Fargo betting parlor tests new machines

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FARGO - It looks like a video slot machine, but instead of three bars spinning vertically, the screen shows horse icons.

It's a new type of wagering machine being tested by Andy Stronach, the son of racehorse and track owner Frank Stronach, at the Turf Club off-track betting parlor in Fargo.

The icons represent real horses at real race tracks all over the world. The machines are connected via the Internet to a database that calculates the best odds for players and picks the horses for them.

Handicapping and betting on horses can be intimidating for less-experienced bettors, said the younger Stronach, who lives in Toronto.

"I'm just trying to equal the playing field here," he said.

Stronach's father owns auto parts giant Magna International Inc. and is one of North America's top horse breeders. His horse, Ghostzapper, won last year's $4 million Breeders' Cup Classic.

During that race, Andy Stronach said, the database calculated finish times within one-fifth of a second.

Frank Stronach also owns Magna Entertainment Corp., an owner and operator of horse tracks that include Gulfstream Park in Florida and Santa Anita Park in California. Magna Entertainment also operates off-track betting hubs such as Fargo's Turf Club.

The prototype betting machines are being tested in North Dakota because state law allows it, said Mike Cichy of Lien Games, the simulcast service provider for the Turf Club.

"They're in the parlor and they have an Internet function, and the laws in North Dakota are set up so that as long as it's a legal bet on a track, any electronic means can be used to place the bets," Cichy said.

To play the machines, bettors must first pay the teller to put credit on a card. The card goes into the machine and any won or lost bets are recorded on the card. Players can hit the "bet min" or "bet max" buttons, or enter a specific bet amount.

Televisions will be mounted above the machines so bettors can watch the races.

The database contains 4 million variables and picks horses based on their speed rating and other factors, Andy Stronach said.

He has about 200 of the machines in a warehouse in Maryland and hopes to distribute them worldwide.

Stronach had the machines delivered to the Turf Club in two large semitrailers labeled "She-Tips," which is a separate project that will incorporate female models into betting machines and online betting services, he said.

Another trailer outside Fargo's Howard Johnson Inn for more than a month served as an auditioning studio, where models were photographed in sporting gear, Stronach said. More than 2,000 models have been photographed in the United States, Canada and Mexico as part of the project, he said.

"Horse racing has been all guys when you get to off-track betting," he said. "These girls aren't experts in betting, but they've got this huge database to back them up."

Cichy said he expects the five machines to be ready for limited testing by the public in about six weeks.

The Fair Circuit Horse Racing Association, the charity that operates the Turf Club, will receive a share of the profits from Stronach's machines, along with the Racing Commission and state government.