Horse Racing United Cantors towards poker platform
Deal would see horse track group launch poker platform following regulation in the state.
Cantor Gaming has been chosen to supply California’s Horse Racing United (HRU) with technology for an intrastate online poker platform ahead of potential regulation in the Golden State.
HRU is a non-for-profit coalition of horse racing businesses, whose members include Santa Anita Park, Del Mar, Golden Gate Fields and the Thoroughbred Owners of California. The deal is subject to the HRU being selected as one of a limited number of licensees to operate an intrastate gambling website.
Work is still underway to pass online gambling legislation in California. An amended version of online poker bill SB1463 is expected to be submitted in time for the state legislature’s fall session, after Senator Rod Wright pulled it from the California Senate Governmental Organisation Committee agenda at the last minute in June.
More details of what HRU would offer are yet to be clarified, but Josh Rubinstein, senior vice president of development at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, said the organisation is “committed to working with the State of California to seek a legal internet poker solution that works for all parties”.
HRU is the second major horse racing entity to reveal it is planning ahead for online poker regulation. Earlier this month eGaming Review revealed that Churchill Downs, one of the best known racetracks in the US, is planning to launch its own online poker network and has applied for an operator’s licence in Nevada. The Kentucky-based racing operator is also in talks with a number of providers including Playtech and Ongame, with chief strategy officer Ted Gay saying it was planning to be a “major player” in the online poker market.
The deal is the second in as many months in the Golden State for Cantor Gaming, following an agreement to provide the Cachil DeHe Band of Wintun Indians with a mobile casino gaming platform at its Colusa Casino Resort, and a similar agreement with Las Vegas’ Silverton Casino Hotel.
Parent company Cantor Fitzgerald is applying for a licence in Macau, according to CEO Howard Lutnick.