Churchill Downs, the home of the Kentucky Derby, has seen revenue dip in this years fall meet, and the interactive division spruces up the online gambling site Luckity with a bigger online bingo feel.
Numbers released by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission this week confirm the tales that all was not as rosy as last year during the Churchill Downs fall meet.
Average daily handle saw a 15.32% drop from this time last year, the $1.7m daily bet amount was down from the $5.56m on average in 2012, but the extended 25-day fall meet did use those extra days to pull in more total revenue from the 21-day fall meet in 2012: $117.64m v $116.7m.
Churchill officials blamed the wet weather which forced 20 of the 52 races planned for the turf onto the main track. This represented a loss of 40% of scheduled turf races, and resulted in 74 scratches.
“We could have been luckier with the weather, but given the strengthening of our ongoing competition, this meet would have been challenging if each day had been sunny and warm,” track President Kevin Flanery said in a statement.
Luckity Gets a Face Lift
Churchill Downs Interactive, a division of Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI) has released news that Luckity.com is to undergo a facelift whilst becoming the first, and only, US based gaming site offering cash prizes on bingo games in a safe, secure and legal environment.
How is this possible I here you shout?
Online bingo is more addictive than crack cocaine hence the reason US citizens are protected from playing this evil monstrosity by their ever-friendly government. Well that’s how I feel when I see my 93-year old Grandmother taking liberties with the game.
It seems that Luckity.com have managed to find a way to give their customers what they want whilst circumventing the laws that prevent them from doing so, by using their ties with the horse racing world.
The site, which was launched in Nov 2012, will be upgraded to heavily promote their new online version of bingo that offers cash games by participating in pari-mutuel wagering on horse races across the world. The hybrid innovation will operate under the Federal Interstate Horse Racing Act and is licensed by the Oregon State Horse Racing Commission.
Cash bingo game prizes, and winners, are determined by the outcomes of live horse races taking places around the world. Each cash bingo card purchased is randomly associated with a specific horse in a specific race, like that offered by totalizer terminals at a racetrack or Lottery Quick Pick. When the horse wins, the associated bingo card displays a winning experience by covering the pattern and awarding the appropriate prize
If that’s all too confusing for you, and you would rather not mix your bingo with the equines, then don’t worry, the site still have online bingo options using virtual currency known as ‘Clovers.’
