Question of the Day - 18 July 2021

Also known as "instant racing," historical racing machines (HHR) look and operate much like slot machines. However, instead of randomizing the outcome of a play, the way HHRs determine winners is based on previously run horse races.

On these machines, you bet on the outcome of horse races, just like you would at any Off Track Betting parlor or horse racing track. The difference is that you’re betting on actual past races. In other words, you don't have to wait around for the race to be run; it's like hitting a fast-forward button for the result, which renders your bet a winner or loser.

Here's how KnowYourSlots.com expresses it. "The machines are set up so you can choose to watch or replay the actual outcome, if that interests you. Or you can tuck it away and focus on the reels, which simply animate an outcome that coincides with the results of your wager. Bonuses are therefore completely predetermined, as the outcome of the horse race was decided in the past, so the game is just providing slot machine-style entertainment."

When a bet is made, a race is randomly selected from a video library of nearly 100,000 of them. Obviously, no identifying information, such as where and when the race was run and which horses and jockeys participated, is revealed. You can do your own "handicapping" by viewing a "skill graph" from the Daily Racing Form, which shows winning percentages of the anonymous jockeys and trainers and the horses' post positions; then you pick the order in which you believe the horses will finish the race. However, since HHR are, for most intents and purposes, slot machines, players usually opt for the "handi-helper" or "auto-cap" function, which enables the machine to select the order for you. Finally, an animated display of the race appears on the screen via spinning reels reminiscent of a slot.

Historic horse racing machines date back to the late 1990s, when the idea was conceived by the general manager of Oaklawn Park race track in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The Arkansas Legislature approved them and the first HHRs were installed at Oaklawn in early 2000. Oregon and Wyoming followed suit in 2003, though they were deemed illegal in both states and didn't return for 10 years. The same sequence was repeated in Nebraska, Idaho, and Texas. 

After a similar controversy, Kentucky has become the big kahuna of HHRs. Today, Kentucky boasts just under 4,000 HHR machines at six different sites. In fiscal year 2020, more than $2.2 billion was bet through them and nearly $189 million was earned by the tracks operating the HHR parlors. So far for fiscal 2021, which ended on June 30, so the final numbers aren't in, the six HHR venues are on track, so to speak, to book $3.75 billion in bets. 

In September 2020, the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that the machines don't constitute pari-mutuel wagering, making them unconstitutional in the state. The Kentucky General Assembly intervened, so the machines could continue to operate. But lawmakers are assembling a task force to examine changes, especially in the tax structure, in preparation for the 2022 legislative session.

HHR machines have also been legal in Virginia in early 2018, passed in an attempt to reopen the state's only horse track, Colonial Downs. The HHR parlor opened there in April 2019. There are now four locations; they're known as Rosie's Gaming Emporiums. 

As far as we know, the record for an HHR jackpot was hit at the Rosie's location in Hampton, Virginia. The jackpot, $914,530, was hit in January 2020.