By Greg Wigmore
It isn’t your typical day at the races.
For a group of habitual gamblers, the preferred location to pursue their hobby (or addiction) is not Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, or even Rideau Carleton Raceway, but Vinny’s Lounge in the basement of the Prescott Hotel on Preston Street.
Vinny’s, which has been in operation for about a decade, is currently the only off-track betting parlour in Ottawa, following the closure of two other local establishments in recent years.
Six days a week, from 1 p.m. until late in the evening, horse races from across North America are simulcast live on a score of television sets in the lounge.
Usually, thoroughbred racing is shown in the afternoons, followed by harness racing.
At any given time, patrons are offered a selection of three or more tracks from which to bet.
The lounge’s clientele consists almost entirely of middle-aged and retired men.
Ticket clerk Jane Perry says women and young men are seldom seen in the establishment, except the odd customer from the restaurant and bar upstairs who ventures down to place a bet.
As is the case every year, casual players will drop in to augment the usual crowd for the Breeder’s Cup, the richest day in thoroughbred racing.
The regulars, however, span the spectrum from small-time punters to high rollers.
“We’ve got two-dollar bettors and we’ve got guys that bet $200 in one race,” Perry says.
“We’ve got rich guys and we’ve got poor guys.”
One patron, says he’s been betting on horses for 50 years and has been going to the lounge since it opened.
Unlike racetracks, he says, off-track betting parlours are frequented almost exclusively by compulsive gamblers.
“For all the guys in here, this isn’t a hobby – it’s an addiction.”
He says gambling is a social disease.
He suggests that for every dollar the government takes in from casinos, lotteries and racing, it pays out a dollar to cover social costs from gambling.
A recent report published by the U.S. National Gambling Impact Study Commission estimated that anywhere between two and seven per cent of adult gamblers in that country are “pathological” or “problem gamblers,” unable to control their addiction despite often dire consequences.
It concluded it was nearly impossible to accurately gauge the economic and social impact of gambling’s byproducts, including crime, suicide, child neglect and welfare benefits.
Another Vinny’s regular says betting on horse races is a matter of control.
“You say you’re going to come in with so much money, and if you lose it, you go home.”
While he says horse playing is a pastime for him, he says there are some problem gamblers at the lounge.
“There are a lot of people who’ve come here and lost big and never come back.”
Perry says the problem seems to take care of itself, at least at Vinny’s, with heavy losers quickly learning a hard lesson.
“They don’t last long here.
“We never see them again.”