Several native American tribes have sent a letter to Idaho officials, urging them to stop the proliferation on so called instant racing machines in the state. The instant racing machines became legal after the state legislature authorized a bill in 2013. The machines are being operated at several sites around the state including the Greyhound Park in Post Falls.
The machines use videos of various unidentified horse races that players bet on. Coeur d'Alene tribal spokeswoman Heather Keen says the law allows for the machines to be less regulated than the betting machines the tribes operate.
Keen: “They just installed fifty in Idaho falls, and 35 at Post Falls, but there is potential for one in each county with unlimited number of machines, but for tribes we have a limit on the number of machines we can put in.”
The Coeur d'Alene tribe joined several others in sending a letter to Idaho Governor Butch Otter and State Attorney General Lawrence Wasden to stop the proliferation of such machines. Heather Keen says other states, including Maryland, Wyoming and Kentucky have found the machines to be illegal.
