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Post by the believer on Mar 22, 2007 20:18:06 GMT -5
Mar 22/07 ARTICLE FROM USTA
Thursday, March 22, 2007 - by John Pawlak, marketing director, USTA
Columbus, OH --- A bill which would legalize Instant Racing in Ohio has been introduced in both houses of the state legislature.
House Bill 118 and Senate Bill 125 both seek to modify the existing pari-mutuel laws to legalize Instant Racing machines, such as those first developed at Oaklawn Park and now marketed by AmTote, which utilize videos of past races, upon which wagers may be made on a specified terminal.
The measure was introduced by Rep. Bill Seitz (R-Cincinnati), the House majority whip, who has found 17 other representatives to sign-on as co-sponsors of the bill. Seitz was a staunch supporter of last year’s failed effort to have slot machines legalized at the state’s racetracks via a constitutional amendment. In the State Senate, the bill was sponsored by Sen. Steve Stivers (R-Columbus), who was joined by eight sponsors.
The bill permits the machines to be operated only at the state’s seven commercial racetracks, on racing days, and authorizes the operators to retain 12 percent of the gross revenues in a separate pool -- the balance to be paid to winners.
From the amounts retained by the track, 20 percent will be paid directly to the State of Ohio, and an additional one percent will be paid into the Ohio Racing Commission budget as an administrative fee.
Nineteen percent of the net amount retained will be paid into the purse account, from which up to 50 percent may be directed, by agreement with the track’s horsemen’s association, to the association’s health and welfare fund, to the Ohio Standardbred Development Fund, or to the Ohio Fair Fund.
The bills have not yet been assigned to committees for deliberation
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Post by the believer on Mar 22, 2007 20:24:09 GMT -5
Trackrat ..any handicapping involved with these machines! lol.. It looks like the government wants some of the slots money they missed out on and they don't care how they get it ?
ANYONE HAVE AN OPINION ON THESE MACHINES ..FOR OR AGAINST AND WHY ?
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Post by the believer on Mar 23, 2007 20:03:07 GMT -5
?
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Post by jimhorseman on Mar 23, 2007 21:47:49 GMT -5
Believer:
Have never seen these machines and not sure how they operate. Thus, I really can't comment on them.
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pony
Junior Member
Posts: 10
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Post by pony on Mar 26, 2007 8:29:24 GMT -5
Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred
March 2000
Instant Racing:
mania, it's not
AmTote's new game could be
a serious boon to the industry
by Joe Clancy, Jr.
The multi-colored, six-foot electronic machine features flashing buttons, blinking lights, a touch screen, an ever-changing digital "jackpot" announcement, a big tray at the bottom, even that muffled jingling noise that somehow suggests unbelievable riches.
But Thoroughbred Mania is not a slot machine.
Got that?
The Instant Racing game created by Maryland-based totalizator company AmTote International and Oaklawn Park blends quick action with pari-mutuel wagering to create a seemingly perfect alternative gambling product for the racing industry. It appeals to people who don't frequent race tracks yet involves racing, rewards horsemen and falls under Arkansas's existing state racing laws.
The relatively simple concept might save Arkansas's racing industry.
"I don't know how it could be going any better," said Eric Jackson, Oaklawn's general manager. "The machines are getting non-race trackers - younger people, more females - in the door and within a period of time they are handicapping and betting on horse racing. Forty-nine little machines are doing what race tracks have spent millions of dollars trying to do for years."
Instant Racing evolved out of Oaklawn's desire to compete with casinos in nearby Tunica, Miss., and Shreveport, La. Arkansas citizens voted against casinos at race tracks in 1996, leaving Jackson in the position of many racing executives around the country - fighting a losing battle.
Every statistical category - races, daily attendance, daily handle, daily purses and runners per race - declined at Oaklawn from 1998 to 1999. Officials blamed competition from casinos and decreased simulcast revenue (NYRA dropped Oaklawn races in favor of Fair Grounds in 1999).
Instead of folding, Oaklawn gambled.
Jackson called AmTote: "I want to create a pari-mutuel game that will compete with slot machines."
"Five hundred people are trying to do that," said Ted Mudge, AmTote's president.
