Pesapallo up!
About three months ago, the Arkansas Racing Commission added 17 new “sports” upon which the public could wager. Clearly, that was not enough. Another 18 were approved this past week. Among the new opportunities are, you guessed it, slap fighting and pickleball, the tennis-like sport sweeping the nation with rules that no one fully understands.
Would it be any surprise if casinos started taking bets on who wins the Scholarship Lottery?
Further, while the southwest, southeast and eastern parts of the state have casino coverage in Hot Springs (Oaklawn Racing Casino & Resort), Pine Bluff (Saracen Casino) and West Memphis (Southland Casino), gaming is heading west on I-40.
None of these casinos are mandated to book bets on the new offerings, but are allowed to if their clientele is so inclined. Why wouldn’t they be?
New wagering possibilities will include: Street League Skateboarding, World Chase Tag, badminton, beach soccer, beach volleyball, biathlon, surfing, the Boston Marathon, swimming, rowing, ice skating, luge, bobsledding, and curling.
Not to be ignored are Gaelic games such as hurling, Gaelic football, rounders and Gaelic handball. Don’t worry, regular American handball is also offered.
Keeping with the theme of sports with European ancestry, Pesapallo, the national game of Finland, which is so familiar to Americans that it doesn’t pass the Microsoft Word spellcheck test, will also be available.
It’s hard to fault the Racing Commission for approving these new offerings because, if for no other reason, wagering is allowed on them in Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Washington and Wyoming.
And since Arkansas casinos were previously limited to football, basketball and baseball—plus bare-knuckle fighting, bowling, cornhole, disc, field hockey, floorball, futsal, lacrosse, National Hot Rod Association drag racing, pool, world sailing, snooker, table tennis, volleyball, beach volleyball and water polo—it was clearly time to expand the list.
Whether you’re for, against or are indifferent to gambling, all of this may have been summed up most accurately in an exchange during the commission hearing between Commissioner Mark Lamberth and Saracen Chief Market Officer Carlton Saffa.
Lamberth wondered if customers had indicated an interest in betting on people slapping each other.
In response, Saffa said, “Yeah. Either that, or they get on Twitter and they want to slap me because we don’t offer the market.”