[goldengoat]

maybe in like 2 years or so?

you know, a book overseen by the US government to protect us and make sure no funny business goes on

oh ya and that little part about making multimillions/billions a year too which they have been missin out on for years

a sportsbook is no different than a lottery, the only difference is who is benefitting currently

[bigboydan]

Thats gotta be there plan at some point down the road. As far as a time table goes, who really knows though.

[tblues2005]

I think your right bigboydan, I think this lines up to see some of them in Vegas pushing to get it passed so they can make more money there. I see it happening after the 2008 Presidential Elections though, expeically if a Democrat gets voted in and then that is a way of raising taxes from people in the US. It sure is going to be very interesting 2 years ahead expeically with the online gaming business.

[MBENZ]

Screw the government....their wheels grind so friggin slow that we might never see it in some of our lifetimes!Let individual states take a shot at it.There is alot of them out there that see the financial gain from gambling.DE.and PA. brought in slots to revive the horse industry and it worked.It also lowered the school to next to nothing!The idiots here in MD.voted down slots and now grand old tracks like Pimlico are going down the shithole and threatning to close.I think if one state tries it the majority will follow.

[imgv94]

Where would the Preakness go if Pimilco closes?

[MBENZ]

Where would the Preakness go if Pimilco closes?

Cant answer that but I read about the demise of racing everyday here.The purses suck so bad that all the good horses/jockeys left town.All the races today are 4and5k claimers......next stop glue factory.Prado,domingez,Desormeux all were leading jockeys here at one time,now they only come back one day a year for Preakness....its a sad state of affairs here.

[Seattle Slew]

Frank Stronich owns Pimlico and despite the hit he'd take (maybe), if the track closed, he would move the Preakness to Gulfstream or Santa Anita, his two premier tracks.

They already have talked about doing that unless they get help from Maryland to improve racing. They have gotten none, so he'd have a right to move the race but the people who run the Triple Crown would never let him unless the track closed.

Where would the Preakness go if Pimilco closes?

[LVHerbie]

I wouldn't be suprised if there was legal sports and online gambling in US in a couple years but on the other hand I don't think the assholes in charge have much a plan or conspiracy further then their next election...

[Dark Horse]

And how would a government based book look upon bettors taking that prop on the assassination of George W?

[BuddyBear]

Umm...do you guys not follow politics closely? Do you see the religious nuts who are in power who have considerable influence over pubilc policy? Democrats are about as bad as Republicans....slightly better but they are hardly the answer.

You think online gaming even registers as an issue for members of Congress. No way they are going to allow a U.S. backed online site within the next two years. As of now, I would expect some time in 10-20 years for any substantial progress to be made on this issue.

[bside]

I don't know, if you get the right PR campaign it could be a windfall for a politician willing to buck the trend. Estimates put US gambling annually at just under a 100 billion dollars. If you start taxing it you are going to generate a heck of a lot of revenue and still be able to maintain tax cuts in other areas. Right now the Democrats are in a tight spot because they will have to raise taxes/discontinue current programs in order to balance the budget. This gives some political savy politician the ability to generate tax revenue without raising taxes. A win-win for everyone.

[tblues2005]

bside,

That is exactly what I see here happening, I see the Democrats after 2008 going after this and tell the American people that making this legal all over will make life better all over for everyone and give us out of debt as a country. I think that is whats going on here to start off with.

[bside]

Follow the money! I tend to agree with what others have said that more so than Fed raids or pressure from US Government this is probably simply a result of banking pressures.