Politicians, Casinos & Historical Connotations

As more and more states choose to allow gambling who will benefit and who sets to lose from this new wave of wagering?

Tough times call for tough solutions. Unfortunately tough solutions are awfully tricky to sell to a public that believe they’ve already got quite enough tough on their plate, and with the mid-terms coming up and the presidential race already spluttering it’s way into life, there’s a tendency amongst politicians and their ilk to opt for the solutions that aren’t so tough, and perhaps just kick the can on down the road for a while, perhaps later on someone will come up with a real solution, but for now, this is all we’ve got and it looks good. Gambling, with all its glitz, glamor and inherent optimism, is perfect.

Did Some States Miss The New Wave?

• Louisiana and Indiana have gambling industry that can’t compete

• Politicians and business leaders seek solutions

• Riverboats aren’t always mobile casinos

As states have faced hard economic times it has seemed many states have been inexorably drawn towards the flashing lights and excited noises of the gambling industry. Certainly big money lies behind the lobbying efforts that sway politicians, and casino owners are traditionally wealthy men with their own opinions and the cash to spread that opinion around. Mr. Adelson for example is spending vast sums on attempting to prevent online gambling sites in the US operating, and in individual states laws are changed as the glittering fortunes of tax revenues beckon.

Chris Christie goes before a federal judge on October 6th to have New Jersey’s gambling laws adjusted to suit his current thinking on the matter, Massachusetts’ gubernatorial candidates offered up casinos as an solution to Springfield’s problems in a five way debate, and Indiana’s state Senate Public Policy Committee is still looking for “common sense solutions” despite having been told what they were by a racino owner called Brown. However common sense and politics rarely go hand in hand, and some states are putting it to the people.

In Boston Mr. Steve Wynn awaits the outcome of the possible repeal of gambling legalization in Massachusetts which is on the mid-term ballot, and in California the Wiyot Tribe are hoping people will vote to allow them to build a casino resort. Certainly these referendums allow politicians to wash their hands of it all, “the people have spoken” they can say, and the result can always be held up by the side that wins as evidence of their public support. Wynn views the Massachusetts vote that way, allowing him to draw a line under the debate before he even starts building.

Who Fought The Law?

Perhaps this then is the main issue that has arisen from the rapid expansion of gambling across the northeastern America. The US gambling laws are out of date, out of step, and out of time. Whether one feels casinos to be an apt solution or not the vast majority of the public are no longer so outraged by their existence and can see the benefits in employment, service industry business and tourism that gambling can attract to a local economy, however as Atlantic City has shown that has to be tempered with a diverse economic base.

The gambling industry doesn’t stroll in and hypnotize the politicians nor public, sentiment has changed over time, and in a world such as ours, gambling seems the least of the dangers people face. Perhaps its the zeitgeist of the early 21st century, perhaps it’s the competitive nature of modern life (how many likes did you get on Facebook today? How many retweets? How many followers do you have? Is it more or less that that guy you don’t like in your office, go on, check now, you might be a winner…) or perhaps its just that people are less willing to prevent others having fun.

Culture has, over the centuries, swung both ways (no pun intended) with all sorts of practices once seen as normal now scandalous and vice versa, and that has been true throughout history, and in many cases the law has lagged behind that culture. The US is hampered somewhat in being a federalized nation with the inherent opportunities and difficulties that creates. States compete with each other for prosperity when prosperity is short on the ground and one doesn’t need to check Google Earth nor read the gambling news journals to know casino catchment areas ignore state lines entirely.

It would be simple to think that those states that got in ahead of the game are those that stand to benefit in the long term, but look at Nevada’s falling gambling revenues (down 3.7% this month on the same last year) and Atlantic City’s woeful 2014. Even amongst those that came in the new rush might not be so safe, more casinos amongst a stable participation base has obvious consequences down the road, but moreover states that built early now find themselves with a casino on a state border with another state that also allows gambling. These border based casinos could find times ahead awfully difficult, and then there are the states with laws that are neither one thing nor the other.

The Grip Of History’s Hold

The states that have historically had some gambling but not others face even more difficulty than those with none at all. Starting from scratch one can introduce casinos and gambling as an additional input to state coffers, but in those with some pre-existing gambling it can be tricky to balance the needs of the community, the desires of new investors and the political goodwill of the voters. Louisiana for instance has gambling laws that would be entirely at home in the last century, or even indeed in the one prior to that, but seem to have little bearing on the realities of this century.

Bobby Guidroz St. Landry Parish Sheriff, recently made it clear the forms of gambling that were and were not permitted in Louisiana. New Orleans has the only bricks-and-mortar casino with all other casino type gambling limited to riverboats, that are more often than not just barges with a casino perched upon them tied up at a dock, and whilst they do have a state lottery the only other gambling permitted is video poker machines. Of course personal private gambling is permitted, but it is what is not permitted that perhaps gives cause for concern.

The modern gambling industry has huge sway, massive influence, lots of money and a will to spread itself anywhere it might turn a profit, just like any other business, but most other businesses don’t have to deal with laws that specifically prohibit dogfighting and cockfighting and gambling upon them. It is tricky to have gambling laws repealed by the public if a vote in favor of repeal can be equated to dog and chicken cruelty and murder. Of course it is the ban on internet gambling that is perhaps most worrying. Riverboats are a throwback to times gone by internet betting in the US is the future, and Louisiana is stuck in the former watching the latter sail by.

It isn’t alone. Indiana has similar difficulties, where the old world charm that limits gambling means it cannot be all it can be, and those limits mean neighboring states, in Indiana’s case Ohio, are picking up business that used to remain within the states themselves, and even reversing the trend whereby people from neighboring states would come and gambling on the river. The gambling industry in these states that don’t have the advantages of up-to-date facilities and recent investment look set to suffer more as economic competition leaves them, and their antiquated laws, behind, unless solutions can be found and betting politicians find real solutions is like gambling Cambodia won’t be wet during the rainy season.