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Skill game contests follow the poker model
The U.S. horse racing business, exempt from UIGEA online gaming transaction bans thanks to Senators Frist and Kyl, seemed enthusiastic about a new YouBet Internet gaming-for-reward site launched this week and branded KingContest.com.
The Thoroughbred Times reported on the new site, commenting that it was designed to attract Internet gaming enthusiasts, persuading them to register as contestants who pay to enter skill-based contests and compete to win cash prizes.
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Horse racing is the focal point of the sites inaugural offering, but the platform has been designed to deliver a wide variety of games and contests that are under development by Youbet.com. The site offers players an opportunity to buy in for small fees and compete in contests with significant prizes, a format similar to handicapping contests or Internet poker.
Brimming with hubris, the CEO at Youbet, Chuck Champion is quoted as saying: No one is better at presenting the excitement of horse racing online than we are. By adapting our race presentation technology to appeal to game and contest enthusiasts, we accomplish two objectives: we promote the sport with a young new audience that isnt currently attracted to live or simulcast racing, and we create a channel for a new, highly diversified revenue stream.
Thoroughbred Times reports that with fantasy horse racing contests featured at the launch, KingContest expects to lure game lovers, not necessarily racing fans. Rounds begin when participating tracks open, and close when the last race of a round is run. Players who accumulate the most points, counted in winnings from fantasy bets, win the contests. The points reflect the actual tote prices for win, place, show, and exotic wagering.
Our horse racing games replicate the rapid-fire pace of our online pari-mutuel product with the expectation that we can convert contestants into active racing fans, Champion said. This game style, delivered over our technology, appeals to 21-to-40 year olds who are disposed to e-delivery channels and who comprise our fastest growing market. So we are optimistic that we can convert many of the game players to pari-mutuel customers.
Champion added that eventually the games could be offered at racetracks through kiosks or mobile devices.
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