A little more than a year after St. Tammany Parish voters shot down a $325 million casino proposal, Slidell officials are waging a lower-profile fight against a form of gambling that has never appeared on a parish ballot: historical horse racing machines.
The state Legislature adopted a bill in 2021 that allows up to 50 of the machines at off-track betting parlors, like the one just off Interstate 10 and Gause Boulevard in Slidell. Drawing from a database of previous horse races, the electronic devices allow players to see the odds for each horse, but names and the date and place of the races are not provided.
