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Racing Board moves forward with “historical horse racing” plan

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Illinois

* The horse racing industry, which benefits lots of Illinois farmers, has been a mess for a lot of years. Maybe this will help. I don’t know. But I cannot understand the logic of allowing video gaming at just about every truck stop in the state while the tracks are cut out…

Citing desperate times, the Illinois Racing Board moved ahead Thursday with plans to introduce a form of video gambling at horse racing tracks.

The board agreed to develop a set of rules to govern “historical horse racing” at the racetracks — despite questions about whether the latest proposed expansion of gambling in Illinois could be introduced without approval by state lawmakers.

Although the state had steadily introduced more forms of legal gambling over the years — from casinos to the lottery to the relatively recent proliferation of video gambling parlors — horse racing tracks have long argued they’ve been left out as they’ve watched their own revenues and purses decline.

“The Illinois horse racing industry is in a desperate economic condition,” board member Tom McCauley said. “It is not hyperbolic to say that its viability is in doubt.”

Racetracks have long sought state permission to operate slot machine in hopes of bringing in more bettors. Critics say the racing board’s move on Thursday is tantamount to allowing slot machines without legislative approval. They say historic horse racing or HHR — where players bet on a randomly chosen past race without knowing the names of the horses involved — is essentially a game of chance akin to slot machines.

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Jul 27, 18 @ 11:50 am

Comments

I’m not sure I understand why people betting on slot machines at the race track is a bad thing?

People are already there and gambling, what is the point of not making it more well-rounded?

Comment by FDB Friday, Jul 27, 18 @ 12:03 pm
Open the state fairgrounds to racing all season not just during the fair. And include machines

Comment by Publius Friday, Jul 27, 18 @ 12:11 pm
–“historical horse racing” –

I’ll take Secretariat to win.

Comment by wordslinger Friday, Jul 27, 18 @ 12:30 pm
My anachronistic business is also becoming nonviable. Why not let me have a tangentially related business to prop me up too?

Comment by Anonimity Friday, Jul 27, 18 @ 12:35 pm
I never understood the animosity toward allowing tracks to have slot machines. I realize is all politics and who is getting what However if tracks really are that way mportant to Illinois why not go all in. Give you hem slots and sports gambling

Comment by DuPage Saint Friday, Jul 27, 18 @ 12:35 pm
@Word : As if. The premise is they retool races that already ran, but hide the actual horses so that bettors pick winners based only on…

I don’t even know. I’d pick Secretariat, too, which is why they won’t let you do that.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Jul 27, 18 @ 12:45 pm
Racetracks are literally the only businesses with liquor licenses that are forbidden by state law from having video gaming. That makes no sense.

Comment by Fax Machine Friday, Jul 27, 18 @ 12:52 pm
- Anonimity - Friday, Jul 27, 18 @ 12:35 pm:
My anachronistic business is also becoming nonviable. Why not let me have a tangentially related business to prop me up too?

Other businesses have the ability to adjust to a changing marketplace. Horse racing has been legally prevented from doing so in this state for years. That said, this is not a solution and is being pushed by Hawthorne and Fairmount which are led by people who can’t see the future. The horse racing industry should be all in on sports betting done right. Unlikely to happen in Illinois with current lack of leadership.

Comment by Reformed Optimist Friday, Jul 27, 18 @ 12:54 pm
Uncap the casino limit, allow racinos, sports betting, let’s go the whole nine yards!

Comment by Precinct Captain Friday, Jul 27, 18 @ 12:57 pm
These machines are in place at race tracks in at least 5 other states, and it seems to be going well: Kentucky, Arkansas, Virginia, Oregon and Wyoming.

Comment by Can Friday, Jul 27, 18 @ 1:05 pm
Give them the slots. The Casino Queen has had a lock on the market long enough.

Comment by Arthur Andersen Friday, Jul 27, 18 @ 1:57 pm
Help me out, I’ve never heard of HHR betting before and it sounds fascinating. So you basically bet on a horse’s number (no actual names) and the race is chosen at random, but are odds posted and how does that work? For example, I don’t know when or where the race was held, but I know how many horses ran. Do you get the same odds to win/place/show as the “real” horse? Are there any odds at all?

It sounds very interesting. No wonder it’s spreading.

Comment by 47th Ward Friday, Jul 27, 18 @ 2:06 pm
HHR are not akin to slot machines in my opinion. There is no randomizing device that effects the results of the races. There is a randomizing device only picking the past races to bet on. The results are in (historic) when you place your bet. You can make it as random as you want by picking a number (horse) out of a hat; or the machines have statical information on the entries and access to the Daily Racing Form (maybe Bris if Arlington is involved) past performances.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Jul 27, 18 @ 2:36 pm