Casinos, Gambling and Gaming in KY

[Randy Parker]

Here's a good article from The Atlantic:

 

A Good Way to Wreck a Local Economy: Build Casinos - The Atlantic

 

 

The casino market is nearing saturation, if it is not already saturated. Two casinos have closed in Mississippi this year. Four have closed or will soon close in Atlantic City, including the glitziest hotel on the boardwalk, Revel.

 

Casinos that do stay in business yield less to their towns and states. Revenues from Maryland’s first casino, in Perryville, at the northern tip of Chesapeake Bay, have already dropped 30 percent from their peak in 2008, and are expected to decline even more rapidly in future as competitors proliferate.

 

Yet the truly bad news about casinos is not found in the tax receipts. It’s found in the casinos' economic and social impact on the towns that welcome them.

 

Until the late 1970s, no state except Nevada permitted casino gambling. Then Atlantic City persuaded its state legislature to allow casinos, in hope of reviving the prosperity of the battered resort town. Hotels sprung up along the seafront. Thousands of people were hired. And the rest of Atlantic City … saw no benefits at all. All these years later, it still has desperate trouble sustaining even a single grocery store...

 

As casino expansion reaches its limits, the towns and cities that turned to gambling to escape their problems may discover that they have accepted a sucker’s bet: local economies that look worse than ever, local residents tempted into new forms of self-destructive behavior, and a dwindling flow of cash to show for it all.

[rockmom]

It's not logical that poor people get poorer, and thereby require government assistance for longer and longer?

. Not all poor people get poorer because of gaming. SOME poor people do. And many poor people will find jobs as servers, houskeepers, slot techs, dealers, count room attendants, player hosts, security personnel....to name just a few. Then there are poor people moved off of assistance

[rockmom]

Here's a good article from The Atlantic:

 

A Good Way to Wreck a Local Economy: Build Casinos - The Atlantic

 

 

The casino market is nearing saturation, if it is not already saturated. Two casinos have closed in Mississippi this year. Four have closed or will soon close in Atlantic City, including the glitziest hotel on the boardwalk, Revel.

 

Casinos that do stay in business yield less to their towns and states. Revenues from Maryland’s first casino, in Perryville, at the northern tip of Chesapeake Bay, have already dropped 30 percent from their peak in 2008, and are expected to decline even more rapidly in future as competitors proliferate.

 

Yet the truly bad news about casinos is not found in the tax receipts. It’s found in the casinos' economic and social impact on the towns that welcome them.

 

Until the late 1970s, no state except Nevada permitted casino gambling. Then Atlantic City persuaded its state legislature to allow casinos, in hope of reviving the prosperity of the battered resort town. Hotels sprung up along the seafront. Thousands of people were hired. And the rest of Atlantic City … saw no benefits at all. All these years later, it still has desperate trouble sustaining even a single grocery store...

 

As casino expansion reaches its limits, the towns and cities that turned to gambling to escape their problems may discover that they have accepted a sucker’s bet: local economies that look worse than ever, local residents tempted into new forms of self-destructive behavior, and a dwindling flow of cash to show for it all.

 

And then there are a whole host of other casino sites that could be analyzed, where a single estblishment exists in an underserved area. Atlantic City wanted to the Vegas of the East. It was over built and too quickly so. And the economy as a whole has not been long to that area. It’s not as simple as pinning it on casino gaming

[plantmanky]

It's not logical that poor people get poorer, and thereby require government assistance for longer and longer?

 

Thats the other end of all this, should we be assisting these people any longer?

[4 Quarters]

Thats the other end of all this, should we be assisting these people any longer?

NOOOOOOOOOOOO!

[plantmanky]

NOOOOOOOOOOOO!

 

If we fixed that we could fund a lot of things.

[Beechwoodfan]

I have been to The Red Mile where the games are just plain stupid.

 

I have been an avid horse racing fan years, but I think horse racing in KY (with the exception of Keeneland and Churchill) has purposely downgraded themselves in the hopes of getting casinos (hello Turfway!).

 

Love casinos myself, used to hope that Ky would ok them, but now I don’t care. Too many real casinos around. KY should build on what we do best, because I think we missed true casino boat a long time ago.

[Randy Parker]

. Not all poor people get poorer because of gaming.

 

I didn't say that all poor people get poorer, but statistics reveal over and over again that those most likely to repeatedly frequent a casino are those who can least afford it.

 

The article I linked earlier explains it far better than I am able to:

 

The impact of casinos on local property values is "unambiguously" negative, according to the National Association of Realtors. Casinos do not revive local economies. They act as parasites upon them. Communities located within 10 miles of a casino exhibit double the rate of problem gambling. Unsurprisingly, such communities also suffer higher rates of home foreclosure and other forms of economic distress and domestic violence...

 

How heavily does gambling weigh upon the poor, the elderly, the less educated, and the psychologically vulnerable? It's difficult to answer exactly, because U.S. governments have shirked the job of studying the effects of gambling. Most research on the public health effects of gambling in the United States is funded by the industry itself, with a careful eye to exonerating itself from blame. To obtain independent results, the Institute for American Values was obliged, ironically, to rely on studies funded by governments in Britain and Canada.

