Just as Claude Rains was "shocked" to learn there was gambling at Rick's, the Happy Handicapper was amazed by recent allegations of corruption at the New York Racing Association's three tracks.
The H.H. cut his horseplaying teeth at Aqueduct and still gets to Belmont Park and Saratoga regularly enough to experience some of the shenanigans of the mutuel clerks.
A few days ago, the H.H. found in his mailbox a copy of State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's 64-page report on "employee misconduct" at NYRA.
The report has generated much controversy, both at NYRA and in the racing press. NYRA Chairman Barry Schwartz said it was full of "half-truths, misleading inferences and inaccuracies." Steve Crist, chairman and publisher of the Daily Racing Form, said "some of the report's findings are so overblown and overzealous as to approach comedy."
As a horseplayer and potential victim, the H.H. was most impressed by the report's chapter on "Teller crimes against customers." In it, Spitzer outlines the most common ways tellers steal from horseplayers.
Even if you never go near a NYRA track, you should be aware of these tricks, and the simple things you can do to protect yourself from what the tellers call "dropping the customer."
"The lines at NYRA betting windows can be noisy and crowded affairs," the report said.
"Inexperienced customers not only feel pressure to complete their transactions quickly, but can find it difficult to mentally calculate how much they owe or how much is due them on a complex or exotic wager. (They) are vulnerable to corrupt tellers who . . . steal from inexperienced customers who do not know what they owe on bets or what is due them in winnings."
The report says the three most common tricks are:
• "Failure to clear and error messages." Tellers use various methods to get the screen on their machine (the one that faces the customer) to cheat the player.
"By failing to clear (the screen) a teller can use the amount posted from the previous transaction to deceive the next customer," the report says.
"For example, if the previous customer has won $135, the screen will show $135. If the next customer hands the teller a winning ticket for $200, the teller will simply give the customer the $135 shown on the screen. Once the customer has left, the corrupt teller inserts the winning ticket . . . and pockets the balance of the customer's winnings."
A second way a teller can confuse things is to insert a winning ticket into his machine several times.
"This generates an error message on the screen. The teller then pays the inexperienced customer only a portion of what is owed," the report says.
• "The Slow Hand." This is the one the H.H. has seen a few times.
"Here, the corrupt teller provides the customers with their change or their winnings in an exceedingly slow fashion, hoping that the customers will become distracted and walk away thinking they have received all their money. If a customer catches on and complains, the teller will simply state that he has not finished and pay the full amount due the customer."
• "Palming." This is done to customers cashing a number of tickets at once.
"The corrupt teller will insert some, but not all, of the tickets into the (machine) and give the customer the amount shown on the screen. When the window is clear of customers, the teller will then insert the rest of the tickets and pocket the winnings," the report says.
There are, of course, several ways to prevent tellers from cheating you. In the words of James Gallagher, vice president for mutuel operations, "Customers need to do some mathematics."
In other words, don't let the crowds and the excitement and, especially, the euphoria of winning throw you off. Check the TVs or the tote board for the payoff prices. Then do the mathematics to figure out exactly what you have coming to you. If the $2 exacta pays $239.70, your $1 exacta box is worth $119.85 and your $5 box should return $599.25. Don't trust the teller to figure that out for you. And don't pick up your money until the teller is finished counting all of it correctly.
The report also details some less-common scams, such as with the "Mystery Vouchers."
The H.H. is on the mailing list for a mystery voucher from several tracks. This is a pari-mutuel ticket that can be worth anywhere from $2 to $1,000 or more when you present it at a mutuel window on a certain date. Although the majority of tickets are worth just $2, you don't know how much it's worth until you go to cash it.
However, Spitzer alleges, it seems there's a secret "time stamp" code on the tickets that the clerks know about. So even if your mystery voucher was worth $100 or $1,000, you might never know it. A dishonest teller can switch your ticket for a $2 voucher and keep the difference.
Basically, there are two things to remember. First, the money isn't yours until you walk out with it. Second, don't forget the primary rule of horseplaying: Pay attention.
