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Originally Posted by rwwupl
They probably should come up with another name ,a FORM of pari-mutuel wagering is not very descriptive of the facts.
I think I could make the case that we do not have any pari-mutuel wagering as it was intended to be anymore... it has been modified and is not pure.
No wagering is legal until the CHRB (in California) approves it, and the SB1072 says not before May, 2012.
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A good example of how corrupt things have become. Pari-mutuel is legal. So let's say a pari-mutuel betting exchange starts up here in the U.S. Who would complain the loudest? Those who stand to lose the most money. They would complain to the authorities and the exchange would be shut down and the operators arrested.
However, if the operators take their time and pay the right lobbyists -- lobbyists with the right connections -- and also send some contributions to various political campaigns -- then the betting exchange will eventually become "legalized".
So it boils down to money -- who has it, who gets to keep it.
Look how long it has taken NYRA to get slots. First, the fight over who would get to make the money had to be settled.
Yonkers Raceway got slots several years ago. Now they are adding table games. If table games are OK now, why weren't they OK 10 years ago?
Land based casinos are now trying to get into the online gambling business because they realize how profitable it is and there is lower overhead. First, though, they have had to convince politicians to shut down online casinos. Once the competition is removed the land based casinos can step in to steal the market.
The whole political system is corrupt from top to bottom and not just in racing and gambling. It's probably been this way forever. It just seems worse than I can ever remember it being in my lifetime.
I don't know how many people Betfair employs, but I assume it is quite a few. This type of business could have been running in my own back yard here in Connecticut back in 1999 had politicians and monied interests not been so shortsighted. I would have started one then, but I knew I'd be thrown in jail for trying.
However, thousands of jobs would have been created and the business would have been the envy of the state. But you can't just start up a business nowadays. You have to pay off the right people and mainly the state.
Is it a wonder the U.S. economy is in the toilet? It's not a free enterprise country -- it's a pay to do business country.
That's my rant for the day.
