OTB Florida

Updated February 9, 2023

OTB Florida

The Sunshine State is one of the strangest and most fun in the United States and off-track betting shines bright here. Florida hosts a slew of horse tracks with a rich history both on the track and on the books. With online sports betting in the horizon, OTB Florida can only explode. But right now, both Floridians and tourists still have plenty of options. 

Weā€™ll look at the most significant OTB Florida subjects including:

Is off-track betting legal in Florida?

The question isnā€™t if but when sports betting becomes legal in Florida. It seems incomprehensible that the state still has not legalized sports betting. But talks continue to heat up.

OTB Florida is considered legal. You can find plenty of off-track betting (OTB) parlours around the state. You can also find them within online sportsbooks that welcome players from Florida.

Gambling is legal in Florida. Specifically, gambling is legal within the stateā€™s tribal casinos and pari-mutuel facilities. South Florida has operated several casinos. These are some places for horse racing betting.

These books do not operate within American soil so they are outside the jurisdiction of the state. This also means players who sign up and bet in these books will not be prosecuted or even forbidden.

Thatā€™s right. You deposit your cash, you win, and you withdraw your winnings just like you would at any legal casino in the state.

Meanwhile, Florida sports bettors continue to hold their breath collectively as their government continues to negotiate with the Seminole Tribe in the South, the pari-mutuel facilities, and the Senate to come up with something that can make everyone happy.

Just keep holding on as OTB Florida should be legal sooner than later.

Best OTB Florida betting sites

Bet365

Odds

Itā€™s in their name: Bet365 offers nonstop horse racing odds from markets around the world. No matter what day it is, there will be horse racing going on here

Bonuses

Bet365 offers a deposit bonus up to $200 in betting cash if you deposit an equivalent amount or more; they also offer the ā€œbest odds guaranteeā€ so you need little else

No matter what platform, Bet365 is at the top of the sportsbook game; but they excel the best with their mobile platforms. Their live betting and live streaming are unmatched, making them a must-have for jetsetters and quick draw players.

Read Bet365 Review
maestromastercardpaypalskrillvisa

OTB Colorado at Bovada

Odds

Bovada is rarely the first post racebook odds so diehards may have to wait a little bit. But Bovada, at least, matches the odds of the best racebooks and they offer plenty of them.

Bonuses

This OTB Colorado book has always been generous with its deposit bonuses, especially if youā€™re using cryptocurrency like Bitcoin. On top of that, there are racebook rebates for most race types

Bovada is a solid racebook to add to your repertoire; it has a decent selection of horse racing odds, plenty of exotic bets, and one of the easier to navigate interfaces. The bargainable deposit bonus should only encourage you to consider this book more.

Read Bovada Review
american_expressbitcoinbitcoincashbitcoinsvcheckdiscoverethereumlitecoinmastercardvisawiretransfer

OTB Florida at BetOnline

Odds

BetOnline offers a plethora of betting odds from most horse races of all kinds: thoroughbred, harness, even greyhounds, and this includes exotic wagers

Bonuses

There are so many bonuses itā€™s hard to summarize all in one or two lines; letā€™s start with the no-risk bonus where your first bet can be refunded up to $25 if you lose. Then thereā€™s the horse racing rebate on most types of races.

BetOnline could be the best racebook right now; its multitude of bonuses, bounty of horse racing odds, and one of the easiest to use interfaces make it a must-have for off-track betting. Make sure BetOnline is part of your racebook roster

Read BetOnline Review
bitcoinbitcoincashcheckdiscoverethereumlitecoinmastercardmoneyorderripplevisawiretransfer

OTB Florida schedule

Florida is where ā€œwinterā€ season horse racing is at its peak. Gulfstream Park hosts a series of events taking place in January and February beginning with the Sunshine Millions.

The Sunshine Millions features six races for a combined purse of $1.3 million. The revamped version is held exclusively for Florida-bred horses. The Sunshine Millions Classic is its main race with a purse of up to $250,000.

Also in January is the Pegasus World Cup Championship Invitational Series. It is renowned as once being the richest horse race outside of the Dubai World Cup. A turf version, the Pegasus World Cup Turf takes place shortly about a week after in early February.

In the same month is the Florida Derby, the Parkā€™s oldest active grade-I stakes race also with a prize money of $1 million. These are the kind of stakes that make OTB Florida legendary.

Heading into March, the spotlight moves to the Tampa Bay Downs, home of Festival Day. This features the Tampa Bay Derby, one of the most prestigious grade-II stakes races. Also on this day is grade-II stakes race Hillsborough Stakes and grade-III stakes races Florida Oaks, Challenger Stakes, and the Columbia Stakes. All-in-all, there is $1 million in stakes purses.

