Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, September 11, 1994 TAG: 9409100008
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: F-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By LEIGH ANNE LARANCE SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: URBANA, MD. LENGTH: Long
At this crab house-turned-betting parlor about an hour's drive from Washington, D.C., patrons spread racing programs across tables, donned reading glasses and dipped into baskets of potato skins, fried mozzarella sticks and broccoli-and-cheese turnovers while deciding whether to take a chance on 10 horses with names such as Cann Kiss, Twice Snookered or Poco Gold.
Once the race began, the room's mood changed, turning into a cheering sideline. All eyes turned to one of the more than 75 television monitors throughout the sprawling, multiroom, 35,000-square-foot restaurant.
As the horses neared the finish line, some fans were half out of their chairs, filling the air with a crescendo of ``C'mon, c'mon, c'mon! Atta boy, atta boy! C'mon!''
Customer Lionel Chaiken sank back into his seat, disappointed but not discouraged. Win or lose, betting on the horses is his favorite brand of entertainment.
``I'm a numbers person,'' he said. ``I was an accounting major in college. I love racing.''
All of this takes place miles from the races, which are being broadcast via satellite from tracks as far away as Del Mar, Calif., and as close as Laurel, Md., but for racing fans it's as if they have box seats in the tracks' grandstands.
Virginia could have as many as six such off-track betting operations, called OTBs, after the Virginia Racing Commission decides this fall which of five groups will get a license to build and run a horse track in the state.
The commission, which administers the state's horse racing laws, plans to allow as many as six betting parlors. While there may be more betting parlors in the future, any increase would require approval by the General Assembly.
The group that holds the license to run the track will be able to select and run the off-track sites - after receiving the commission's approval on each site - and must hold a majority interest in the off-track operations.
About once a week, Chaiken said, he makes the half-hour trip to The Cracked Claw from his home in Montgomery County, Md. He jokes with friends and fellow fans between races and compares notes.
The crowd defies classification. Chaiken shares a table with a retiree with a heavy Spanish accent and keeps a running conversation with a young black lawyer at an adjacent table. It's the kind of place where there are couples of all ages, some dressed as if they've just come from church, and some as if they're stopping by on the way to a child's T-ball game.
Tim May, 45, the restaurant's OTB manager and gaming director, said different days attract different types of customers. About 300 to 400 people visit the restaurant on weekdays, and 600 to 800 come on weekends. On big race days - like the Kentucky Derby, Preakness or Belmont - The Cracked Claw opens its patios, and as many as 2,500 racing fans flood the restaurant.
Many fans are from nearby Frederick and Frederick County, which have a combined population of close to 200,000. Most cars in the parking lot Monday bore Maryland plates, although general manager Terri Poole, 32, said customers also come from Virginia, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. ``They mostly come from places within a 60-mile radius,'' said Poole, the daughter of owners John and Barbara Poole.
Daytime brings the serious players. May doesn't call them gamblers, because he says gambling means relying on chance and luck. ``These players take it seriously,'' he said. They study the horses, have been to the tracks, know the jockeys and keep up with the latest racing news. ``They know what they're doing.''
Programs and Racing Forms give bettors such information as horses' previous times, the conditions of the course and the weight the horse carries. The more you follow the sport, the better your chances of winning, the fans said.
But studying the sport isn't a requirement. Friday night is yuppie night - friends out for a drink and a good time, May said. First-timers follow the ``how to bet'' instructions in the racing programs.
On Saturdays, families come for lunch and dinner, as parents may bet while an adventurous child takes a mallet to a steamed crab. In addition to using the tellers, bettors can place wagers at self-serve terminals, similar to bank ATMs.
While families are welcome, no one under 18 can bet. Patrons 18 to 20 years old must be accompanied by a 21-year-old to place a wager. The average person bets $76 a day. ``But people bet as little as $20 or as high as in the thousands,'' May said.
The Cracked Claw, Maryland's first off-track betting parlor, opened in April 1993. It was intended to give a needed boost to the state's ailing horse industry, but it also revived a struggling restaurant.
``It was literally going out of business because of the overhead,'' May said. Since 1993, the staff has climbed from fewer than 50 to more than 150, and now the operation brings in $750,000 a week from wagers, he said. The majority of the handle - the amount bet - goes to the winning bettors, with the rest going to the tracks, the winning horses, and taxes and other fees. The Cracked Claw gets 4 percent to cover the cost of OTB operations. It also sees the benefit of increased traffic and higher food and beverage sales.
``There used to be only a few people here for lunch,'' Poole said. But Monday, there were more than 50 cars in the lot by noon, and it was filling fast.
The betting parlor did draw opposition before it opened. Residents of this small town, six minutes off Interstate 270 near Frederick, were worried about crime, drinking and traffic.
``There's this perception that gambling and drinking go hand in hand,'' Poole said. ``We've had more problems with wedding receptions and banquets than we've ever had with off-track betting.''
Monday, one car pulled into the lot, and a well-dressed man popped open the trunk, pulled a beer from a cooler and took a few swigs before heading inside the restaurant.
That didn't seem to be the rule, though. Chaiken and his friends all were partial to tea and coffee, the two most frequently ordered drinks.
``It's just super recreation, and it can be fun if you learn to deal with discipline,'' Chaiken said. He does it by a self-imposed maximum daily bet of $200.
Elliott Polansky, who stops at The Cracked Claw once or twice each week, said he likes the betting parlor even more than the track because it has a better atmosphere and better food and is less expensive.
``I've only hit one out of nine bets,'' Polansky said, but like Chaiken, winning isn't his reason for coming. ``I don't play golf, I don't play tennis. This is my hobby.''
Keywords:
HORSE RACING
by CNB