Wednesday, June 07, 2006

As reported by Wisc News: "Though the new off-track betting parlor at the
Ho-Chunk Casino has only been open a month, it's already earned a following
of old-timers who wager on horse and greyhound races - and get a little
bantering in on the side. "'This is first class - probably the best in
Wisconsin that I've seen,' said Madisonian Paul Hammersley, who's been
betting on horses for 60 years and now treks to the casino a few times a
week. "...The Ho-Chunk betting parlor, housed in a circus-tent-shaped dome
built in 1995, is the largest in the Upper Midwest at 11,000 square feet.
Thoroughbred, harness and dog races from the Hong Kong Jockey Club to the
Indiana Downs are simul-cast on 33 flat-screen TVs Wednesday through Sunday,
10 a.m. to midnight.

"The betting center opened just in time for the May 6 Kentucky Derby and had
a standing-room only crowd for that race, said racebook manager Sheridan
Cloud.

"...Off-track betting was a natural, though well-researched, addition for
the tribe, said executive administrative officer John Stoddard..."