They’re also cutting into Kentucky Lottery proceeds, which help fund college scholarships. That’s mostly because they don’t benefit the racing industry. Now it seems we have something new called “gray slot machines” that are very definitely illegal, say the legislators who supported the illegal slot machines known as historical horse racing before they defined them as legal. After numerous court battles, these slot machines, called “historical horse racing” were illegal until last year when a push by the horse racing industry led the General Assembly to define them as legal. We have slot machines that are not slot machines but look exactly like slot machines. There is betting on horse racing, which is legal, and betting on basketball games, which is not.
When it comes to gambling in Kentucky, there are so many shades of gray, it’s hard to keep them apart.
