After a Senate committee approved Bill 511, Kentucky is now closer than ever to allowing sports betting.

As a fresh measure continues to gain support, Kentucky might soon legalize sports betting. By allowing sports betting at the state’s horse racing tracks, House Bill 511 would introduce a new type of gambling to the area. Also, racetracks would be permitted to collaborate with up to three online operators, enabling local players to participate in online competitions.

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After the House approved the bill on Monday, it has now easily passed through a state Senate committee. Despite this, a lot of obstacles still exist.

The Bluegrass State is now seeing sports flutters thanks to House Bill 511. Since the repeal of the PASPA in 2018, Kentucky has been working to allow punts. Previous attempts, though, were unsuccessful.

Despite earlier failures, Kentucky has a chance to accept sports betting right now. The Senate Licensing and Occupations Committee has never before been able to pass a bill.

Additionally, the committee gave Bill 511 9 votes in favor and 1 vote against it, indicating strong support.

Many think that Governor Andy Beshear supports sports betting and would sign the legislation into law, so the Senate would be the only obstacle to Kentucky becoming the 37th state to permit sports betting. Four years ago, Beshear’s campaign made clear how supportive of gambling he was.

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While there is a good probability that House Bill 511 will be approved, it is still too early to celebrate because the Senate will be the biggest obstacle to the bill’s passage to date.

A bill must receive support from at least three-fifths of senators in order to pass the Senate. Also, the current session of parliament only has four days left, so getting HB 511 passed is a race against time.

Kentucky sports betting bill passes in the House, heads to Senatehttps://t.co/8H4kmfIzeL

— KY Sports Betting Now (@SportsBettingKY) March 14, 2023

A planned break in the legislative session would help the bill because it would give its supporters more time to convince other senators to vote for the measure. State Representative Michael Meredith acknowledged that the group in favor of gambling is still short on votes to approve the bill.

As the legislative session continues on March 29 and 30, the fate of sports betting in Kentucky will be decided for good, at least for the time being. Earlier this month, a Kentucky House committee also passed SB 594, which bans “gray” video games with cash prizes. 

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