_ritter_
Gadfly
Fishing the Slots in the Catskills
Two stories written today.
Good fishing to you...
TR
Narrowsburg, NY
www.delawareriverfishing.com
.............
http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2004/06/30/opening.htm
June 30, 2004
Gambling makes debut in Monticello
By Steve Israel and Victor Whitman
Times Herald-Record
Monticello - Forty years of Sullivan County's casino dreams were about to come true this morning when sixty five people lined up to place the first bet at the new Monticello raceway casino. Theresa Gibbs of Newburgh was first in line. She arrived at the track at 2 a.m. “I thought I was going to be stuck in traffic, so I got here early,” she said. “I want to win.”
As more cars came streaming in, workers scrambled to put finishing touches on the racino. At 9:59 after a countdown from five, the casino opened and the 610 people waiting in line moved into the racino.
About 20 protesters gathered across the street from the Monticello Raceway this morning to protest the opening of the racino.
The group - mostly members of the newly founded Casino Free Coalition - are waiving at drivers, and carrying signs that say, “Gambling Destroys Families.” Meanwhile, cars are streaming into the new $30 million racino.
“I don’t want my kids to grow up in a casino town,” said Bette Minervini of Grahamsville, who was wearing two fuzzy dice on her cap and a poster that said, “Addiction.”
“We want to educate people that gambling isn’t a bed of roses.”
http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2004/06/30/siracehi.htm
Mighty M arrives with VLTs blazing
By Steve Israel
Times Herald-Record
sisrael@th-record.com
Monticello – Once upon a time, a rainbow-colored fountain glistened at Monticello Raceway. Women in mink stoles and men in top hats dined on filet mignon and lobster tail. Thousands lined up to bet on champion horses – after many had their shoes buffed and shined by the track's ace shoeshine man.
"It was the place to be," says the raceway's racing controller, Linda Loughrey, who worked the teletype machine at the track in 1969, 11 years after it opened.
But then, in the late '70s, the fountain began to run dry. More empty yellow, orange and green seats could be seen in the grandstand when grand resorts like the Concord that brought thousands of guests to its box seats began to fade. Potholes weren't repaired. Grass grew in cracks. By the '90s, you could count the crowds that had once numbered more than 10,000 per night by hand. The shoeshine stand closed.
"It was," says a former director of the track and Pines Hotel owner, Jerry Ehrlich, "sad.''
Today, the raceway is set to glisten again. Mighty M Gaming at Monticello Raceway opens this morning, with 1,800 slot-like video lottery terminals, a buffet restaurant serving prime rib, freshly paved parking lots and that rainbow fountain.
"History will repeat itself," says Sid Blum, who began working at the track when it opened in 1958 and is still there, selling programs.
Blum means the glory days of the past. But as any gambler knows, there is no sure thing.
Will the racino glisten like that fountain? Or could it possibly wither, like the 50,000 tulips that once bloomed at the Concord?
To try to see the future, you first have to know the past.
The story begins nearly a half-century ago, when a group of the Catskills' most powerful men, owners of resorts like the Concord, Kutsher's and Nevele, looked for a way to give their resorts even more attractions than rainbow-colored ski slopes or kidney shaped pools. They built a harness track on farmland right off Route 17.
It wasn't long before resorts were bringing busloads of guests to box seats with nameplates like Grossinger's, the Fallsview, the Silverado and the Concord. When they dined in the Club Escoffier, their fellow diners included Catskill stars like Milton Berle and Henny Youngman. Crowds of thousands roared as they rooted for young harness drivers like John Manzi, now the track's publicity director, whose office walls are lined with celebrities who came to the raceway, like Joe DiMaggio and Jake LaMotta. Back then, Robert Berman was Manzi's assistant. Today, he heads the company that owns the track.
"It was like Miami Beach then, so exciting, so colorful," says Jerry Ehrlich, whose son Cliff is now the track's senior vice president.
Then OTB parlors opened. Bettors could walk around the corner to play the horses instead of driving to the Catskills. Atlantic City casinos opened, offering free bus trips from places like Monticello. Race-fixing scandals tainted the harness industry.
As the crowds at the track dwindled, the potholes grew. Resorts like the Pines closed. Dust collected on the bar in that once-grand Escoffier. The fountain dried up.
