News

Tuesday, 03 November 2009 23:13

In an act of seeming defiance in the Federal Government stand on the practise of online gambling, the State of Illinois has now declared that it is legal to place bets online in that State. The only catch is that those bets may be placed on horse racing events only.

With the continuing battle over the United States stance on online gambling in casinos, poker rooms and other gambling websites on the Internet, State lawmakers have declared that gambling on horse races online should be and now is legal in Illinois. The official Illinois Racing Board then set about approving three companies who will be able to offer online betting on horse races online. Nor did it take long for the industry to jump. Within a few hours of the Board making their decision, one enterprising company was already taking bets.

Part of the motivation behind this move has come from declining numbers of people attending race tracks in Illinois over the last few years. It became evident that something had to be done to help the racetracks to increase revenue while not placing any further burdens on their existing customers and the State found a way.

Dennis Bookshester, the Racing Board Commissioner said that he thinks it is wonderful that the State is moving into the age of electronics. He sees this move as a great opportunity to increase the level of interest in the sport.

There is agreement from other members of the board who believe that the younger generations for whom horseracing was not part of their upbringing will be more inclined to get into the sport with accessibility now made easy via the Internet. Younger men and women who like to gamble are far more reliant on their laptops and home computers than older generations. By providing access to gambling on horseracing via those computers it could generate sufficient interest to attract them to the tracks to see the sport for real.

This latest move represents a continuing expansion by the State of Illinois of their options for gambling this year. In early summer, legislators brought in a law allowing video gambling machines to be sited in restaurants and bars for public use, with the revenue generated from those machines going towards many currently under-funded public works projects. It seems that this is one State that is taking action where it needs to be taken for the benefit of its citizens as well as their favourite sport and its financial future.