Thanks for the great reply on this.
I think that maybe in Texas the state opens their own small shops for this.
Sort of like OTB in New York.
But that started big and scaled back as horse racing slowly sank in attendance and betting pool monies.
That's why almost all tracks are linked together and take bets on the big races.
Where online race betting is allowed, it does OK because handicappers, like my cousin in CO, follow the sport all over the world but they are a very small part of the population and everyone of those guys that I know is just about the ponies, they're not what I would call gamblers.
We make it to Oaklawn every season for the Rebel Stakes and I am amazed at his knowledge of the horses and history while I am more the gambler type taking his money he already knows he's going to lose. Isn't that a fascinating concept? However, after 6 trips I am up considerably and even more on the big races that he places for me on his online account at Churchill Downs.
Every casual gambler I know does that. "I am taking what I can afford to lose and consider it already their money". I am sure they feel the same way and the quicker they can get one into the backup roll to try and mitigate the losses, the happier they are.
The empty argument against gambling is that it enables an addiction in some people but as we know, addicts will find their fix and illegal online gaming is estimated at 150B in this country alone. I say legalize, regulate and tax it and stop allowing crimes that can be eliminated by making them legal, just like the states that have legalized pot. They're making the tax revenue and have cut out the middle man from Mexico and the opiate problems in every state have been reduced.
