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U.S. State of Illinois Allows Online Betting on Horseracing

Date published: 14 October 2009

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It is not just American online gambling fans who are becoming increasingly fed up with the United State's 'wishy-washy' anti-online gambling laws, but individual states too, the most recent being Illinois, which has taken the forward-thinking step of legalizing online betting on horseracing.

According to recent reports, this week the Illinois Racing Board (IRB) voted to allow citizens in Illinois to place bets on horse races from the privacy and security of their own homes and offices, an extremely welcome move in a state that is renowned for winters colder than Jack Frost's bowling balls.

Although the move by Illinois will only benefit horseracing fans, it has been embraced by proponents of legalized and regulated online gambling in the United States as a small, but important victory. Unlike the U.S. government in general, and other 'holier than thou' states, Illinois understands finance.

Its lawmakers have realized that instead of allowing horseracing fans to wager with unregulated operators online, and in doing so deprive the state of much-needed online gambling tax dollars, it can keep horseracing revenues (and thus taxes) in the state by issuing licenses to approved online operators.

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In fact, the Illinois Racing Board has already approved three companies to start accepting horseracing wagers. However, the IRB's decision was not only taken to satisfy racing fans, but to bolster the state's ailing horseracing industry. In recent years the take at Illinois racetracks has been on the decline.

By giving Illinois' horseracing fans better and legal online sports betting options, the hope is that interest in horseracing will undergo a resurgence and reach previous levels of popularity. 'It's great that Illinois is finally getting into the electronic age,' said Racing Board Commissioner, Dennis Bookshester.

'This is an opportunity for us to really increase the amount of interest in our sport,' he said. While Illinois has not made any noises about legalizing online casinos, online poker rooms, online bingos sites or other forms of online sports betting, at least it has recognized the potential of gambling online.