But here's what we can conclude, in the words of the Institute:

"tate-sponsored casino gambling ... parallels the separate and unequal life patterns in education, marriage, work, and play that increasingly divide America into haves and have-nots. Those in the upper ranks of the income distribution rarely, if ever, make it a weekly habit to gamble at the local casino. Those in the lower ranks of the income distribution often do. Those in the upper ranks rarely, if ever, contribute a large share of their income to the state's take of casino revenues. Those in the lower ranks do."

 

 

Opinion: The harm that casinos do - CNN

[Beechwoodfan]

I didn't say that all poor people get poorer, but statistics reveal over and over again that those most likely to repeatedly frequent a casino are those who can least afford it.

 

The article I linked earlier explains it far better than I am able to:

 

The impact of casinos on local property values is "unambiguously" negative, according to the National Association of Realtors. Casinos do not revive local economies. They act as parasites upon them. Communities located within 10 miles of a casino exhibit double the rate of problem gambling. Unsurprisingly, such communities also suffer higher rates of home foreclosure and other forms of economic distress and domestic violence...

 

How heavily does gambling weigh upon the poor, the elderly, the less educated, and the psychologically vulnerable? It's difficult to answer exactly, because U.S. governments have shirked the job of studying the effects of gambling. Most research on the public health effects of gambling in the United States is funded by the industry itself, with a careful eye to exonerating itself from blame. To obtain independent results, the Institute for American Values was obliged, ironically, to rely on studies funded by governments in Britain and Canada.

But here's what we can conclude, in the words of the Institute:

"tate-sponsored casino gambling ... parallels the separate and unequal life patterns in education, marriage, work, and play that increasingly divide America into haves and have-nots. Those in the upper ranks of the income distribution rarely, if ever, make it a weekly habit to gamble at the local casino. Those in the lower ranks of the income distribution often do. Those in the upper ranks rarely, if ever, contribute a large share of their income to the state's take of casino revenues. Those in the lower ranks do."

 

 

Opinion: The harm that casinos do - CNN

 

I agree that there is a lot of truth in this article, but I do not think the gaming industry is at fault. I do not see poor people who lose money at casinos as victims. Alcoholics should avoid bars and people with gambling problems should avoid casinos.

[Randy Parker]

I agree that there is a lot of truth in this article, but I do not think the gaming industry is at fault.

 

I agree.

[Randy Parker]

Double post

[sportsfan41]

Figured this needed its own thread as to not take away from the teacher thread.

 

Lots of discussion on that already over there (maybe a mod can move it over?), but why are you for or against it in our state?

 

I am 100% in favor, simply for the fact that I think Kentuckians money should stay in Kentucky, and not be gifted to IN and OH because we can't pass a stupid law.

 

I'm with you on this one Deuce. It still baffles me we have dry counties in this state.

[rockmom]

I didn't say that all poor people get poorer, but statistics reveal over and over again that those most likely to repeatedly frequent a casino are those who can least afford it.

 

The article I linked earlier explains it far better than I am able to:

 

The impact of casinos on local property values is "unambiguously" negative, according to the National Association of Realtors. Casinos do not revive local economies. They act as parasites upon them. Communities located within 10 miles of a casino exhibit double the rate of problem gambling. Unsurprisingly, such communities also suffer higher rates of home foreclosure and other forms of economic distress and domestic violence...

 

How heavily does gambling weigh upon the poor, the elderly, the less educated, and the psychologically vulnerable? It's difficult to answer exactly, because U.S. governments have shirked the job of studying the effects of gambling. Most research on the public health effects of gambling in the United States is funded by the industry itself, with a careful eye to exonerating itself from blame. To obtain independent results, the Institute for American Values was obliged, ironically, to rely on studies funded by governments in Britain and Canada.

But here's what we can conclude, in the words of the Institute:

"tate-sponsored casino gambling ... parallels the separate and unequal life patterns in education, marriage, work, and play that increasingly divide America into haves and have-nots. Those in the upper ranks of the income distribution rarely, if ever, make it a weekly habit to gamble at the local casino. Those in the lower ranks of the income distribution often do. Those in the upper ranks rarely, if ever, contribute a large share of their income to the state's take of casino revenues. Those in the lower ranks do."

 

 

Opinion: The harm that casinos do - CNN

 

I suppose I am skeptical because these conclusions don't include the entire story. There are local development agreements that can be put in place that support infrastructure, schools and community development. And, for example,LDA's can extend into regional areas, not simply the community in which a casino is located.

[sportsfan41]

This was going to be my response. While people who are poor may be poor for reasons they cannot control, they can control how the spend the money they do have. If they aren't spending "extra" money at a casino, they'll be spending it on cigarettes and booze.

 

Some folks just can't get their priorities right. I watched a woman get her car towed for driving on a suspended license and not having insurance. Her mom argued that not everyone has money to get their car out..... But mom's little angel, who was 35, had money for the $300.00 worth of marijuana in her car. My guess is the weed was for mom too and they were broke after that.

[Wireman]

I am 100% for all forms of legalized gambling in Kentucky.