Gambling always feeds on itself.
For example, in the 1960s, there was no:
Megamillions or Powerball
Casinos outside Las Vegas
App Sports betting
In 1976, AC came along. My uncle told me on his 1st visit to AC he saw a dozen familiar faces from Brandywine playing blackjack.
Lotteries popped up in a bunch of states.
Then, Delaware got racinos at Dover Downs, Delaware Park, etc.
Now, Casinos in Philadelphia area and throughout Pennsylvania.
15 apps to bet the NFL and College
Each of these took a little something away from parimutuel wagering. It can't sustain system wagering too.
I like your nostalgia, different times, better times.
Even within the government games of chance, and I even started a thread in OT here how they fucked up the actual lottery aka lotto, a flagship game diminished to nothing because of PBall Mega.
Nothing took away anything from pari-mutual wagering, the greed and corruption is incessant therein and includes the regulatory which are too and or plan dumb.
It's a divorce of irreconcilable differences, it happens because the marriage has failed NOT BECAUSE there's been plenty of fish in the sea.
Hong Kong racing is doing great, better each year. We made a thread on that here too. Gamblers are loving that product, Adws are offering super promotions to wager on it, you ever wonder why it works and this doesn't.
Scumbags are plentiful in NA Harness Racing (T-bred too)!