State: NYRA overcharged bettors by millions
Racing & Wagering Board to require paybacks, donation to charity
BY james m. odato, Capitol bureau
Updated 03:32 p.m., Wednesday, December 21, 2011
SCHENECTADY -— The state Racing & Wagering Board voted unanimously on Wednesday to admonish the New York Racing Association for overcharging bettors millions of dollars over the past 15 months.
The action happened at a board meeting after racing officials discovered NYRA overcharged by 1 percentage point the amount it kept from some \"exotic\" bets. Those bets include Pick 6 (on carryover days), Pick 3, Pick 4, trifecta and superfecta wagers, according to NYRA\'s website.
NYRA, which runs races for the state at the Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga thoroughbred tracks, will be required to pay back bettors about $8.6 million, according to one state official, if it can track them down through racing accounts. It will also have to help clear up IRS issues with those who won exotic bets during the period. Further, NYRA will be required to pay a $50,000 contribution to a racing-related charity.
The overcharges occurred not just on bets from NYRA tracks, but also on those handled by remote betting agencies involving NYRA races.
The racing association was supposed to reduce the maximum sum it kept from such bets to 25 percent starting on Sept. 15, 2010, but continued to charge a 26 percent takeout, according to two state officials. NYRA is cooperating with the state on the corrective measures, according to a spokesman for the racing board. NYRA will be expected to charge 24 percent a period of time that the racing board will determine.
\"The board is looking out for the best interests of the betting public,\" said Lee Park, a press officer for the racing board.
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