This Week In Gambling Episode August 22 2019

Well, the rhetoric is really getting rough in the Kentucky governor's race, and one huge issue revolves around gambling. The challenger, Andy Beshear, son of former governor Steve Beshear, is a big advocate for casino gambling AND sports betting, and wants to fund the state's pension system with the taxes from it. His opponent, the incumbent, Matt Bevin, sees a big moral problem with gambling. His opinion is that it leads to suicide. Here's how he was quoted on a local radio show - "Every night somewhere in America somebody takes their life in a casino because they've wasted the last semblance of dignity and hope that they had." The answer from Beshear's campaign spokesperson was that those kinds of statements demonstrate that Bevin is, "Unfit to lead." Kentucky is losing money to neighboring states like Ohio, Illinois and Indiana that have positoned their casinos near the Ohio River. And powerful pari-mutuel forces like Churchill Downs, already in the gaming business in other states, are chomping at the bit to get some of that cash.