The future looked bright when the track won federal approval for an Indian casino in 2000, but that hope was soon dashed. The tribe switched management teams and locations and headed to Kutsher's. The raceway hooked up with another tribe, the Cayugas, to try to open one of the three Indian casinos allowed in the Catskills.
Now Ehrlich and Berman are betting $30 million of investors' money on the racino – nearly twice as much as each of the state's other three racinos have spent.
If the racino at Saratoga is any indication, it should be a winner. Saratoga Gaming and Raceway upped its attendance from 450 on the Friday night before VLTs arrived to 4,000 the one after. It had to order as much food in one week as it did all last year. Monticello has hundreds more VLTs than Saratoga, which doesn't have a lounge or buffet like Monticello.
Plus, Monticello will be the closest spot with slot-like VLTs to New York City.
"It's kind of like the field of dreams," says Saratoga's general manager, Skip Carlson. "If you built it right, they'll come."
Jerry Ehrlich isn't sure the track will hit the jackpot. He knows the state Lottery, which runs the machines, automatically keeps 71 percent of the take, which means the profit margin is slim. That also means no "free" rolls of quarters, or big-name entertainment.
"The racino is a step in the right direction," he says, "but a casino is the answer."
Berman, who visited the track as a kid to get Willie Mays' autograph, agrees.
"The tax structure does make it difficult," he says. "This takes a good solid step in the right direction, but a casino pushes it over the top."
But competition from those Indian casinos could hurt the racino, says Roger Gros of Global Gaming Business magazine.
Still, you can bet the house on one thing: slots players will flock to the track today. They should keep flocking for the immediate future even though the odds guarantee they'll lose eight cents on every dollar.
Fact is, slots players might be the real reason the racino succeeds where racing failed. After all, up to 45 million Americans played slots in 2002, losing some 35 billion dollars.
"It can't miss," said Connie Sedlacek a few months ago as she played a 98 Bottles of Beer machine at Saratoga.
Sedlacek, who has bet – and lost – up to $3,000 per casino visit, plans to come to Monticello, even though she knows you can't beat the odds.
"You don't really win anything ever," she said. "But it sure is fun."
Two stories written today.
Good fishing to you...
TR
Narrowsburg, NY
www.delawareriverfishing.com
.............
http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2004/06/30/opening.htm
June 30, 2004
Gambling makes debut in Monticello
By Steve Israel and Victor Whitman
Times Herald-Record
Monticello - Forty years of Sullivan County's casino dreams were about to come true this morning when sixty five people lined up to place the first bet at the new Monticello raceway casino. Theresa Gibbs of Newburgh was first in line. She arrived at the track at 2 a.m. “I thought I was going to be stuck in traffic, so I got here early,” she said. “I want to win.”
As more cars came streaming in, workers scrambled to put finishing touches on the racino. At 9:59 after a countdown from five, the casino opened and the 610 people waiting in line moved into the racino.
About 20 protesters gathered across the street from the Monticello Raceway this morning to protest the opening of the racino.
The group - mostly members of the newly founded Casino Free Coalition - are waiving at drivers, and carrying signs that say, “Gambling Destroys Families.” Meanwhile, cars are streaming into the new $30 million racino.
“I don’t want my kids to grow up in a casino town,” said Bette Minervini of Grahamsville, who was wearing two fuzzy dice on her cap and a poster that said, “Addiction.”
“We want to educate people that gambling isn’t a bed of roses.”
http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2004/06/30/siracehi.htm
Mighty M arrives with VLTs blazing
By Steve Israel
Times Herald-Record
sisrael@th-record.com
Monticello – Once upon a time, a rainbow-colored fountain glistened at Monticello Raceway. Women in mink stoles and men in top hats dined on filet mignon and lobster tail. Thousands lined up to bet on champion horses – after many had their shoes buffed and shined by the track's ace shoeshine man.
"It was the place to be," says the raceway's racing controller, Linda Loughrey, who worked the teletype machine at the track in 1969, 11 years after it opened.
But then, in the late '70s, the fountain began to run dry. More empty yellow, orange and green seats could be seen in the grandstand when grand resorts like the Concord that brought thousands of guests to its box seats began to fade. Potholes weren't repaired. Grass grew in cracks. By the '90s, you could count the crowds that had once numbered more than 10,000 per night by hand. The shoeshine stand closed.
