Damn the laws, full speed ahead: That’s the mentality of Illinois horse tracks as they push for ‘historical racing,’ VLTs where you 
can bet on the outcome of past races. The Illinois Racing Board voted it through unanimously. “We’re out of time,” wailed board member Robert Schiewe Jr. By contrast, General Counsel Michael Pieczonka warned, “I don’t know how we can draft rules to do something that can’t be legally done. That’s the problem.” After all, despite several attempts, the Illinois Legislature has never approved racinos. Fuck that, said one board member, in effect. “It could immediately result in some extra revenue,” remarked Thomas McCauley. Proponents of historical racing are prepared to argue that it’s simply another form of parimutuel wagering.
But, the Chicago Tribune recounts, “members of an anti-gambling group called Stop Predatory Gambling reported that when they saw historical horse racing in Kentucky, bettors typically didn’t even play the horse race videos, but instead bet on rolling images of cherries, pigs and pots of gold — just like a slot machine.” On the other side of the argument are a variety of the Land of Lincoln’s horse tracks, with the notable exception of Arlington Park. Racing revenue in Illinois is in freefall, 2016’s handle being 40% lower than 2006’s, making the sport of kings another casualty of the great recession. There was a commensurate diminution in the number of tracks, with Balmoral and Maywood shutting their gates.
Like the casinos, the tracks are painting themselves as victims of Illinois’ prolific slot routes, as well as of racinos in Indiana, although the latter seems a bit of a stretch. At any rate, the question is moot until the Lege gets wind of this, by way of the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, which will weigh in later this summer.
*Miami is about to get a new casino — as an alternative to jai alai. As the conditions for the Edgewater-area project read, gambling “shall never be permitted to be operated during the jai alai winter season.” The owners of Magic City Casino are behind the as-yet-unnamed casino, whose lobbyist, Izzy Havenick said, “We’re very happy, and looking forward to employing people and creating someplace new in downtown Miami.” Let the games begin.
*Despite a raft of corruption issues within the Massachusetts state police, state troopers will be detailed to handle security within MGM Springfield when it opens. The growing scandal 
includes charges of “pocketing thousands in fraudulent overtime pay.” Gov. Charles Baker (R), rather counterintuitively, argues that seeing state troopers hauled away in irons will increase public confidence in the smokies. MGM is backstopping the state-police presence with six Springfield policemen and an in-house security force. As University of Nevada-Las Vegas emeritus professor William Thompson says, “New casinos are more vulnerable to cheaters. They have to be extra vigilant and they need all the help they can get.” Let’s hope MGM Springfield gets the cream of the state-trooper crop.
* Hard Rock Atlantic City wasted no time in setting up an Internet-gambling Web site. (Ocean Resort is still beta-testing.) The Hard Rock brand should give the new site a lot of pull, although it has a long way to go to match the Golden Nugget‘s marketplace dominance.
