ALBANY — Gov. Paterson is announcing a deal to keep the long troubled Off-Track Betting Corp. in business to collect nearly $1 billion a year in bets while employing hundreds of workers.

Paterson says the public-benefit corporation and its creditors agreed to resolve $95 million of OTB’s debt. About $65 million of that will be forgiven by race tracks in exchange for some of OTB’s wagering operations.

Paterson says the agreement will save hundreds of jobs.

The announcement comes months after OTB set repeated deadlines for action or for agreement on concessions by unions representing 1,300 workers.

OTB has been hurt for decades by poor management and the rise in other forms of legal gambling.