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Veterans groups and others lamenting the state’s crackdown on Cherry Masters might be surprised to learn that another type of video gambling is on Indiana’s horizon. It would have been commendable for legislators to address the turmoil surrounding electronic gambling in bars and service clubs before turning to something new, but it’s too late now.
Tucked into the massive bill that gives the Indianapolis Colts a new stadium is a provision orderin g the Indiana Gaming Commission to study “alternative forms of gaming if other forms of gaming would be beneficial for Indiana.”
Conveniently, a New York-based company has an alternative form of gambling ready and waiting. Kenilworth Systems Corp. has proposed placing cameras on Indiana riverboats to beam live games from Indiana casinos to establishments in other states that already simulcast horse- or dog-racing or even to homes overseas. (Some countries permit citizens to go to a lottery agent and make a deposit to play on their own TVs.) Players there could wager on the games being played in Indiana.
The state would be paid to transmit the games, though whether it would be a flat fee or a percentage of revenues has yet to be negotiated.
An official said the company was aware that Gov. Mitch Daniels doesn’t support an expansion of gambling within Indiana, so the games wouldn’t be broadcast at Fort Wayne’s Trackside or other betting parlors in the state.
In a news release touting the governor signing the bill into law, Kenilworth boasts that the gambling provision was added as a result of its lobbying efforts. The state’s budget shortfall and efforts to find new revenue were the reason Kenilworth targeted Indiana, according to Andrew Hirko, the company’s senior vice president.
It was a business-savvy move because money is exactly what Sen. Bob Meeks, R-LaGrange, said he was looking for when he inserted the provision in the legislation.
“I’m looking for revenue,” he said. “I just want them to take a look at it and see if it’s feasible to do.”
Hirko said his company expected to make a presentation to the gaming commission in the coming months. Kenilworth estimates net earnings of $40 billion a year from remote gambling originating in Indiana. Specific amounts would be determined by contract, but the state would receive a share of the profits for allowing the broadcast of the casino. The riverboat and the betting parlors where the simulcasts are shown also would share in the money.
Revenues from the video slot machines commonly called Cherry Masters, by contrast, won’t benefit Indiana’s gambling establishment and would likely eat into its current profits.
Meeks said the measure also gave the gaming commission the flexibility to look at keno games and other forms of gambling. He said he chose the commission over the Department of Gaming Research because it had the authority to look at those alternatives.
Rep. Win Moses, D-Fort Wayne, didn’t know about the amendment or the new gambling technology, but said he doesn’t believe it’s hard to find additional wagering revenues for the state.
“There are ways to be constructive in Indiana with regard to regulating and increasing revenues,” he said. “It’s called ‘licensing the Cherry Masters.’ ”
Meeks, who also supports legalizing the electronic gambling devices, points out there’s not enough legislative support to do so. The remote gambling scheme would bring in revenue without expanding gambling, he said.
Technically, it’s true that it isn’t an expansion of gambling, because the wagering takes place at the betting parlor and not at the Indiana casino where the games originate. But tapping another form of revenues still leaves the Cherry Master issue unresolved and saddles Indiana law enforcement officials and prosecutors with the thankless task of enforcing a law that has long been ignored. If satellite broadcasts bring in the riches that Kenilworth proposes, the impetus for legalizing and taxing Cherry Masters is diminished, while the demand for the games continues.
House Speaker Brian Bosma bragged at session’s end that the state’s new budget doesn’t rely on an expansion of gambling. That might be true, but Kenilworth’s Hirko acknowledged that the company would be interested in beaming the broadcasts to betting parlors in Indiana. Given the company’s lobbying success this year, Indiana must look like very fertile territory.
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Veterans groups and others lamenting the state’s crackdown on Cherry Masters might be surprised to learn that another type of video gambling is on Indiana’s horizon. It would have been commendable for legislators to address the turmoil surrounding electronic gambling in bars and service clubs before turning to something new, but it’s too late now.
Tucked into the massive bill that gives the Indianapolis Colts a new stadium is a provision orderin g the Indiana Gaming Commission to study “alternative forms of gaming if other forms of gaming would be beneficial for Indiana.”
Conveniently, a New York-based company has an alternative form of gambling ready and waiting. Kenilworth Systems Corp. has proposed placing cameras on Indiana riverboats to beam live games from Indiana casinos to establishments in other states that already simulcast horse- or dog-racing or even to homes overseas. (Some countries permit citizens to go to a lottery agent and make a deposit to play on their own TVs.) Players there could wager on the games being played in Indiana.
The state would be paid to transmit the games, though whether it would be a flat fee or a percentage of revenues has yet to be negotiated.
An official said the company was aware that Gov. Mitch Daniels doesn’t support an expansion of gambling within Indiana, so the games wouldn’t be broadcast at Fort Wayne’s Trackside or other betting parlors in the state.
In a news release touting the governor signing the bill into law, Kenilworth boasts that the gambling provision was added as a result of its lobbying efforts. The state’s budget shortfall and efforts to find new revenue were the reason Kenilworth targeted Indiana, according to Andrew Hirko, the company’s senior vice president.
It was a business-savvy move because money is exactly what Sen. Bob Meeks, R-LaGrange, said he was looking for when he inserted the provision in the legislation.
“I’m looking for revenue,” he said. “I just want them to take a look at it and see if it’s feasible to do.”
Hirko said his company expected to make a presentation to the gaming commission in the coming months. Kenilworth estimates net earnings of $40 billion a year from remote gambling originating in Indiana. Specific amounts would be determined by contract, but the state would receive a share of the profits for allowing the broadcast of the casino. The riverboat and the betting parlors where the simulcasts are shown also would share in the money.
Revenues from the video slot machines commonly called Cherry Masters, by contrast, won’t benefit Indiana’s gambling establishment and would likely eat into its current profits.
Meeks said the measure also gave the gaming commission the flexibility to look at keno games and other forms of gambling. He said he chose the commission over the Department of Gaming Research because it had the authority to look at those alternatives.
Rep. Win Moses, D-Fort Wayne, didn’t know about the amendment or the new gambling technology, but said he doesn’t believe it’s hard to find additional wagering revenues for the state.
“There are ways to be constructive in Indiana with regard to regulating and increasing revenues,” he said. “It’s called ‘licensing the Cherry Masters.’ ”
Meeks, who also supports legalizing the electronic gambling devices, points out there’s not enough legislative support to do so. The remote gambling scheme would bring in revenue without expanding gambling, he said.
Technically, it’s true that it isn’t an expansion of gambling, because the wagering takes place at the betting parlor and not at the Indiana casino where the games originate. But tapping another form of revenues still leaves the Cherry Master issue unresolved and saddles Indiana law enforcement officials and prosecutors with the thankless task of enforcing a law that has long been ignored. If satellite broadcasts bring in the riches that Kenilworth proposes, the impetus for legalizing and taxing Cherry Masters is diminished, while the demand for the games continues.
House Speaker Brian Bosma bragged at session’s end that the state’s new budget doesn’t rely on an expansion of gambling. That might be true, but Kenilworth’s Hirko acknowledged that the company would be interested in beaming the broadcasts to betting parlors in Indiana. Given the company’s lobbying success this year, Indiana must look like very fertile territory.
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