Blank Rome partner Dennis M.P. Ehling will serve as a panelist at the Racing and Gaming Conference at Saratoga, being held August 10 through 12, 2026, in Saratoga Springs, New York. Blank Rome is pleased to be a sponsor of the Conference.

About the Conference

The Racing and Gaming Conference at Saratoga is an intensive forum for industry decision-makers, stakeholders, and racing and gaming patrons to analyze trends in all sectors—in New York and nationally—and to discuss critical issues and share ideas. 

Dennis’ session, “A Bet Is a Bet … Or Is It?” will take place on Wednesday, August 12, from 11:10 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

About the Session

Since the earliest days of regulation, lawyers and innovators alike have persuaded legislators, regulators, and courts that activities that look and feel like gambling are, in fact, something else entirely. Statutory language has been parsed to the breaking point, while technological innovation has consistently outpaced the regulator’s pen. Horse racing and traditional gaming now face mounting competition from products that walk, talk, and monetize like gambling—yet operate outside its regulatory framework. Prediction markets, sweepstakes models, so-called “skill games,” lottery-based slot analogues, and even slot-style horse racing products all raise the same fundamental question: when is a bet not a bet?

This panel will examine pivotal examples where pushing statutory and regulatory boundaries has created billion-dollar industries: daily fantasy sports and prediction markets.

Panelists:

  • Moderator: Bennett Liebman, Government Lawyer in Residence at Albany Law School and adjunct professor of law
  • Joe Appelbaum, Founder & CEO, Waigr Inc.
  • Joe Asher, Founder & CEO of Boomer’s Sportsbook
  • Dennis M.P. Ehling, Partner, Blank Rome
  • Gunner laCour, President, CHRIMS-PGSI

Other sessions include:

  • Integrity, Horse Welfare, and the Human Element in Racing
  • Horse Racing and Regulatory Modernization / HISA Update
  • Prediction Markets: Innovation, Existential Threat, or Both?
  • Downstate Casinos and the Future of Gaming in the Northeast
  • Prop Bets, Point Shaving, and the Hunt for a “Square Game”
  • iGaming: Inevitable Innovation or Passing Fancy?
  • Stubborn Optimism: The Economics of Horse Ownership
  • Regulation, Competition, and Conflicts in the Modern Gaming Ecosystem
  • HHR and other Short-Form Betting Games: Leveraging Horse Racing Content Beyond the Traditional Format
  • A Conversation with Steve Kornacki
  • The Casual Bettor, the Consistent Bettor, and the Computer Assisted Bettor: Can They Coexist?

For more information and to register, please visit the event webpage.