This is my seventh Symposium on Racing and Gaming, and through the first six it was rare (if not nonexistent) that I would be intrigued by any of the products being showcased in the trade area of the Symposium floor.
Well, if Zenyatta can lose then I can be won over by a highly polished marketing pitch, and that’s what Bam in a box did to me when I visited its booth Tuesday.
The concept is simple: Provide a lower cost of entry for businesses interested in allowing its patrons to bet on horse racing by using account wagering rules rather than off-track betting rules to allow them to bet.
Self-service kiosks using either an iPad or desktop computer allow users to log into (or sign up for) an advanced-deposit wagering account. They then can bet on races with the bar getting a small cut of the account wagering provider’s revenue from the wagers.
Opening up an OTB at a sports bar in Lexington simply would not happen even though Central Kentucky is the type of market where people would feel comfortable having a flutter on a horse race as much as they would a football game. It is not uncommon to go out and see people actively engaged in racing, and I suspect the Bam model would be especially useful on big race days.
I’m (very obviously) not a lawyer, but on the surface it seems that if it’s legal for me to bet at a bar by accessing TwinSpires using my own iPad or iPhone or laptop then why wouldn’t it be legal to access some other account wagering service using hardware owned by the bar?
Lexington bills itself as the horse capital of the world—a title I cannot endorse until its residents are able to go out and bet nighttime Thoroughbred signals. Bam in a box could get that done.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Probably illegal - it makes too much sense and would generate too much fun for the patrons and might generate additional income to the tax paying bar owners.
ReplyDeleteHey - Have you ever seen TVG or HRTV on the screen in any sports bars? I haven't, but it would be a draw for me.
The a bar near Thistledown, used to run the replays of the day's races, which made it gathering place for players and horsemen on the the way home.
Gib:
ReplyDeleteI see TVG & HRTV on TV in bars all the time, but then, I live in Lexington.
I've seen plenty of people sitting at bar with a DRF betting the races on TV via ADW while sipping a cold one.
I'm not sure about the hardware issue, but it is likely that the bar taking a "small cut" has legal/tax consequenses.
ReplyDeleteI wish we had the TAB's like they do in Australia. It's very similar to this and they're in pretty much every pub down there.
ReplyDelete