Despite the statewide ban on indoor smoking, state government in Kansas exempted casinos. Research indicates that a smoking ban would drive thousands of patrons away from Kansas casinos.
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Queens Racino Draws Increased Police Attention
The development of The Aqueduct racino in South Ozone Park had citizens concerned of a spike in crime level due to its presence. Because of this underlying fear, cops have been centralized around the racino and as a result, surrounding areas have suffered due to a lack of protection.
Atlantic City casinos spend 40% of winnings on comps
Casinos across Atlantic City have been even more generous in sending out free slot-play rewards in attempts to lure customers. Statistics released last month show that Atlantic City’s casinos spent an average of about 40 cents of every dollar they won in gambling on promotional allowances and expenses in September.
Atlantic City casinos spend 40% of winnings on comps to compete with other venues
The Casino Practice of Lending Money to Citizens Who Then Gamble It All Away
The casino business model is based on patrons who “chase” their losses which means people who continue gambling to try to get back the money they have already lost to the casino. Borrowing money to gamble is one of the most glaring warning signs of problem gambling. One way casinos exploit the mind set of those who chase their losses is by loaning money to gamblers who do not have the cash on hand to continue gambling at the casino. Below is an example of the predatory casinos loan process taken from the Harrah’s Metropolis (IL) Casino website on May 30, 2012.
‘Gamble responsibly’ is an ad, not a deterrent
State governments presumably believe that the ‘gamble responsibly’ message is evidence of their concern about gambling problems, and will assist people who gamble to do so in a ‘responsible’ manner. This message seems to be no more than a façade however, providing a false sense of caring, as persuasively explained in this article by Charles Livingstone.
Schools’ slices of lottery pie small, getting smaller in Oklahoma
With more than 500 Oklahoma school districts vying for their cut of the funds and only 35 percent of gross proceeds going to education, the lottery pie gets sliced hundreds of different times before an individual school district sees its portion. The result: The amount in lottery funds sent to individual school districts in Oklahoma has been relatively small. Read below to learn more how the Oklahoma Lottery has (not surprisingly) failed to fund education in the way proponents had promised citizens.
Near Misses Are Like Winning to Problem Gamblers
The brains of problem gamblers react more intensely to near misses than casual gamblers, new research from the University of Cambridge has found. The results help explain what keeps problem gamblers betting even though they keep losing.
Emerging Issues in the Use of “Free Play”
Non-negotiable slot credits, or what is commonly called “free play” has become the primary form of customer incentives in casinos. Today’s casinos use mail, phone and email solicitations to offer free slot machine play to lure citizens who have rarely been to a casino before, a tactic adopted from the tobacco companies who used to hand out free cigarettes in low-income neighborhoods. This article attempts to identify the emerging issues of free play and how they are impacting the frequency of play and casino profitability.
Bloomberg News Releases “The Sucker Index”
Bloomberg News ranked U.S. states by what it called “The Sucker Index” using 2010 data from the US Census and annual reports from state lottery commissions. The total dollar amount of prizes awarded was subtracted from ticket sales, and then the difference was divided by the total personal income of each state’s residents. A higher resulting number indicates a greater propensity for “suckerdom.” Georgia, Massachusetts, New York, