Posts Tagged ‘horse race betting’

By Ray Paulick
Jeffrey and Michael Jelinsky are scheduled to turn themselves in to authorities and report to jail by noon Friday and the U.S. Attorney’s office in Las Vegas has officially closed the case against them after guilty pleas earlier this year in a case involving bookmaking, money laundering and running an illegal gambling operation, much of it out of the Palms Casino and Poker Palace Casino in Las Vegas. The operation involved millions of dollars of illegal bets made on horse racing that, according to the plea agreement, were either booked by the brothers or laid off at the casino racebooks, offshore bookmakers or through the since-closed rebate shop IRG, which was owned by the publicly traded company Youbet.com.

Jeffrey Jelinsky was sentenced to 21 months in prison and Michael Jelinsky 15 months. (Click to see the sentencing forfeitures for Michael Jelinsky and Jeffrey Jelinsky and here for a plea agreement.)

Though the case against the Jelinsky brothers is completed, some questions remain.

Who were the unindicted co-conspirators and customers of this large operation (the U.S. attorney said they lived in Nevada, California, Texas, New Jersey, Colorado, Connecticut and Florida)? Were any of the customers licensed horse owners or trainers? Has racing’s top cop, Frank Fabian, head of the Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau, or individual state racing commissions fulfilled their responsibilities and checked with federal prosecutors to see if any licensed participants in horse racing were involved as associates or customers of Jeffrey and Michael Jelinsky?

Fabian did not return a phone call from the Paulick Report inquiring about the Jelinsky matter.

Federal wiretaps were involved in this case, and the feds almost certainly have names and numbers of the players. Incidentally, neither the Palms Hotel and Casino nor the Poker Palace Casino were said to have done anything wrong, according to the documents from the case. (UPDATE: A Paulick Report reader points out in a comment below that Poker Palace was fined $250,000 for failing to properly manage its employees, some of whom permitted an illegal bookmaking operation to lay off some bets and receive prohibited rebates in return for their action. Click here for details on the Nevada Gaming Control Board’s sanctions.)

Why does it matter who may have been betting through an illegal bookmaker?

For starters, money bet with bookmakers on horseracing doesn’t go into the pari-mutuel pools. That means these illegal bets that otherwise might have gone through the mutuel pools are stealing revenue from racetracks and horsemen. Second, knowingly associating with bookmakers is a serious matter that, at least in some states, can disqualify someone from a racing license as owner or trainer. (In California, for example, Rule No. 1902 reads: “No licensee shall engage in any conduct prohibited by this Division nor shall any licensee engage in any conduct which by its nature is detrimental to the best interests of horse racing including, but not limited to: (a) knowing association with any known bookmaker, known tout, or known felon.”

The federal government and the casinos in Las Vegas take this kind of thing seriously. I hope the TRPB and racing commissions do, too.

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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By Ray Paulick
Betting on American Thoroughbred racing continued its downward slide in May, dropping 8.26%, from $1.5 million in 2008 to just under $1.4 billion in 2009. There were 31 fewer U.S. racing days this May compared with May 2008, a number that is expected to fall even farther as tracks like Hollywood Park and Churchill Downs reduce from five days a week to four.

Purses also fell again in May, dropping by 6.73%.

There were 10 weekend days plus the Memorial Day holiday in May of 2009, compared with nine weekend days and Memorial day in 2008. Handle is higher on weekends and holidays than on normal weekdays.

Year-to-date figures are down 9.22% in handle, and 5.54% in purses despite a less than 1% drop in total racing days. With more wagering dollars continuing to shift from on-track to off-track or account wagering, a smaller percentage of each dollar bet goes toward purses. Subsidies from casino wagering and slot machines at tracks (racinos) have kept purses from falling at the same rate as the decline in handle.

The U.S. racing industry is almost certain to suffer year-end wagering declines for the fifth time in the last six years. At the current rate of decline, year-end handle will be just under $12.5 billion, the lowest total since 1996. (Click here to see the historical trend.)

Statistics are from Equibase.

 

* Includes worldwide commingled wagering on U.S. races.

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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By Ray Paulick

Figures released today by Equibase Company confirm what the Paulick Report has been saying for months, that pari-mutuel handle on Thoroughbred racing in the United States is at its lowest level since 1998. With a 20% plunge in December wagering, year-end handle in the U.S. totalled $13,670,196,938, down more than $1 billion from 2007, a 7.16% falloff. It is the fourth decline in total Thoroughbred pari-mutuel handle in the last six years in the U.S.

Purses fells by 1.33% for the year, from $1,175,924,289 in 2007 to $1,160,313,672 in 2008. The number of race days declined 1.18%, from 6,168 to 6,095.

Click here to see the Paulick Report’s extensive look at U.S. handle since 1996, including totals adjusted for inflation.

The decline in 2008 handle accelerated in the final three months of the year. A third-quarter report showed the drop to be 5.75% on the year, but the worldwide financial crisis that shook world markets in September compounded the problems the racing industry was already experiencing. Click here to see analysis of the third-quarter handle report.

Thoroughbred Racing Economic Indicators

The following press release from the National Thoroughbred Racing Association is not good news, though not entirely unexpected. Handle in the third quarter (July-September) fell by almost 10%. The decline is not surprising, but it virtually confirms something I wrote the other  day saying that U.S. handle for 2008 will be at its lowest level since 1999. Don’t look for any bright spots in the fourth quarter in light of the current economic crisis. – Ray Paulick

 

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) and Equibase Company LLC today released the “Thoroughbred Racing Economic Indicators“ for United States and Canadian pari-mutuel wagering on U.S. Thoroughbred racing during the third quarter of 2008, as well as for U.S. purses and race days, with prior-year, third-quarter comparisons.