patrick.net

IMO, local casinos mostly only make it easier for compulsive gamblers to get their fix. I still drive past a few casinos to get to Atlantic City just the same.

Help WHOSE economy? They are parasitic in nature. For every bit of glitter in a casino, there's a kid somewhere in another community who is wondering why Mommy is clipping coupons and hitting the food bank.

Casinos are usually a place where all the illegal and drug dollars get cleared.

Every time I go to a casino I get the general impression that it's where Social Security checks get spent at. They seem to be mostly babysitters for seniors.

zzyzzx says

They seem to be mostly babysitters for seniors.

Well come on be fair. It's the crowd whose VCR blinked 12:00 all it's life. Most of 'em are pushing a slot machine button because they can't figure out how to do that on a PC like the younger generations do.

Article on the topic:

http://punchingkitty.com/2010/03/05/new-casino-opens-to-allow-old-people-slowly-die-while-giving-their-money-away/

I lived in Biloxi, MS for three years. I didn't have a problem with the casinos because I didn't really like gambling. They do bring some great entertainment to your area. However, they do create a gambling class of citizens who have nothing better to do. I would heavily tax them to offset the social problems that will ultimately develop around them.

> Do legalized casino's help/hurt the economy?

Depends on whose economy your talking about. Atlantic City was a boom town at one time, it greatly helped many Atlantic County townships expand there populations with in the influx of people looking for (and getting) good paying jobs. Believe it or not there wasn't enough people to fill all the jobs that were available. Stories of other businesses such as banking employees quitting and going to work for the casino's for better pay (and leaving worker shortages in other companies). So for the local economy it helped greatly. What wasn't so widely reported was the number of North Jersey, New Yorkers and Philadelphia people that were suffering because they couldn't control there gambling urges were selling belongings to feed there addiction. They had unpaid bills were filing for bankruptcy and getting house foreclosed on.

The golden age of Casino's are over. WAY too much competition now. Atlantic City has taken in less money Every month since there highest grossing profit year of 2006. The positive results from Legalized Casinos in Massachusetts will be minimal. The casinos are not paying the kind of salaries they once were and tips to casino workers are Way down. True it will create some jobs, just not well paying jobs and no real long term employment to the casino workers. Once other states jump on the Casino band wagon, it will create further competition pressure on existing casino's employee salary and head count.

Well, as I sit on the edge of Vegas at the moment, I can tell you that they're freaking out over legalized gambling on the interwebs.

There are 2 vegas's (actually many more - but for the purposes of this thread...):

There's the Vegas that everyone comes to see. It's got the Downtown Experience/Glitter Gulch - casinos & bright lights and slots a-plenty. The Golden Nugget stands out, but there are several big places downtown. It's got the Strip (little known fact - the "strip" isn't actually in the city of LV, it's in unincorporated Clark County, NV) and all the fancy casinos and world class entertainment. It's got tables with $1.00 limit and ones with $5,000 limits. And - the food. OMIGAWD, the food. You can graze until you puke at the buffets - every casino has one.

People come to Vegas to see the entertainment and to hopefully strike it rich. And to party at all the sleazy pools and nightclubs with such awesome DJ's as "Pauly D" from Jersey Shore (tv show). If you're lucky you'll get a glimpse of Paris Hilton or a Kardashian (there are hundreds of them, I think).

But then, there's the other Vegas. The one where locals go, with the cheaper buffets and the $4.95 Prime Rib special (11p-8a); with slots a-plenty and everything is targeted toward the locals. The slots are looser, because the goal is to get you to gamble your entire paycheck. They have "cash your paycheck" incentives at every local casino - you could win a free meal or $100 in casino cash... 70's & 80's rock acts in the venues, etc.

Gambling has been great for Vegas, except it's a single industry town. There is still no state tax in NV because of the casinos, but things are bad here (as ya'll have read)...