Bill to Allow Betting Via Home TV Gains

SACRAMENTO —  A bill to allow couch potatoes to bet on horse races in their own living rooms over cable television cleared its first legislative hurdle Tuesday.

With only a single negative vote, Assemblyman Curtis Tucker Jr. (D-Inglewood) pushed the bill through the Governmental Organization Committee, which he chairs.

Horse racing representatives who are backing the measure predicted that the legislation would be a boon to the industry, which has been facing flat profits and slumping attendance.

“This bill could potentially be the most important piece of horse racing legislation since parimutuel wagering was authorized over 50 years ago,” said Jim Smith of the Federation of California Racing Assns.

Smith’s organization helped draft the bill. Golden Gate Fields in Northern California and Los Alamitos Racing Course in Orange County also support the measure.

No other state has what the industry calls interactive television wagering, although some states allow bets to be placed by telephone. Blood Horse, a trade publication, noted in a December article that “the technology exists, access is increasing. All that remains . . . is for the leaders of racing to unite in a push for enabling legislation.”

California law currently allows bets to be placed only at tracks or satellite wagering sites. Tucker’s measure would allow racetracks to enter into contracts with cable television systems to provide betting services to individuals.

As Tucker explained it, armchair players of the ponies would be issued access codes and use devices similar to cable television boxes to place their bets, then watch the races on designated cable channels.

Players would use credit cards or cash to establish lines of credit with the tracks. Winnings would go into their accounts. Tapped-out bettors would not be able to bet again without making additional deposits.

“You will not be able to sit in your house and wager your house away,” Tucker said.

Tucker contends that the introduction of interactive television wagering could result in major increases in purses, and in the state’s cut from horse racing.

The measure’s success is not at all certain. It must clear one more Assembly committee and both houses of the Legislature by a two-thirds vote because it is considered an appropriations bill. The bill would then be considered by the governor. The bill cleared Tucker’s committee Tuesday on a 10-1 vote, with Delaine Eastin (D-Fremont) casting the dissent.

Church groups and other anti-gaming forces warned that the idea would add to compulsive gambling, and they predicted that children would gain access to the systems and place wagers.

“It could become almost a mania,” said Harvey Chinn of the California Council on Alcohol Problems. “There is going to be a political backlash. People are not clamoring for this. They are not asking for it.”