California board to rule on exchange betting at Los Alamitos

Exchange betting could be launched on Los Alamitos races later this summer, if approved by the California Horse Racing Board at its monthly meeting on Thursday.

The racing board is scheduled to vote on 26 rules that will define the parameters for exchange betting in the state. Los Alamitos is the only racetrack asking for permission to conduct exchange betting.

Betfair-TVG and Twinspires.com are two account wagering providers that will ask the board for licenses to operate exchange betting.

Exchange betting will not be conducted at the state’s Thoroughbred tracks until next summer, at the earliest, after the Thoroughbred Owners of California said last month that it would not vote on the issue until 2013. Del Mar had sought to conduct exchange betting on its meeting later this summer.

Exchange betting allows customers to post odds and accept wagers on whether a horse will win or lose a race.

If the racing board approves the rules on Thursday, the terms must be reviewed by the state’s office of administrative law before implementation.

Betfair is the leading exchange betting provider in Europe and has aggressively campaigned for such bets in California in recent years.

Legislation allowing exchange betting was passed by the California legislature in 2010 as part of a bill that increased the takeout on exotic wagers to fund overnight purses.

The exchange betting aspect of the legislation did not take effect until May 1 of this year.