Casino Gambling In Your State - Good or Bad?

I live in Utah so no chance of casinos here..lol

I dont think it makes sense to let one company do it all, competition is what keeps companies honest. If they have a monopoly it isnt going to be good for the staff.

Yeah - the one company thing is what REALLY gives me pause. Thanks for your input!

I agree. One company does make it seem almost un-American. We don't have Casinos but you can get to several by just crossing the state line.

I am also not sure about this one. I am glad you posted this here. Getting some input will help.

I'm in Ohio too. Today, 3 different organizations called asking us to vote yes on #3. Personally, I don't believe in gambling.

The pro-casino folks claim lots of the money will go to schools. Right. That's the same thing that every lottery says before they start and they don't explain that the money goes into the regular budget and still has to be allocated and approved for education. Nor do they explain how many people or how much money it costs to run a lottery or how much money, as you said, it costs in social service costs.

With lottery tickets, I've seen people who have next to nothing spend their last dollar to try to win.

Will it be the same with casinos?

I have a relative who spends over $15,000 per year at casinos. Sure there are some winnings, but in the end the family is out that much year after year. They couldn't contribute any money to their kids' college education. But they could have if they hadn't been gambling.

I'm hoping this fails again.

We have the Seminole Indians with 5 casinos throughout the state of Florida. Just like Ohio, there are people on both sides of the issue. I personally like having them here. I enjoy a night out at the casino. I haven't gambled away my house or my retirement...LOL

Gambling is just like any other vice; drinking, eating, etc. Too much of anything is bad. Shall we ban eating because there are thousands of obese people?

I live 12 miles away from a Casino in rural Iowa. It was suppose to be drawing money in from South Dakota and Minnesota, but they have their own Casinos already.

The firm that owns it made all kinds of promises of jobs and community projects it would support. Yes, we did get jobs. But low paying jobs for the most part. Not enough to support a family. They came in bought land for the Casino, bought a large apartment complex and the golf course with the country club. The state, city, and county bent over backwards to build infrastructure for the Casino. And the Casino promised a new club house. It hasn't happend after 3 or 4 years now. The apartments are almost half vacant because they won't do any maintenance. And they complain they aren't getting enough of a tax break from the county. Do the schools and other organizations get some money. You bet. That's why I call it black-mail money. Without it most everyone would wish the Casino was gone. Some local go to the Casino if there is good live entertainment, but go else where to gamble.

My suggestion is to do your research and vote your conscience.

I lived about 5 miles from a casino for 8 years and visited that casino about a half a dozen times.

To me it was O.K. entertainment not much else, my wife likes the penny and nickle slots and they usually had pretty good live bands playing.

I'm not opposed to casinos, I think they should be allowed.

Kathy.....I am voting "NO" on Issue 3. The promise of 34,000 jobs includes 15,000 TEMPORARY jobs, those that would last only thru the construction phase. There is ABSOLUTELY NO language in the Amendment that states WHEN construction would begin. The developers could wait 20 years before even breaking ground!

As for those who would OWN the casinos, they already own casinos in Pennsylvania and some other states. The people of Kansas are STILL waiting for their casinos to be built.

Regardless of how much the taxes would be on casino winnings, (one commercial says it would be one of the highest rates in the nation) the vast majority of the OHIO monies spent in the casinos will still be going OUT OF STATE.

We only have casino boat gambling here in SC. I have no clue if it helpd the state or not. I just wish we had regular casinos with rable games.

I went on a Casino boat once based in Clearwater, Fla. Not a very good trip...and it had nothing to do with gambling. LOL

We live a stone's throw from the Indian reservation in the Hamptons. For years, it's been a battle to try to get a casino out there but I don't think it will happen. The entire road structure would have to be changed to accommodate the traffic...they are rebuilding now but that will take years.

As for gambling...I watched my former boss, a very successful attorney, lose everything - his practice, his wife, his family and his waterfront home - to this addiction. I'm the kind of person who weighs whether to buy a $1 lotto ticket once a year and I never visited a casino in my life. If it's not a sure thing, they're not getting my dollar!

I live in New Jersey. We have casino gambling in Atlantic City. Casinos are only allowed in that one town. There are several different companies competing there. I believe having competition is good because it keeps more people employed upgrading and improving physical properties and entertainment events in efforts to draw people. Introducing gambling to AC was suppose to revitalize that dying ocean resort town. Gambling did bring a lot of business and development to AC. But it only improved the areas of the city where the casinos are. We brought family members that were visiting from Australia their and they were completely astounded by the urban devastation we had to drive through to get to the boardwalk where the casinos are. (Many folks from other parts of the world don't understand America's poverty. They believe that everyone has a good job and lives well. When they are confronted with the reality that such a rich nation as ours doesn't do better with the issue of poverty, they are floored.)

I'm philosophically opposed to gambling and voted against it's introduction in AC when it was voted on in a state referendum in the 1970's. Despite having a number of family members that have worked "good" jobs in the casinos, I've only been to them two or three times over the years. You can see good shows there without gambling. As far as the gambling is concerned, it's easier and cheaper for me to just stand next to my toilet and flush my money than it is to drive to the casinos to do it.

We live right next to a reservation, and we have lots of casinos. In my opinion, I'm glad they are here, as they really do add to our economy.

We don't have them here in MA, but there are a couple down in CT. A lot of people we know go down to play Bingo. We did work with a guy though that was driving down every day. This was someone who couldn't afford to eat because he was gambling all his money away. They are trying to get them legalized here in MA too. One thing to keep in mind is traffic too. One of the areas that they want to put one is definitely not quipped to handle that kind of traffic. Will the casinos pay for the new roads to be built, traffic signals, etc, or will that come out of the taxpayers pockets? I personally don't want them anywhere near me.

Good question, Kathy. I live in Ohio and I go to Detroit and Pennsylvania to gamble. I'm for gambling in Ohio. I voted last 3 times, and also this year's absentee ballot. I hope it passes this year.

We have casino gambling in Louisiana, and I don't think it's done much for the state. I've enjoyed going there for an outing, but there are lots of people who spend the paychecks there. The profits were supposed to help pay for education; they haven't.

I think there are some cruise casion's on the coast of Ga but I doubt that it brings in the revenue like the lottery does. I don't have a problem with casinos but I'd want more than one company to be involved.

I was born in Lorain, Ohio, spent my summers just south of Fredickstown.

Gambling is a tax on the poor. Organized as it is, gambling moves money from the lower-middle income people to the rich people, with the 'government' bellied up to the trough taking out fists full of money as it passes by.

I watch people buying lottery tickets every week, their hopes, dreams and aspirations hung on a couple of bucks.

The money the government redistributes to social problems in New Jersey does do some good. I'm not sure we get that much bang for our buck. I personally don't gamble. In all my life, the only things I've won was a ball cap at a company cook out this year and a plastic teddy bear at the Knoxs County Fair in Ohio some 45 years ago.