AUSTIN, TX—AUGUST 29, 2104—The Texas Racing Commission voted today (Friday) to allow a historical racing at the state’s horse and dog tracks.

The commission approved a concept called “historical racing” or “instant racing.” By changing its rules, commissioners gave the go-ahead for bettors at tracks to use electronic historical racing terminals – which look like slot machines — to wager money on horse races that have already been run and stripped of all identifying markings.

Commissioner Michael Martin said racetracks in Texas want to be able to compete with tracks in surrounding states, and they see historical racing as a way to boost purses in Texas.

“This is one way that we could certainly get a bit on a fairer playing ground,” Martin said.

The one dissenting vote came from a representative from the Texas Public Safety Commission who said the racing commission didn’t have the authority to allow historical racing. A representative from the state comptroller’s office abstained.

Racing industry representatives, who brought the idea of historical racing to the commission, see historical racing as a natural extension of already-legal pari-mutuel betting, and should not be equated to slot machines, even if they can look a lot like the Las Vegas-style machines.

The commission heard from a few groups opposed to historical racing.