A. Barton Hinkle watches supporters and opponents of expanding gambling opportunities in Virginia and is bothered that nobody seems to acknowledge that people should be able to decide for themselves what to do with their money:
Colonial Downs has been shut for the past four years over a dispute, rooted in economic difficulty, between the owner and Virginia’s horse industry. A prospective owner, Revolutionary Racing, might reopen the track—if it can incorporate video gambling on historical races. That system allows bettors to wager on races that already have been run; the gamblers know the odds for each horse but not its name or other identifying information.
The lack of knowledge about the horses puts historical race wagering in the category of slot-machine gambling: It’s really just a matter of dumb luck. (In Kentucky, gamblers even bet on cartoon horses, removing all pretense that skill is involved.)
The random nature of the game raises the hackles of social conservatives, who barely tolerate horse racing in the first place. Victoria Cobb, president of the Family Foundation of Virginia, says her group is “incredibly disappointed that the General Assembly would pass a massive gambling expansion that is the equivalent of slots under the guise of saving the horse-racing industry.”
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