It’s a fact that these machines were operating LONG BEFORE there was a ruling.
How the Kentucky judiciary had been allowing these “historical racing” slot machines to operate long before it ruled in the case is “Exhibit Number 1” of how the gambling industry corrupts good government. It was last Oct. 24 that the Franklin Circuit Court finally ruled that the machines were “pari-mutuel,” but several tracks had been operating the devices for years . . . and making money hand-over-fist.
Just as important, when the Court ruled on Oct. 24, the argument that it used to legitimize the machines was, in essence, “pari-mutuel wagering doesn’t have to be mutual.” A patron standing at his own “historical racing” machine, which dials up his own historical race, and he pushes his button at his own moment in time raises the question, “Who is he wagering with, or among, or mutually with?” The answer belies the deceit in the entire case — “NO ONE!!!”
The Family Foundation has appealed the decision and has filed a Motion of Transfer to the Kentucky Supreme Court. The Supreme Court would be the correct place to have the appeal heard because the Court had gotten involved earlier on in the case when the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) appealed an Appeals Court ruling in 2011. Stan Cave, the attorney who has represented The Family Foundation in the case, figured out how the machines worked even though the KHRC withheld key documents about the machines.
As it turns out, the devices use algorithms, multipliers and misleading celebratory displays suggesting to the patron that he is winning when in fact he is actually losing.
The disquieting aspect of this entire “invasion of the casinos” into Kentucky is the fact that no legislator voted to legalize them, no committee of the General Assembly has heard testimony, and neither Chamber of the Assembly has passed legislation on them to be signed by the Governor. They are just, “HERE!”