After too many failures to count, AmTote's team was dispatched to the Chesapeake Bay (Mudge's partners Jim and John Corckran own Parsons Island) and "was going to stay there until we figured this out", according to Mudge. Midway through the second day, the breakthrough came that would keep the game pari-mutuel (meaning wagers are mixed in a common pool with a fixed takeout) and not cross over into lottery or slots-type wagering.
"At the time, it seemed like a pretty stupid game," said Mudge, "and it took us two years to figure out how to make it a cool game."
AmTote and Oaklawn formed RaceTech, which owns Thoroughbred Mania and a greyhound version called Thundering Hounds, and unveiled 50 machines each at Oaklawn and Southland Greyhound Park in mid-January.
The new game is anything but stupid. It's fast, it features multiple chances to win and it's easy to play. Just like a slot machine - only it's not.
Instant Racing is racing, gone electronic. At the core of the concept are 50,000 randomly selected races with tem starters each from 40 race tracks as far back as 1992. The machines are tied into the same wagering pool, with the results of the races determining the winning combinations.
Players can utilize Daily Racing Form "Skill Graphs", that turn basic racing information (winning percentages, average earnings per start, trainer and jockey success, etc.) into bar graphs, before making their selections.
The machine shows a short clip of the stretch run (or the entire race, it's the player's choice) and computes the payoffs on-screen.
So far, the Oaklawn experiment is a success. Two rooms of 25 machines stay busy all day. Surveys show that 80 percent of all players are using the Skill Graphs, and that 70 percent of the people who play don't normally go to the race track. The highest demographic ratings come from people ages 20 to 30.
In the first month of operation at Oaklawn, handle averaged about $500 per machine every six hours (just about the maximum, according to Jackson), and Oaklawn announced a $200 per-race purse increase on February 10 because of the new business from Instant Racing's first four weeks.
"People really enjoy it", said Jackson, who said interested players stand in line for up to an hour to use the machines. "My wife's handbell choir came out the other day and they aren't the type of people who come to our simulcasts normally."
This is what gives Instant Racing extra appeal. The machines are alternative forms of gaming that clearly appeal to new customers, but they are a racing product. Players study their selections, watch horses race and do those things at a race track.
"Casinos were the catalyst for this idea, but the real reason behind it is the electronic age," said Jackson. "The initiative was to find a way to present racing in a way that would appeal to the electronically oriented consumer. Ten or 15 years ago, Las Vegas created electronic versions of its table games - video poker, video blackjack, video roulette - and they are all very successful. This is electronic racing."
The experiment will continue, and Jackson plans to install more machines at Oaklawn soon. The upside is just too great, and 40,000 slot machines in a bordering state are too ominous.
"If you can get a better deal on races that are just gathering dust, take it," he said. "We thought there would be a reasonably good response, but we've been overwhelmed."
RaceTech cautiously approached the Instant Racing concept in Arkansas, working closely with the Arkansas government during development, and received approval from the county prosecutor and the racing commission before going live on January 14. Numerous race track executives have seen tests of the system and expressed an interest, according to Mudge. Expansion would create larger pools, bigger payoffs, and more success, but there are potential obstacles.
Some state pari-mutuel laws specifically mention "live" racing, while other states might deem the games too close to other forms of gambling. Mudge and Jackson see likely Instant Racing customers in states where Thoroughbred industries that are threatened by casinos or other factors.
"States that trying to help the racing industry would be the ones we would go to," said Mudge, who mentioned the impact of casino gambling on Kentucky racing. "We have an opportunity to get this approved in states with pari-mutuel laws, but we are going to be very careful."
Mid-Atlantic racing programs in Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Jersey have felt the impact of slot machines in Delaware and West Virginia, and could turn to Instant Racing for help.
"Everybody in support of racing can see what this can mean, but it will come down to each jurisdiction," said Jackson. "In this state, the racing industry is important to the economy and we haven't run in to anything negative and that's certainly been true with the Arkansas Racing Commission."
Arkansas's approval doesn't mean that other states would instantly follow suit.
Ken Schertle, executive director of the Maryland Racing Commission, said any governing body would look closely at the pari-mutuel aspect of Instant Racing. In basic terms, pari-mutuel wagering consists of people betting against one another into a common pool so the payoffs are determined by the number of winners compared to the total amount of moneys wagered.
