Riding the Broke Bus

Did you see this note (scroll down to the third item) in DRF about Gulfstream offering a shuttle to the nearest bank, since they're no longer allowed to offer on-site ATMs?

I get that the state is trying to keep gambling addicts from losing all of their money (by the way, problem gamblers in Texas can find help here), but I just don't understand how the government can limit access to our own money.

I remember in college being at Suffolk Downs and tapping out when Commendable won the Belmont. It was a miserable day, and it only got worse when I learned that Massachusetts has a law that forbids ATMs at racetracks. I didn't even have enough change in my pocket to catch the train back to Cambridge (back then I think it cost all of 85 cents). My options were to get one of those ridiculous cash advances against my credit card from a phone in the grandstand, which I refused to do, either on moral grounds, or maybe because the one credit card I had in college was alread maxed out from Red Sox tickets, I don't know. But anyway, I had no choice but to walk a mile in the pouring rain, away from the train station and the track, to find an ATM at a neighborhood grocery. Not having a cash machine at the track sure didn't keep me from gambling any more, it just left me stranded and pissed off.

Here in Texas we have a similar, though not quite as dire, situation with the law that limits ATM withdrawals at the track to $300 per day. Again, a well-intentioned but stupid law that doesn't help problem gamblers and serves only to annoy good customers. I mean, to a lot of the high-rollers at the races $300 isn't even a lot of money, so why should someone be forbidden from taking that out if they show a six-figure balance in their checking account?

At least in Texas everyone drives and there are always ATMs nearby. If you ever tap out at Lone Star and can't hit up the track ATM again, you barely have to leave the grounds to visit the drive-thru Bank One ATM in the parking lot near the Grand Prairie Visitors Center (across from the Skate Park, which is adjacent to the top-of-the-stretch chute where a 550-yard Quarter Horse race would start).

Also, I'm not certain that taking out $300 from one ATM on-track necessarily prevents you from visiting another one, say, on another floor, or in the other building. I would like to say I've researched this, but I've never been rich enough to lose $300 in a day and go back for more punishment.

At Sam Houston, you can visit the Texaco at 8110 North Sam Houston Parkway, along the feeder road, the closest off-track ATM that I'm aware of. This is also your place to pick up some really great beer coozies and trucker hats.

Perhaps one day these silly restrictions will be repealed. I can take out $500 to purchase a gun at Wal-Mart anytime I want, but I can't take out $500 to bet on sanctioned horseracing that benefits the state? Damn I love Texas.

The Walk of Shame to get cash is never fun (especially when they've yet to run the second half of the early double!), but let's at least be thankful that here in Texas we don't have to ride a "Broke Bus" to the bank with a bunch of other losers.