Committee OKs Online Gambling for Horse Races

Posted By: Date: 03/19/2015 at 12:00 am Leave a comment

It’s the headline that we’ve wanted to write for a while – another state has shown support for online gambling! However, it’s only for horse racing

In Indiana, the Public Policy Committee passed House Bill 1270, a bill aimed to allow for online bets on horse races. It seems like everyone supports betting on horse racing – even RAWA specifically states that online betting for horse racing would be fine.

According to House Bill 1270, people will be able to bet on their favorite horses from either their mobile phone or computer. According to Representative Robert Cherry, the author of House Bill 1270, this legislation will re-authorize that method of gambling in Indiana. “The advanced deposit wagering is accomplished by customers pre-funding an account from which the patron then makes wagers on the horses by the means of (an) Internet site,” he said.

Hmm – that sounds familiar.

The bill was passed in the House 81-15 last month, prompting House Speaker Brian Bosma to comment, “Seriously? I’m not sure we understand the content of the bill.” To us, that sounds like another case of people being out of touch and not understanding what people want.

As we’ve mentioned before, online sports and horse betting is a stepping stone – a trial, if you will – for online gambling. Whether these sites also dip their toes in the promotional waters by offering no deposit bonuses remains to be seen, but should online horse betting prove to be successful, online gambling should pass with ease.

The interesting thing about this bill passing is that it may conflict with Indiana Governor Mike Pence wants.

Governor Pence is strongly against online gambling. In fact, Senator James Arnold brought that point up. “Would this be in conflict with the governor’s stance of no expansion of gaming?” he asked. “You’ll have to ask the governor that,” said Senator Luke Kenley.

Online betting for horse racing is nothing new for Indiana – they had it in 2005. However, the entire landscape of online gambling has changed. Things are much more strict, and there’s much more opposition than there ever was before.

Mike McDaniel, executive director of governmental affairs for the Krieg Devault group, said “If this opened the door for things like using online accounts for poker or other things, that, in my mind, would be the expansion. But this limits it to horse racing, which is what we had prior to 2005.”

Oh, but Mike McDaniel – money talks. People vote with their money. People use mobile devices much more frequently now, and online betting for horse racing will be undoubtedly more popular than it ever has been. Once it goes into effect and the bets come pouring in, we’re fully expecting Governor Pence to change his stance on online gambling.

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