Batavia Downs Gaming

Batavia Downs is a racino — a harness racing track with a casino on the property — located in Western NY not far from Buffalo and Niagara Falls, near the Rochester area. Its Casino is open from 9am to 4am daily and has free parking. This veteran track opened in 1940. It is a half-mile track. The Western Regional Off-Track Betting corporation runs the gambling for Batavia Downs. The video lottery terminals (“slots”) were installed in 2005, 4 years after New York’s state lawmakers approved the granting of licenses for the gambling machines. Expansion has been continuing on the casino, with new restaurants and more gaming room planned.

Batavia Downs & Casino Details:

8315 Park Road, Batavia NY 14020

1-800-724-2000

http://www.batavia-downs.com

Things to Do:

• Gaming: Has over 600 electronic slots including a progressive jackpot. Also has electronic poker and electronic Keno.
• Dining: 2 restaurants — The Clubhouse Restaurant and the Grandstands Bar & Grille, which serves sandwiches, seafood and pasta.
• Entertainment: live music weekends in the Grandstands Bar & Grille.
• Lodging: The Clarion Hotel is near and is a convenient place to stay when you visit the casino & racetrack.

Racetrack: There is Live harness racing from the end of July thru December. The driver & sulky harness racing is with Standardbred horses, mostly 2 and 3-year-olds. New York Sire Stakes races (NYSS) of horses born in New York and registered with the U.S. Trotting Association are run here.

In the Simulcast Center, you can watch the live races from many of North American racetracks, thoroughbred and harness racing, 7 days a week.

For Paul White’s photos and links to his Youtube videos of races at Batavia Downs, see: http://harnessracephotos.tripod.com/index.html. He also photographs races at Buffalo Raceway.

Online OTB: A couple of gaming companies have joined forces to open an online betting platform for you to check out and gamble on the races from home, at https://www.bataviabets.com

What’s Said about this Racino: This is a smaller casino and lacks the noise and bluster of the big places. You can relax and enjoy the slots and win some money.

Worth Remembering: Check Twitter and Facebook for special savings and promotions. Your Players’ Club card will get you extra benefits, such as an earlybird extra points if you come before 9am, which is redeemable for play.