Another pretty easy morning and thankfully the weather has not been oppressive lately. There is a big controversy in Illinois about the new law that just went into effect, capping the amount that out of state tracks can charge ADW's for their signal. That cap 5% is below what the top tracks like Saratoga and Del Mar charge for theirs, effectively keeping Illinois residents from betting these tracks via their ADW accounts.
It is really depressing when these sort of things are done by individual racing commissions or horsemans groups because the negative aspects that these rules are trying to fix become forgotten by the anomisity (well deserved I might add) of the bettors who are not directly responsibile for the issue but simply become pawns caught in the middle. In a time when handle is off nationwide at an alarming percentage, the idea that we need to fight this battle against the corporate greed of Churchill Downs right now is misguided. The Saratoga and to a lesser extent Del Mar meets are really the height of the racing (and betting) season leading into the important fall racing season. Taking away the ability of Illinois residents to use their ADW accounts to bet these tracks is shortsighted and foolish. The fact is that new rule/law will change nothing except make more people will open offshore accounts or worse just say the hell with it and take their gambling money elsewhere.
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