We're just a few weeks away from the annual Nathan's Hotdog Eating Contest at Coney Island, and it's time to get serious about placing your bets. There's big money to had with this thing, people! Here's what we're looking at this year. more ›

It's so hard to find good help these days. A well-to-do Central Park West woman was allegedly conned out of $6,000 by her driver and his friend. Sources tell the Post that 67-year-old Jane Rosen wanted a taste of some Super Bowl action, betting a gentlewoman's $100 with what she believed was a bookie for her driver, Williams Mendoza. Thus the famed "bookie/bettor" airtight pact of Trust was forged, we guess. more ›

The closures of over 50 OTB locations in the city meant bad news for, well, the kind of people who'd choose to spend their time in an OTB. But the government will be glad to know that the city's illegal bookies have seen business soar! "It's a big spike. I do a few hundred dollars in bets in a day to a few thousand," 42-year-old "Primo," who has been taking bets for over 20 years, told the Post. Just goes to show that hard work + time + an illegal business structure = success! more ›

The city's off-track betting operation says it'll be closing its locations this Friday, because the State Senate failed to vote on a bailout package. NYC OTB CEO Greg Rayburn said, "We've continued today to do two things. One is to prepare for the shutdown, if it's necessary. And that could come as early as this week. And two, to continue to talk to people in the Senate and explain to them what the provisions are in the bill, answer questions and urge them to come and act before Friday, because, realistically, once you close, you close." more ›

A longtime Mets clubhouse manager has been suspended because of an investigation into his involvement with a mob-run sports gambling ring. Charlie Samuels, who started working for the Mets in 1976 and has been equipment manager since 1983, is accused of placing illicit wagers on various sporting events, including baseball. He is being investigated for providing inside information and tips for friends who also placed bets on games, and for using his Mets accounts to cover gambling debts. more ›

How smart do you think you are, college kids? A new website that insists it is not a gambling website could pay you for that self-awareness, provided it's backed up by some actual knowledge. Ultrinsic allows students at 36 colleges, including NYU and Columbia, to bet money on their own grades. But do they really know what the odds are? more ›

The city’s Off-track Betting board issued 1,350 pink slips Friday, and today it’s suspended six-figure pay to consultants and executives—but only after interrogation by reporters. "Until a compromise is forged that saves these jobs, we will suspend our pay," the city's OTB President Raymond Casey said in a statement, but documents revealed he planned to continue paying consultants hired to rescue the organization. According to the News, “Four consultants—two with ties to [OTB] Chairman Meyer Frucher—and two law firms stood to make an estimated $4.5 million through June,” even as scores of workers lost their jobs after the institution filed for bankruptcy, demanding a state bailout. Following inquiries by the tabloid, they’ve been cut off. more ›

In the past the city's Off-Track Betting board has been accused of making "hollow threats," but yesterday it followed through, laying off 1,300 employees. It says that if Albany doesn’t come through with financial aid, it will be forced to board up all of its 66 gambling parlors. Gov. Paterson is in favor of deferring its $3.7 million in debt, reports the News, but legislators—mired in their own battle to close the state’s $9 billion budget gap—seemed ready to let OTB sink, criticizing it for poor management and “unconscionable delays” in handing over financial records. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver sounded final in his condemnation of the betting institution and its employees: "We cannot reach a three-way agreement on it to keep them afloat," he said, speaking of talks with the state Senate and the governor. more ›

The Off-Track Betting board voted to close all 66 of its locations on April 11th, unless funding from Albany comes in. Their closing would put 1,300 OTB employees out of work, and Leonard Allen, president of Local 2021, tells the Daily News, "[OTB workers] feel like they're on death row, waiting for an execution." more ›

To keep tickets rolling out, NY off-track betting has tried appealing to the state and even hired sexy dancers—still, unless its bid for bankruptcy is approved the organization says it will be done for by the end of March, leaving 1,400 unemployed. The New York Racing Association, for whom OTB is an important customer, says it's "monitoring the situation closely" but another organization has dismissed the announcement as a "hollow threat." "NYC OTB used the same trick in 2008, the last time they went bankrupt," said New York Thoroughbred Breeders Executive Director Jeffrey Cannizzo. But Robert Garry, the OTB's chief financial officer, insists his organization will be broke by early April and in heavy deficit mid-month, reported the NY Daily News. This means the ticket stoopers might have to find real jobs, too! more ›

This is why we can't have nice things, or dogs in bars: An elderly Queens man says his sex life was ruined (and so was his knee) after he tripped over an "unleashed and unrestrained" dog in a Kew Gardens pub in April. Irving Grossman, 81, is suing Austin's Steak and Ale House, which is popular with gamblers because it has its own Off-Track Betting window. That's exactly where Grossman was headed on that fateful spring day when his luck took a turn for the worse. more ›

A last-minute deal was worked out between Governor David Paterson and Mayor Michael Bloomberg to save Off-track Betting, but the road to the agreement was rocky. more ›

According to various sources, Governor Paterson has reached a deal to take over Off Track Betting (OTB) parlors from New York City, in order to prevent its total shutdown Despite handling more than $1 billion in wagers annually, the company lost $13 million last year. more ›