It's now illegal to accept online horse bets from Texas.

[precocity]

Originally Posted by Robert Goren

If Lone Star and Sam Houston aren't behind this, who is? I doubt the Texas politicians came up with this all by themselves.

for real I live in Dallas and if they kill my twin spires account its a wrap for me

[highnote]

If I lived in Texas I would keep making online bets.

When is the last time anyone was arrested for betting over the internet?

Texas gov and racetracks want revenue from ADWs who take bets from Texas residents on out-of-state tracks. Since there is no way to get that revenue they are enacting a "Prohibition" on wagering by Texans.

We all know how "Prohibition" worked out in the early part of last century.

Originally Posted by RainMan

Enough about theories and opinions - what are the nuts and bolts of this crisis. Are us Texas horseplayers required to close our accounts immediately or do we just keep playing a.k.a. as breaking the law until we get caught or the ADW's comply and disallow Texas residents. Also, does this Texas law affect playing on-line NHC and HWS handicapping contests. For example, several qualifying sites are independent but in order to play the TwinSpires and XpressBet tournaments you are required to have an account. So, since it is now illegal to wager on-line is it also illegal to maintain a wagering account for the other benefits that they offer such as access to contests and race replays?

[ranchwest]

Under the Constitution, states cannot regulate interstate commerce. Of course, nobody (except attorneys) wants to litigate anything, so this is all just an ugly mess. An illegal legality.

[raybo]

Originally Posted by swetyejohn

From the article that started this thread:



This is like passing a law to ban Texas citizens from buying books online because Texas brick and mortar bookstores don't get a cut of the revenue.

Why should a Texas track get a piece of the online wagering action on other tracks made through out-of-state ADWs? Maybe the management of Texas tracks should get entrepreneurial and start their own ADWs and sign people up so they can make a commission? Maybe the government of Texas should give incentives to those who want to start up a business in Texas? Instead these ignorant pols do the exact opposite of what should be done and end up stifling business.

Texas tracks should not get a commission for doing nothing. Since they know they can't get a commission for doing nothing, their response is to force a ban on out-of-state wagering by Texans. Gotta love protectionism! One more nail in the coffin of racing in Texas.

Hey Texas racetrack industry folks and politicians ... good luck competing with NYRA now that there are slots at Aqueduct. It's going to take more than a ban on your citizens to bring back the health of Texas racing.

If I owned an ADW the first thing I would do is start an advertising campaign that says, "We take bets from Texas residents".

The problem goes much farther than just the tracks in Texas. Do you realize how much we Texans wager? All that handle, via any ADW anywhere, are "legally" gone, including the NYRA.

This will not only kill Texas tracks, it will hurt, severely, all tracks in the US. Handle will drop everywhere and won't return until Texans are able to wager through an ADW again.

This is a "huge" deal!

[Canarsie]

Here's the bill in PDF format if anyone wants to read it.

http://www.sunset.state.tx.us/82ndre...trc/trc_SL.pdf


Here's more info letters went out only two weeks ago.

http://www.chron.com/sports/article/...to-2238433.php

[highnote]

Elvis Costello wrote, "I used to be disgusted. Now I'm just amused."

This pretty much sums up how I feel about the racing industry.

Originally Posted by raybo

This will not only kill Texas tracks, it will hurt, severely, all tracks in the US. Handle will drop everywhere and won't return until Texans are able to wager through an ADW again.

This is a "huge" deal!

[redshift1]

So the only legal way to bet the BC from Texas would be from a Texas track via simulcast ?

[raybo]

Originally Posted by redshift1

So the only legal way to bet the BC from Texas would be from a Texas track via simulcast ?

If your ADW decides to not let you bet, yes, you will have to go to a track to wager anywhere, not just the BC races.

As it is now, some ADWs are still allowing residents to wager.

[raybo]

We need to get Ian involved in this thread, to get the thoughts of someone involved in an ADW, and what their thoughts about this are.

