Quote:
Originally Posted by PaceAdvantage
Almost anyone who really wants to bet sports can bet sports in the USA right now. There have been bookies in neighborhoods since the beginning of time. If you really want to bet sports on the internet, you can...right now...even if you live in the USA.
Hell, not too long ago, I was able to fund an off-shore poker account with a US Bank credit card...and they offered sports betting too...and online casino games...the whole shebang. All this within the last year or so (I scratched the online poker itch, blew my $100 initial deposit, and haven't been back since). So even with all the restrictions in place, you can STILL get online action even using a VISA or MASTERCARD if you go to the right website.
Bottom line, sports betting is pretty much readily accessible to almost anyone who REALLY wants to bet on games. And racing obviously hasn't been impacted all that much, or they wouldn't be doing a study on the impact IF it becomes legalized in the US.
I don't see current horseplayers abandoning the game for sports...sure, they might bet sports IN ADDITION to racing...and by the way, betting sports isn't easier than betting horses...if it were, Vegas would be overrun with professional sports bettors and there would be no place to live there...EVERYONE would be betting sports for a living...
Obviously, that's not the case...
How many stories have I read over the years of professional poker players blowing their profits in the sports book...more than a few...
|
You're right.
Things won't change much.
The 50 and 60+ year old race bettors will just have to
make room for the 20 and 30-something sports players.
There will be bigger crowds at the tracks and parlors,
but not to bet on the races.
Been watching it since the late 1980s in Nevada.
They get along just fine with each other.
The game changer these days is betting with phone apps.
That's in it's infancy here - not the case in Europe.
