Kentucky Senate votes to allow lottery to contribute to pari-mutuel pools

On Friday morning, the full Kentucky Senate voted 22-9 to pass a bill that would allow the state lottery to send bets into commingled pari-mutuel pools, according to supporters of the legislation.

The legislation is being pushed by a private company called EquiLottery, which wants to cut deals with state lotteries, allowing for a game that would pay off based on pari-mutuel results. Under EquiLottery’s plan, bettors would buy tickets from lottery dealers, with half the bet going to the lottery and the other half going into a specific pari-mutuel pool.

Because only half the bettor’s wager would go into the pari-mutuel pool, the bettor would only be eligible for a payoff based on that half-denomination of the original bet.

The bill passed out of a Senate committee Tuesday morning. It still will need to be taken up by the Assembly and signed by Gov. Steve Brashear to become law.