If the game passed that test, Schertle said, the Maryland State Racing Commission would create regulations based on existing state laws. Instant Racing would then be subject to a vote by the commission.
Schertle called the pari-mutuel definition a policy decision, meaning the commission would simply examine the product against the state wagering regulations. The actual implementation of Instant Racing would depend on something else.
"Philosophically, is it something the commissioners would agree is good for Maryland racing?" Schertle asks hypothetically. "I can't answer that question."
Mudge, a Thoroughbred owner in Maryland, expects to follow a slow path of education and experimentation in Maryland or any other state.
"If (Maryland) Governor Glendening doesn't support this and believe it can be helpful to the racing industry, then it isn't going to happen," he said.
"I'd love to see it get into Maryland and not have the legislature have to pass that $10-million purse supplement every year - then the game would be supporting itself and not have to get so much help from the taxpayers."
Instant Racing works like all other racing simulcasts, with fees from the betting takeout going to myriad locations.
The average takeout on the Oaklawn Instant Racing games is ten percent, from which portions are paid to the state for pari-mutuel taxes, the Oaklawn purse account, the track that actually carded the race, the Arkansas breeders' fund, Oaklawn, RaceTech and the Daily Racing Form.
One more step down the line, the portion paid to the race host gets divided like any other simulcast fee - meaning that track can receive a new revenue source for purses or other projects. The Arkansas machines are already generating revenue for source tracks.
"There are only a few field-test machines right now so it's a small number, but ultimately there could be thousands of machines," said Mudge. "If you had 1,000 machines generating $100 per day in takeout (from $1000 in daily handle) that's $1 million a year in simulcast fees to the source track - for a race it already ran."
reproduced with permission from Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred
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pony
Junior Member
Posts: 10
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Post by pony on Mar 26, 2007 8:32:58 GMT -5
'Instant Racing' Bill Introduced in Ohio Legislature
by Tom LaMarra
Date Posted: March 22, 2007
Last Updated: March 23, 2007
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Legislation to authorize Instant Racing machines, which resemble video lottery terminals but employ recycled races and therefore are considered pari-mutuel, has been introduced in the Ohio House of Representatives and Senate.
Proposed provisions for Instant Racing have been tagged onto the existing Ohio Revised Code governing pari-mutuel activities. The legislation has 18 sponsors in the House and nine in the Senate.
Under the legislation, the Ohio State Racing Commission could grant a racetrack permission to operate Instant Racing “on racing days.” Money bet through Instant Racing would be kept separate from wagers in traditional pari-mutuel pools, and 12% of the amount bet each day would be retained by the racetrack.
Of the 12% retained, 20% would go to the state in the form of a tax; 19% would be put aside for purse accounts; 1% would go to the racing commission for operations; and 60% would go to the racetrack operator.
Of the 19% for purses, Thoroughbred horsemen could direct up to 50% toward breed development and health and benevolence programs, while Standardbred horsemen could direct 50% to breed development, health and benevolence programs, and a fund for harness racing at county fairs.
Racing industry officials predicted an Instant Racing bill would be introduced after the statewide "Learn and Earn" referendum to authorize slot machines at seven racetracks and two non-track locations in Ohio failed to pass last November.
The legislation makes no mention as to the number of Instant Racing machines that could be located at each of the state’s seven racetracks. Ohio has three Thoroughbred tracks (Beulah Park near Columbus, River Downs near Cincinnati, and Thistledown near Cleveland), and four harness tracks (Lebanon Raceway between Cincinnati and Dayton, Northfield Park near Cleveland, Raceway Park in Toledo, and Scioto Downs in Columbus.)
Instant Racing machines are in operation at Oaklawn Park and Southland Greyhound Park in Arkansas, and Portland Meadows in Oregon. The machines have been largely responsible for an about $100,000-a-day increase in purses at Oaklawn since the new decade began.
Copyright © 2007 The Blood-Horse, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Post by thegiss on Apr 2, 2007 11:18:19 GMT -5
Back from some R&R and trying to get caught up.
I have played these in Arkansas and don't care for them BUT the yhave raised purses there abotu 20-25% for both T-breds and puppies.
Its fast mindless action, just like slots (or Bianconi's picks)
They will help traffic, handle and purses and could be a foot in the slot door.
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