Outside of these feature stakes races, you can also find more horse races in Hialeah Park Race Track during the same winter seasons.

OTB Florida and horse racing tracks

Florida is where some of the richest off-track betting and horse racing lives. The Pegasus Park in Gulfstream Park is a shiny symbol, a 110-feet bronze statue, of how horse racing goes down here. Gulfstream Park is the horse racing mecca of the south.

It holds a trifecta of million-dollar horse racing events: the Sunshine Millions, Florida Derby, and Pegasus World Cup. All these events are grade-I. This is what makes OTB Florida so exciting.

But thatā€™s not all. The park is also home to a plethora of grade-II and grade-III races. The Fountain of Youth Stakes is one of the richest grade-II stakes with a purse of $400,000. Grade-III races include classics like the Mr. Prospector Stakes (1946) and new races like the Kittenā€™s Joy Stakes (2012).

Tampa Bay Downs is Central West Floridaā€™s top horse racing track. It features the Festival Day in early March, which showcases the Tampa Bay Derby, one of the richest grade-II stakes races.

Hialeah Park Race Track is one of Floridaā€™s oldest horse racing tracks though it first ran greyhound racing. It first opened in 1922 but closed in 2001. Before its closure, it hosted a slew of prominent stakes races like the Flamingo Stakes and Widener Handicap. It reopened in 2013 brandishing a new casino and quarter horse racing meets.

Gulfstream Park

Gulfstream Racing & Casino or Gulfstream Park is the top horse racing destination for Hallandale Beach. The track originally opened in 1939 to a crowd of 18,000 in its four-day meet. It reopened in 1944 for a 20-day meeting.

The parkā€™s main events include the Florida Derby, the Pegasus World Cup, and the Sunshine Millions. All of these are world-renowned events and bring a lot of spectators from around the globe to Hallandale.

Gulfstream Park is a bit like a theme park and has been the venue for concerts such as the Miami Pop Festival.

The trackā€™s dirt course runs for 1 1/8 mile (nine furlongs) while the turf track is one mile (eight furlongs). Depending on the race, the portable rails can be moved to the inside or outside of the turf course.

Pegasus Park holds the iconic bronze statue of Pegasus killing a dragon. It is also the second largest statue in the United States next to the Statue of Liberty.

The Florida Derby has seen at least 20 of its winners go on to win at least one of the Triple Crown Classics. This includes Nashua and Big Brown, who both won a pair of Triple Crown races.

The Pegasus World Cup, inaugurated in 2017, initially had a whopping $12 million purse and surpassed even the Dubai World Cup, the richest horse race for 2017 and 2018. 

The Sunshine Million is a series of thoroughbred horse races with a combined purse of $1.3 million.

Tampa Bay Downs

The Tampa Bay Downs has seen its fair share of name changes and Hall of Famers through its years. It opened in 1926 and was also called the ā€œTampa Downsā€, ā€œSunshine Parkā€, and ā€œFlorida Downs and Turf Club.ā€

This racetrack specializes in thoroughbred horse racing on a one-mile (eight furlongs). Its season usually begins from the end of November to the beginning of May with races on most Wednesdays, Fridays, and weekends.

The Tampa Bay Downs hosts Festival Day every early spring, usually in early March. This features grade-II stakes races Tampa Bay Derby and Hillsborough Stakes as well as grade-III stakes races Florida Oaks, Challenger Stakes, and the Columbia Stakes. The total is $1 million in purses.

Several Hall of Fame trainers have used the Tampa Bay Downs as a stage to ā€œwarm upā€ their champion horses. In 2007, Carl Nafzger and Street Sense won the Tampa Bay Derby and used its momentum to win the Kentucky Derby.

In 2011, William Mott, another Hall of Fame trainer, used Tampa Bay Downs for Royal Delta and Drosselmeyer. They twice won the Breedersā€™ Cup Distaff and Drosselmeyer won the Breedersā€™ Cup Classic.

Beginning in the 201-11 season, the average daily wagering handles for its season hit record levels. OTB Florida owes a lot to Tampa Bay Downs. 

Hialeah Park Race Track

The historic Hialeah Park Race Track first opened in 1922 but closed in 2001 before reopening in 2013. It used to host plenty of stakes races including the Flamingo Stakes, Widener Handicap, and Bahamas Stakes.

Hialeah is considered one of the oldest existing recreational facilities in Southern Florida. It first opened as a greyhound racing track. It became known as the Miami Jockey Club when they launched thoroughbred horse racing in the park in 1925.