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20030628/1035177.asp
The H.H. cut his horseplaying teeth at Aqueduct and still gets to Belmont Park and Saratoga regularly enough to experience some of the shenanigans of the mutuel clerks.
A few days ago, the H.H. found in his mailbox a copy of State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's 64-page report on "employee misconduct" at NYRA.
The report has generated much controversy, both at NYRA and in the racing press. NYRA Chairman Barry Schwartz said it was full of "half-truths, misleading inferences and inaccuracies." Steve Crist, chairman and publisher of the Daily Racing Form, said "some of the report's findings are so overblown and overzealous as to approach comedy."
As a horseplayer and potential victim, the H.H. was most impressed by the report's chapter on "Teller crimes against customers." In it, Spitzer outlines the most common ways tellers steal from horseplayers.
Even if you never go near a NYRA track, you should be aware of these tricks, and the simple things you can do to protect yourself from what the tellers call "dropping the customer."
"The lines at NYRA betting windows can be noisy and crowded affairs," the report said.
"Inexperienced customers not only feel pressure to complete their transactions quickly, but can find it difficult to mentally calculate how much they owe or how much is due them on a complex or exotic wager. (They) are vulnerable to corrupt tellers who . . . steal from inexperienced customers who do not know what they owe on bets or what is due them in winnings."
The report says the three most common tricks are:
• "Failure to clear and error messages." Tellers use various methods to get the screen on their machine (the one that faces the customer) to cheat the player.
"By failing to clear (the screen) a teller can use the amount posted from the previous transaction to deceive the next customer," the report says.
"For example, if the previous customer has won $135, the screen will show $135. If the next customer hands the teller a winning ticket for $200, the teller will simply give the customer the $135 shown on the screen. Once the customer has left, the corrupt teller inserts the winning ticket . . . and pockets the balance of the customer's winnings."
A second way a teller can confuse things is to insert a winning ticket into his machine several times.
"This generates an error message on the screen. The teller then pays the inexperienced customer only a portion of what is owed," the report says.
• "The Slow Hand." This is the one the H.H. has seen a few times.
"Here, the corrupt teller provides the customers with their change or their winnings in an exceedingly slow fashion, hoping that the customers will become distracted and walk away thinking they have received all their money. If a customer catches on and complains, the teller will simply state that he has not finished and pay the full amount due the customer."
• "Palming." This is done to customers cashing a number of tickets at once.
"The corrupt teller will insert some, but not all, of the tickets into the (machine) and give the customer the amount shown on the screen. When the window is clear of customers, the teller will then insert the rest of the tickets and pocket the winnings," the report says.
There are, of course, several ways to prevent tellers from cheating you. In the words of James Gallagher, vice president for mutuel operations, "Customers need to do some mathematics."
In other words, don't let the crowds and the excitement and, especially, the euphoria of winning throw you off. Check the TVs or the tote board for the payoff prices. Then do the mathematics to figure out exactly what you have coming to you. If the $2 exacta pays $239.70, your $1 exacta box is worth $119.85 and your $5 box should return $599.25. Don't trust the teller to figure that out for you. And don't pick up your money until the teller is finished counting all of it correctly.
The report also details some less-common scams, such as with the "Mystery Vouchers."
The H.H. is on the mailing list for a mystery voucher from several tracks. This is a pari-mutuel ticket that can be worth anywhere from $2 to $1,000 or more when you present it at a mutuel window on a certain date. Although the majority of tickets are worth just $2, you don't know how much it's worth until you go to cash it.
However, Spitzer alleges, it seems there's a secret "time stamp" code on the tickets that the clerks know about. So even if your mystery voucher was worth $100 or $1,000, you might never know it. A dishonest teller can switch your ticket for a $2 voucher and keep the difference.
Basically, there are two things to remember. First, the money isn't yours until you walk out with it. Second, don't forget the primary rule of horseplaying: Pay attention.
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20030628/1035177.asp
