I live in New York, and the nearest jai alai action resides a 2-hour drive from me in Connecticut or a 2-hour flight from me in Florida. I’m not such a self-destructive gamblerto incursuch transit times just to make a bet – particularly for a system that seeks to bet only a modest amount each day. But to test the system, we had to find someone to take ourmoney. I thought about striking a deal with local people in Connecticut and Florida
to serve as my betting agents, but then I would have had to give them a cut of the action. Eventually, I found a simpler, more elegant solution.
Many states provide off-track betting (OTB) facilities that enable people who can’t make it to the racetrack to put down bets legally. These OTB parlors are usually fairly seedy-looking places filled with low-life characters watching TV screens that show how their latest investments are paying off.
In the 1970s, OTB services were touted as a way to help the horse-racing industry, which was suffering as state lotteries began siphoning off much of theiraction. When casino gambling began spreading through the land, OTB offices tried to compete by offering simulcasting, the ability to watch and bet on any race (or fronton) anywhere in the country, not just at local tracks.
Simulcasting helped, but not enough. The fiscal health of racetracks, frontons, and the OTB itself continued to deteriorate. Indeed, certain politicians in New York have recently been making hay complaining that only state government could manage to lose money running a bookie op-eration. Because the OTB parlors themselves are as popular as the plague in most of the neighborhoods they reside in, more creative thinking was required.
The Connecticut OTB, in cahoots with its partner Autotote Enterprises, rose to the occasion by starting On the Wire telephone betting services.
Who needs an OTB parlorat all when you can call in yourbets from home oroffice? On the Wire enables its customers to speak with live operators eagerto take theirbets orto dial bets in manually using an interactive voice-response system. Indeed, the On the Wire WWW page (http://www.ctotb.com) stresses the advantages of the latter technology for married or employed compulsive gamblers:
Bet using the touch tone key pad on yourphone and no one around you will be aware you are placing a wager through your phone account.
All the bets are made using a toll-free telephone number, which pre-sumably has the additional advantage of neverappearing on anyone’s telephone bill.
I sent in an initial $250 deposit to Autotote Enterprises and a few days laterwas rewarded with a lettercontaining my account numberand instructions on how to bet. Deposit and withdrawal tickets were provided as with any otherfinancial institution. The seven deposit and only four withdrawal tickets made for an ominous asymmetry, but one probably well
justified given the nature of Autotote’s business. A cheaply mimeographed sheet listed all the betting events forthe coming month, including horse racing at a variety of tracks as well as Dania and Milford jai alai.
A careful reading of its literature made clear the special nature of this financial institution. Checks drawn on business or corporate accounts are not accepted, which is a lesson presumably learned from hard expe-rience. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) insists on tax withholdings of 28% whenever winnings exceed $5000. All betting conversations are recor-ded on tape to prevent customers from laterdisowning theirunsuccessful investments.
Dialing bets in via On the Wire was fairly easy. A call to their toll-free phone number was answered by a cheerful four-note jingle and a soothing recorded voice:
Welcome to On the Wire automated teller. Enter your account number, followed by the pound key.
The proper stream of digits yielded the soothing voice again:
Enter your personal identification number, followed by the pound key.
Afterentering this four-digit code, the system would pause a while to check me out. If all was in order, the voice would inform me of my holdings:
Your account balance is two hundred and fifty dollars.
For track conditions enter 99 pound.
A harsher, metallic voice now set down to business:
Track?
It wanted the code of the fronton session where we wanted to bet. Milford matinees and evenings were 78 and 79, respectively. Dania matinees and evenings were 92 and 93, followed of course by the pound key.
Race?
Which game did you wish to bet on? Presumably this was a number between 1 and 15.
Bet amount?
Here we could type in any amount we wanted, in dollars, subject to the minimum allowable bet. The “*” key was available to serve as a decimal point if needed, as on trifecta box bets.
Bet type?
Each possible type of bet had a numerical code associated with it. The code fora win was “11,” while “32” would get you a trifecta box.
Runners?
Here the system would prompt you for the post position numbers (be-tween 1 and 8) of the players you wished to bet on. For quiniela, exacta, and trifecta bets that involved more than one post position, the entries were separated with the “*” key.
You have requested Milford Jai-Alai, evening, game 5, for one dollar fifty cents on trifecta box 3-5-6. Press 1 to confirm.
On confirming the bet, the system would inform you of the size of yournow diminished balance and return to “Track?” Entering a “*” or just hanging up the phone would end this session. Personally, I pre-ferred entering a “*” so I could listen as theirmachine thanked me formy business.