The Flamingo Stakes was a stakes race that ran until 2001. It had seen a couple of iconic horses win including Nahshua, who won two Triple Crown classic races and Canadian legend, Northern Dancer, who won the Kentucky Derby.

The Widener Gap was a grade-III stakes race that saw its peak in the 1940ā€™s. Even TIME magazine once wrote: ā€œnearly every glamor horse in the United States was entered in Floridaā€™s Widener Handicap.ā€ Calumet Farm initially dominated this track seeing three of their horses win back-to-back races in the 40ā€™s, 50ā€™s and 60ā€™s.

The Bahamas Stakes was primarily a prominent ā€œstepping stoneā€ track for prospective Triple Crown contenders. However, Hialeah had to reschedule the race and it rarely became contested among Triple Crown hopefuls until it closed in 2001.

With its reopening in 2013, Hialeah still has to recapture its former status as a top-tier racing track. But now it has a new casino and continues to host winter Quarter horse racing meets.

OTB Florida Locations

Bestbet Jacksonville

201 Monument Road

Jacksonville, FL 32225

Phone: (904) 646-0001

Naples-Fort Myers Greyhound Track

10601 Bonita Beach Road

Bonita Springs, FL 34135-2567

Phone: (239) 992-2411

Dania Jai Alai

301 E Dania Beach Boulevard

Dania, FL 33004-3016

Phone: (954) 927-2841

Daytona Kennel Club

2201 W. International Speedway Boulevard

Daytona Beach, FL 32114

Phone: (386) 252 6484

Ebro Kennel Club

6558 Dog Track Road 

Ebro, FL 32437  

Phone: (904) 234-3943

Orlando Jai Alai

6405 S US Highway 17/92

Fern Park, FL 32730

Phone: (407) 831-2044

Ft. Pierce Jai Alai

1750 South Kings Highway 

Fort Pierce, FL 34945

Phone: (772) 464-7500

Hollywood Greyhound Track

831 North Federal Highway

Hallandale Beach, FL  33009 

Phone: (954) 924-3200

Hamilton Jai Alai

6968 US Highway 129 South

Jasper, FL 32052

Phone: (800) 941-4841

Casino Miami Jai Alai

3500 Northwest 37th Avenue  

Miami, FL 33142

Phone: (305) 633-6400

Calder Race Course

21001 N.W. 27th Avenue

Miami, FL 33056

Phone: (954) 523-4324

Flagler Greyhound Track & Magic City Casino

NW 37th Avenue at 7th Street

Miami, FL 33126

Phone: (305) 649-3000

Bestbet at Orange Park

455 Park Avenue

Orange Park, FL 32073

Phone: (904) 646-0001

Sanford Orlando Kennel Club

301 Dog Track Road

Longwood, FL 32750

Phone: (407) 831-1600 

Melbourne Greyhound Park & Club 52 Poker Room

1100 North Wickham Road

Melbourne, FL 32935

Phone: (321) 259-9800 

Pensacola Greyhound Track & Poker Room

951 Dog Track Road

Pensacola, FL 32506

Phone: (850) 455-8595

Pompano Park Isle Casino

1800 SW at 3rd Street

Pompano Beach, FL 33069

Phone: (954) 972-2000

Ocala Jai Alai

4601 NW County Road 318

Reddick, FL 32686

Phone: (352) 591-2345

Derby Lane Racing & Poker

10490 Gandy Boulevard

St. Petersburg, FL  33702

Phone: (727) 812-3339

Sarasota Kennel Club & One Eyed Jacks Poker Room

5400 Bradenton Road

Sarasota, FL 34234

Phone: (941) 355-7744 

Tampa Greyhound Track & Luckyā€™s Card Room

8300 N Nebraska Avenue

Tampa, FL 33604

Phone: (813) 932-4313

Tampa Bay Downs

1225 Racetrack Road

Tampa, FL 33626

Phone: (813) 855-4401

Palm Beach Kennel Club

1111 N Congress Avenue

West Palm Beach, FL 33409

About the Author

Chris Boline
Chris Boline

As a devout aficionado of sports, Chris Boline has carved a career within the athletic realm. A skilled scribe, he boasts a decade-long portfolio that encompasses coverage of the NBA G League, the Los Angeles Chargers, football in the Mountain West Conference, and basketball. Beyond his professional pursuits, Chris is deeply invested in his community and dedicates his leisure hours to serving on boards, collaborating with community organizations, and cherishing the company of loved ones.

Read Chris’s Profile

Ask Chris about this guide:

Email Twitter