The owner of Victoryland Casino in Shorter, Alabama hopes lawmakers will legalize full-scale casinos. [Image: Shutterstock.com]

Historical horse racing machines pay the bills

Dr. Lewis Benefield, president and CEO of Victoryland Casino and the Birmingham Race Course, hopes to resurrect live greyhound racing and fully reopen Victoryland to record numbers. But the proposed resurrection is unlikely unless new legislation to allow full-scale casinos can be approved. In the meantime, Benefield hopes that the similarity of historical horse racing machines to slots will be enough to keep his businesses running.

horses are identified by numbers rather than names

Just as with slots, betting with historical horse racing machines can get as fast as simply inserting money and hitting play, but there’s a slower method that allows players the pleasure they would find at live horse racing, which is to handicap the races based on provided information of how the horses performed in prior races. To keep players from researching results, the horses are identified by numbers rather than names.

This could be a winning combination, but unfortunately, the legality of historical horse racing machines remains questionable.

Are the games legal?

Based on prior legal opinions issued by Alabama attorneys general and the approval of the racing commissions in Jefferson and Macon counties, Benefield believes historical horse racing machines pass legal muster. Benefield said: “I know law enforcement is well versed on what I’m doing, and I’ve never been questioned that what I was doing was not following the law.”

In 2019, Attorney General Steve Marshall, referring to the previous AG opinions issued in 2001 and 2009, said: “If the new machines offered at the Birmingham Race Course are in compliance with these opinions, then they are presumably legal. If they are not, then the opinions will offer no defense to a violation of the law.”

Casinos almost approved by legislature

The approval could have been the first step in propelling a bevy of customers not just to Victoryland, but to all other greyhound racing tracks in Alabama. As reported by Mike Cason, a journalist for AL.com: “In February, the Alabama House of Representatives approved an ambitious plan that would have allowed, with voter approval, full-scale casinos in the counties with the four former greyhound tracks.”

the bill moved forward to the Senate, where it fell short by just one vote

The bill was backed by the Republican leadership in the House, as well as by Governor Kay Ivey. After House approval, the bill moved forward to the Senate, where it fell short by just one vote. The bill’s failure marks a fight by Alabama lawmakers for over two decades to expand gambling operations across Alabama.

Benefield said: “The gambling issue in Alabama can be solved.”

With any luck, the legislature will try again in 2025 and this time deliver a gambling package that passes both the House and Senate.