Illinois Says No To Online Horse Betting

Although Illinois made almost 2 million in taxes from advanced deposit wagering or online horse betting, the state has yet to renew the law allowing such betting. This leaves four firms without the necessary licensing from the racing board to run their online horse betting sites. Whether this was intentional is not clear, as no one has been available for comment, but Maura Possley, an Attorney General’s Office press secretary, said “We are talking with the Racing Board and discussing the state’s options,”. The website for the Illinois racing board posted a notice that online gambling on horse racing is currently against the law.Instead of this forcing gamblers to the tracks, two firms are still accepting bets from online gamblers, and who could blame them? Online race horse betting has made the firms a bulk sum of around $120 million. Even though, they do not have updated licenses, Xpressbet and TwinSpires are up and running as usual. While technically this leaves gamblers without the law on their side if either of the companies decides not to play by the rules, things seem to be going fine. The companies that have ceased operation because of their expired licenses are losing money and citizens are losing their jobs.The online gambling companies were alerted in December that the law might not be renewed, and come January ninth, they might not be able to accept bets legally. So far, there has been no explanation as to why this has happened. However, the fact that the Illinois house passed a gambling bill that puts into effect an act to increase crowds and business at casinos comes at a mighty questionable time.

The gambling sites that are still open for business have been reported, but so far, no action has been taken against them or the individuals who continue to place bets on the sites. Illinois lawmakers will be in session again in a few weeks, and the law could be renewed then. In the meantime, gamblers’ only legal choice is to go to the tracks themselves and place bets the old fashioned way.