Tag Archives: gambling

The Justice Department’s online casino flip flop

December 29, 2011 9:14 am

While much of the country was busy getting ready for the holidays last Friday, the Justice Department quietly released a legal opinion that reverses its longstanding opposition to Internet gambling. The ruling was written in September but released on the Friday before Christmas Eve.

The ruling will open the door for an explosion of online casinos across the country, which will likely lead to an increase in problem gamblers. The access to online gambling will likely lead to even younger and younger problem gamblers. We did a blog post on this the other day. Here is a column that appeared today in TheDaily.com that was written by the editor of this blog.

UPDATE: Just came acorss this piece that proclaims 2012 will be the Year of the Gambler, thanks to the ruling by the Justice Department.

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No lottery tickets for kids at Christmas

December 15, 2011 8:37 am

A Washington agency that fights problem gambling and the youth department at a Canadian university have joined forces to urge parents not to buy lottery tickets as Christmas stocking stuffers for their kids.

The anti-gambling message seems like an obvious one. The news here is the fact that the two prominent agencies see the need to actually mount a public education program highlighting the ills of lottery tickets and the potential for children gambling. It shows how many have come to see the purchase of lottery tickets as harmless fun, when in fact it can be addictive and destructive.

Since this campaign is aimed at youth, it seems like a good idea to allow a young journalist to make the case against lotteries, which are a regressive form of taxation, bad public policy and often a gateway to larger gambling problems. Read the compelling essay here by Jesse Aukeman. It’s also worth mentioning that if the idea of teens playing the lottery is a bad idea, it’s also not a wise choice for adults.

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Horse racing .vs casinos

December 14, 2011 11:53 am

You can practically smell the stale cigar smoke after this New York Times reporter spends a day at the Aqueduct Racetrack painting a vivid, but sad picture of a father and son who go their separate gambling ways at the old track and new adjoining casino.

What’s most striking is how fast slots gamblers blow through their money compared with those at the track. The story also shows the addictive and destructive nature of casinos. The Aqueduct slots parlor opened Oct. 28 and already Anthony Monk Jr., the son featured in the story, is hooked.

“Unemployed since April after not getting enough work as a chimney sweep, Anthony called electronic craps his new job,” The Times reports. “He relies on previous winnings and his earnings from infrequent odd jobs to finance his play. He used to travel in from Newark or Brooklyn three days a week, but he started gambling every day after being one of 65,000 people to pack the racino on its opening weekend.”

It’s a joke for someone to think they can make a living playing slots, given how bad the odds are stacked against them. Monk’s father at least got a day of entertainment from the $20 he spent at the racetrack. None of gamblers featured in the piece seemed to turn much of a profit but at least the track was not bankrupting Monk’s father, Tony Sr. The same probably can’t be said for Anthony Monk and the thousands of other gamblers wasting their time and money at the slots parlor.

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Cuomo & casinos: all in

December 1, 2011 2:10 pm

As expected, Gov. Andrew Cuomo plans to call for legalizing casinos in New York to help generate tax revenue and create jobs, the Daily News reports.

It was clear back in the fall when Cuomo first hinted at legalizing casinos that this is where he would end up. It shows that not much thought is going into the longterm economic and social downsides of casinos – just the immediate bump for state coffers.

Sadly, many elected officials continue to ignore or downplay the costs of casinos because they are blinded by the need for revenues now to balance state budgets. But as the experience shows in other states, casinos are no panacea. Studies show that crime, bankruptcy, divorce and other social ills increase where casinos locate. And the economic benefits are also overblown. Just ask Atlantic City.

The biggest winners from casinos are casinos. And the biggest losers are the gamblers. But non-gamblers pay as well. While the state pockets increased gambling revenue, other area businesses suffer because consumer spending is shifted  away from restaurants, movies and theaters to the casinos. In the worst case, the spending is shifted away from food, rent and child support. Taxpayers also foot the bill for the increase in social costs such as crime and the destruction of families.

The other problem is New York’s constitution prohibits casinos. So any effort to change the constitution will have to go before voters.

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Facebook gets in bed with online casinos

November 12, 2011 9:24 am

Facebook, the huge social networking site, plans to allow online casinos to advertise on its site. The move will enable online casinos to reach more gamblers and steer them to online sites. In particular, the move will enable, poker, sports, lotteries, and virtual casinos to actually target their respective markets, according to Online-Casinos.com.

Facebook’s massive database - consisting of more than 800 million users – will make it much easier to find and target people with an interest in gambling. The move will likely lure many more young people into gambling, leading to an increase in young problem gamblers.

Online gambling is illegal in the United States, but many gamblers still use offshore sites. Federal lawmakers are considering a measure to legalize online casinos, which will make it easier to people to gamble from home or their mobile phones.

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Miami Herald fawns over Wynn

November 10, 2011 10:45 am

Casino mogul Steve Wynn was in Miami the other day schmoozing lawmakers and touring potential sites for a casino. Never mind, that the state hasn’t even legalized commercial casinos in Florida.

The media – which was tipped off to Wynn’s visit – was happy to help promote the casino idea. Some scoop, guys. Of course, the Herald’s story doesn’t even mention the fact that commercial casinos are currently prohibited. A minor detail that many assume will be fixed once the lobbyists hit Tallahassee. The paper quotes a casino supporter as saying Wynn “isn’t a carpetbagger” because he spent his teen years in Miami and worked as a DJ. Ugh. As if that somehow makes Wynn qualified to come to Florida and entice residents to throw their money away in his casino.

Like so much of the media coverage around the country, the Herald story promotes only the upside of gambling with no mention of the many downsides. At some point there may be a story or two that mentions the social ills of gambling or the economic flaws, but don’t hold your breath waiting for a deep analysis.

Especially at The Herald. In May, the struggling newspaper sold its corporate headquarters to Genting, the Malaysian-based casino behemoth, for $236 million in the middle of a lousy South Florida real estate market. Genting plans to build a casino on the site, though, again, casinos have yet to be legalized. Out of the kindness of its heart, Genting is allowing the paper to remain in its newsroom overlooking the Biscayne Bay for two years – rent free. That should virtually guarantee more fawning coverage of the gambling issue. Talk about an easy mark.

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