Will this be a good thing or will they find a way to screw this up?

_________________

A suckers tax. Also, a good way for the state to get welfare money back.

Both.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Great angles from callers with zpak & Herron.

Arlington doesn't want a license. Doesn't bode well for the track's future.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

They must figure the land is worth more if they bulldoze it?

I can't imagine how many more commercials the Score is going to sell to gambling-related services...they must be licking their chops.

_________________

Huge win, the biggest windfall will be when they build a casino in the city.. so many hundreds of millions go across the border to Indiana.

_________________

Joe O. said the Chicago casino would have 4,000 gaming seats (for comparison, The Bellagio has around 2,800). He said Arlington could have up to 1,200 seats if they wanted.

This sounds like too much too soon. He said they are going to be giving licenses to convenience stores, but only to bet parlays?

_________________

Unclear to me on online gambling, which is what most of us want. Draft kings/Fanduel seem to be sort of locked out for 18 months. Once I can bet on the Bears 5 minutes before kick off from my couch, all bets are on.

If any casino could find a way to lose money through mismanagement and corruption, it would be a Chicago run casino.

_________________

CDI owns about 70% of Rivers Casino. There's really no reason for them to have two sports betting licenses since at least 75% of the action is going to be online. Also, at what point would slots at Arlington just be cannibalizing their business at Rivers?

If it were up to CDI the only racing they would have a hand in would be Kentucky Derby week. Running a racetrack is a royal pain in the ass. You have to deal with horsemen who complain a lot more than video poker machines. You also have to share the money with them.

The only reason a casino company owns a racetrack is because it was the only way they could operate a casino in that state. The business model is to pretend like you are partnering with horsemen to get the best bill passed that you can. Once you have these other gambling options legalized, you do everything possible to eliminate horse racing.

It usually doesn't take long for lawmakers to realize that the money that is going to the horsemen is just a form of welfare. There's a lot of political capital in pointing out that the $500,000 Chad Brown just took back to New York could have gone to schools. And CDI isn't going to argue with that assessment since they want the horses gone anyway. This is playing out in racing states across the country.

There are some exceptions. Jeff Gural and Frank Stronach are old guys who are racing fans the way Walt, OTE, and I are. But they're not going to live forever. And whoever comes next isn't likely to have the same passion for racing that they do. In Stronach's case he gave control of the company to his daughter and is now fighting her to get it back because it is becoming more obvious that she may want racing dead.

The Careys at Hawthorne may fall into a category with Gural and Stronach. Hawthorne is a family business and they have run it for many years. Unlike CDI that answers to shareholders and sees itself as a corporate entity that is in business to maximize profits, the Careys may see themselves as racing operators. That's probably the best case for Illinois racing. But if Arlington goes that will be hard to overcome. You'll know right away if the Careys are really interested in promoting racing rather than letting it wither so they can run a sportsbook/casino in peace because they will lower the takeout on all racing wagers.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

so it's illinois government at work.... i'm expecting the state to be a 20% rake

also, shoutout to big voice guy... basically doing a "Way to go mayor daley" shoutout to the Illinois state legislature

How is that gonna work? I'm guessing Mac and good dolphin will just stick with their guys and the standard 10% vig.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Theoretically, I think the racetracks, casinos, and stadiums could accept bets right away. I believe it's legal for the Cubs or Sox to take bets at their ballparks as soon as they pay the licensing/fees. But they'd have to get set up to do it themselves or hire a DFS company like Draft Kings or a bookmaking company like William Hill to handle it for them. I think the latter is more likely.

Illinois is slow and dumb as usual though. Everyone knew this was going to happen, but I don't think anyone is really ready. When sports betting was passed in New Jersey Monmouth Park already had William Hill ready to roll.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

I just want the best poker room in the Midwest, I don't think that's too much to ask. I get it the slots are the money maker for all the suckers who sit elbow to elbow and dump in cash while getting hypnotized by the screen.

_________________

absolutely no reason to go somewhere else, other than illegality but with it no longer being illegal to place the bet, even if your guy gets pinched it will be a slap on the wrist and they won't be going after players

biggest risk is, at it always has been, the IRS but honestly, bettors are losers

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

That depends: Are they hiring the Trump Organization as consultants?

_________________

And let's not forget the republicans who just proved that they really couldn't run the current version of the numbers rackets.

_________________
There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

So to net this out, when do you think I can place a sports bet from my phone?

Looks like 18 months.

Jerry Reinsdorf's line:

White Sox (Giolito): -240
Cleveland (Plesac) -180

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Do you ever just let it go with the partisan shit?

_________________
When I am stuck and need to figure something out I always remember the Immortal words of Socrates when he said:"I just drank what?"

Do you?

_________________

_________________
Sex isn't dirty, sex isn't a crime. It's a loving act between two or more consenting adults.

-Hank Kingsley

Do do do do da do....

_________________
Elections have consequences.

Those south suburbs are gonna be fighting hard for the casino that's going there. I'd put it in Tinley Park on the site of that old insane asylum on Harlem, right off of I-80.

_________________

My guess would be on 159th around Pulaski between Oak Forest, Midlothian and Markham makes the most sense given the stated goals. Just like it seems counterproductive to put the city casino at the old Michael Reese site, when you still have swaths of the West side, not to mention the massive South Works site right on two miles of the lakefront.

_________________
There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

The bill allows for a new harness license, but the new location can't be within 35 miles of an existing license. I've heard Tinley Park is getting the new track. Does that mean Hawthorne gives up harness?

Isn't that all CC forest preserve other than that hospital?

_________________

I don't think Hawthorne would give up harness, but maybe this bill contemplates the closure of Arlington in which case maybe Hawthorne would take all the t-bted dates with the new track racing the buggies.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Someone explain the appeal of harness racing? Is it cheaper to run? Easier to fix? I don't get it.

_________________
Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest