On December 30, 2021 the Arkansas Racing Commission voted to amend their rules, opening the door for online gambling and as of February 22, 2022 the AR Joint Budget Committee officially legalized mobile wagering in the state. Now in the lead up to March Madness, our legislators have graciously provided to fellow degenerates what we have become accustomed to in most other facets of our life, instant gratification.  The “Amazonification” of Americans has now withered its way into our vices. Although you still CAN’T purchase alcohol in your county if you attend Henderson State University, you CAN bet on your favorite Reddie running back to go over 62.5 yards in the Battle of the Ravine (unless Arkansas votes to curb wagering on individual prop bets on college athletes like our neighbors in Tennessee).

After voters approved a state constitutional amendment to allow the operations of casinos in November of 2018, we have seen the creation of a new operation at Saracen Casino in Jefferson County, the proposal of a Cherokee casino in Pope County, as well as the addition of Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort in Hot Springs and Southland Gaming and Racing in West Memphis. Historically Arkansas has been a welcome arena for gamblers “officially” dating all the way back to a racetrack named Sportsman’s Park that operated into the 1890’s in Hot Springs along with some other tracks through central Arkansas through the turn of the century. Only the famed Oaklawn and its “glass-enclosed heated grandstand” designed by the Zachary Taylor Davis, famous designer of the Chicago Cubs’ Wrigley Field, remains in operation today. Drive to Hot Springs and you’ll find a whole sub-economy devoted to early 1900’s anecdotes of Babe Ruth hitting baseball’s first 500 ft. home run there between trips to the horse track and casino, or infamous gangster Al Capone betting the ponies and having secret meetings in local restaurants.

Now (theoretically) you don’t have to take the scenic drive to West Memphis to bet a dog race, or avoid motorcycles and log trucks on HWY 70 to lose some $5 hands of blackjack after spilling G&T’s on the petit bourgeois insurance salesmen milling about Oaklawn, but do less horses equal more horseshit? Even though we are now allowed to gamble on our mobile devices, the Arkansas Racing Commission threw out a mafia-esque offer to national books such as DraftKings and FanDuel to ONLY allow operation in the state with a 51/49 profit sharing scenario with over half of the profit returning to the local casino, whereas other states operate closer to 15/85 kickback. If you are placing a bet in Arkansas you will be directed to the local book at the instate casino meaning we will deal with whatever user interface they come up with. We have no idea what may materialize, but I can imagine whatever Oaklawn comes up with can’t compete with Caesar’s. But I digress… as a guy with a roll of duct tape in the back of his beater 2011 Camry, do I really need some shiny new-fangled app to bet the MussBus to drive the Hogs to the Final Four in 2023? Can the lines provided by a dog track in West Memphis be anywhere close to how bad that drive is? Is the allure of Pine Bluff, the smell of the paper mill wafting through the air enough to get you to high tail it up to Saracen to throw $20 on Bryce Mitchell to choke out some Brazilian dude? Or are the Miller Lites in the fridge, the muted baseball game on TV, and Phil Elson on the radio enough to realize that Arkansans have landed in the future. Best of luck to the app designers and competitors, but mostly to the legion of degens waiting to place that first* wager.