benefit these entities were originally created to provide and to ensure that the quality of New York's racing product remains intact."

"Total all-sources handle from Wednesday was down 3.8% to $5,385,903 compared with an average of total all-sources handle from the November 24 and December 2 cards. All three of those cards featured nine races and were comparable in that December 2 was a Thursday card and November 24 was the most recent Wednesday card."

"There’s a consequence to what happened yesterday," board chairman John Sabini said. "We just put a gaping hole in the handle. The size of the hole we don’t know yet. But there will likely be less of a racing product. I think you’ll see fewer race dates and you may even see a track or two close."

"In an emergency meeting, the board approved streamlining the process for New York City OTB bettors to quickly sign up for Internet betting on state-regulated sites. The board also authorized several betting entities to start the process immediately, which would dramatically reduce delays for bettors to sign up."

"The failure of the NYC OTB bill in the State Senate was, in one sense, simply a numbers game. Specifically, the number of Democrats who were not present for the special session. By my count, compiled from various reports, there were five; including Senate President Malcolm Smith, who was tarnished in the AEG report; Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada, tarnished in several scandals, and Senator Kevin Parker, who was being tarnished with a misdemeanor assault criminal mischief conviction (related to an assault) in a Brooklyn courthouse. Man, what a crew."

"The track was there before OTB, it’ll be there after."

"To have racing cease at what remains the most important racing circuit in North America seems unimaginable, but it's not. In New York, where the politicians are beyond contempt and the off-track betting system is a bad joke, it can happen."