[fmolf]

somewhere somehow the politicians are plotting .Perhaps they'll let the tracks provide adw wagering services to Tx. residents.They need to go back and take economics 101 if they believe that this measure will benefit anyone in the racing industry.I know it will be tough to organize,but a letter writing campaign in conjunctionwith your boycott will help!Count me in I will never bet another nickel at Texas tracks.I used to like the night racing there too.Plenty other places to play."Only Texas messes with Texas"...let your congressman and senators know how unhappy you are!

[FiveWide]

I'm a Texas resident and am so confused now. After my dad talked to the Texas Racing Commision a few years ago we were under the impression it was illegal to do any online wagering.

Now there is a bill making it illegal to bet non-Texas tracks from ADWs. Was this legal before now? What exactly was the law before this HB? Thanks in advance.


-Five

[highnote]

It is mind boggling how short sighted and maybe even downright lazy the people behind these decisions in Texas are.

If they had any entrepreneurial ability at all and got a little scrappy they could turn things around.

Texas tracks or Texas companies should start their own Texas based ADWs and try to pursuade Texans to sign up by giving them sweet deals, lower rates, rebates, loyalty points, whatever it takes. Give the customers the best ADW service in the country. Once they have the customers and build loyalty the customers will tolerate small increases in rates because they are so well taken care of.

Now, that's the logical way to run a business.

However, Politicians, bureaucrats and track management prefer to grow their business using the power of monopoly rather than entrepreneurship. I feel bad for Texas bettors.

[garyscpa]

"In addition, the bill eliminates uncashed winning tickets as a source of Commission revenue, allowing
racetracks to keep revenue from uncashed winning tickets. The Commission will replace the lost
revenue by adjusting other racing-related regulatory fees paid by each licensed racetrack. Finally, the
bill clarifies that all unlicensed entities are prohibited from accepting wagers placed by Texas residents."

This quote is from the .pdf Canarsie linked above.

Apparently it doesn't make it illegal for a Texas resident to place the bet, it just prohibits unlicensed entities (unlicensed with the TRC, that is) from taking wagers. I don't know how enforceable that would be.

Looks like a bad deal for the stoopers, though.

[FiveWide]

Originally Posted by garyscpa

"Finally, the
bill clarifies that all unlicensed entities are prohibited from accepting wagers placed by Texas residents."

This quote is from the .pdf Canarsie linked above.

Apparently it doesn't make it illegal for a Texas resident to place the bet, it just prohibits unlicensed entities (unlicensed with the TRC, that is) from taking wagers. I don't know how enforceable that would be.

Looks like a bad deal for the stoopers, though.

So what exactly dictates whether an entity is licensed or not? Are some ADWs unlicensed or are they all unlicensed?


-Five

[raybo]

Originally Posted by FiveWide

I'm a Texas resident and am so confused now. After my dad talked to the Texas Racing Commision a few years ago we were under the impression it was illegal to do any online wagering.

Now there is a bill making it illegal to bet non-Texas tracks from ADWs. Was this legal before now? What exactly was the law before this HB? Thanks in advance.


-Five

A few years ago Texas passed a bill making it illegal to wager on Texas tracks, as a Texas resident, over the internet. Some ADWs ignored it.

This new law makes it illegal for a Texas resident to wager on ANY track, worldwide, through any U.S. ADW. Most ADWs are ignoring it, thus far, I believe. I have contacted Twinspires and DarkHorseBet and they both say their policies still accept Texas wagers on the tracks they handle.

Hopefully, all ADWs will ignore the law, as Texas cannot do any harm to them, only the Texas residents who wager using them. But, I have never heard of any Texas resident being prosecuted for wagering on Texas tracks via an ADW, so I doubt they will prosecute any under this new law. If they do, they will open up one big can of worms, as I don't see how they can defend their case, as their having the right to tell citizens of the USA, Texas residents or not, how and where they can spend their money.