"It was," says a former director of the track and Pines Hotel owner, Jerry Ehrlich, "sad.''
Today, the raceway is set to glisten again. Mighty M Gaming at Monticello Raceway opens this morning, with 1,800 slot-like video lottery terminals, a buffet restaurant serving prime rib, freshly paved parking lots and that rainbow fountain.
"History will repeat itself," says Sid Blum, who began working at the track when it opened in 1958 and is still there, selling programs.
Blum means the glory days of the past. But as any gambler knows, there is no sure thing.
Will the racino glisten like that fountain? Or could it possibly wither, like the 50,000 tulips that once bloomed at the Concord?
To try to see the future, you first have to know the past.
The story begins nearly a half-century ago, when a group of the Catskills' most powerful men, owners of resorts like the Concord, Kutsher's and Nevele, looked for a way to give their resorts even more attractions than rainbow-colored ski slopes or kidney shaped pools. They built a harness track on farmland right off Route 17.
It wasn't long before resorts were bringing busloads of guests to box seats with nameplates like Grossinger's, the Fallsview, the Silverado and the Concord. When they dined in the Club Escoffier, their fellow diners included Catskill stars like Milton Berle and Henny Youngman. Crowds of thousands roared as they rooted for young harness drivers like John Manzi, now the track's publicity director, whose office walls are lined with celebrities who came to the raceway, like Joe DiMaggio and Jake LaMotta. Back then, Robert Berman was Manzi's assistant. Today, he heads the company that owns the track.
"It was like Miami Beach then, so exciting, so colorful," says Jerry Ehrlich, whose son Cliff is now the track's senior vice president.
Then OTB parlors opened. Bettors could walk around the corner to play the horses instead of driving to the Catskills. Atlantic City casinos opened, offering free bus trips from places like Monticello. Race-fixing scandals tainted the harness industry.
As the crowds at the track dwindled, the potholes grew. Resorts like the Pines closed. Dust collected on the bar in that once-grand Escoffier. The fountain dried up.
The future looked bright when the track won federal approval for an Indian casino in 2000, but that hope was soon dashed. The tribe switched management teams and locations and headed to Kutsher's. The raceway hooked up with another tribe, the Cayugas, to try to open one of the three Indian casinos allowed in the Catskills.
Now Ehrlich and Berman are betting $30 million of investors' money on the racino – nearly twice as much as each of the state's other three racinos have spent.
If the racino at Saratoga is any indication, it should be a winner. Saratoga Gaming and Raceway upped its attendance from 450 on the Friday night before VLTs arrived to 4,000 the one after. It had to order as much food in one week as it did all last year. Monticello has hundreds more VLTs than Saratoga, which doesn't have a lounge or buffet like Monticello.
Plus, Monticello will be the closest spot with slot-like VLTs to New York City.
"It's kind of like the field of dreams," says Saratoga's general manager, Skip Carlson. "If you built it right, they'll come."
Jerry Ehrlich isn't sure the track will hit the jackpot. He knows the state Lottery, which runs the machines, automatically keeps 71 percent of the take, which means the profit margin is slim. That also means no "free" rolls of quarters, or big-name entertainment.
"The racino is a step in the right direction," he says, "but a casino is the answer."
Berman, who visited the track as a kid to get Willie Mays' autograph, agrees.
"The tax structure does make it difficult," he says. "This takes a good solid step in the right direction, but a casino pushes it over the top."
But competition from those Indian casinos could hurt the racino, says Roger Gros of Global Gaming Business magazine.
Still, you can bet the house on one thing: slots players will flock to the track today. They should keep flocking for the immediate future even though the odds guarantee they'll lose eight cents on every dollar.
Fact is, slots players might be the real reason the racino succeeds where racing failed. After all, up to 45 million Americans played slots in 2002, losing some 35 billion dollars.
"It can't miss," said Connie Sedlacek a few months ago as she played a 98 Bottles of Beer machine at Saratoga.
Sedlacek, who has bet – and lost – up to $3,000 per casino visit, plans to come to Monticello, even though she knows you can't beat the odds.
"You don't really win anything ever," she said. "But it sure is fun."
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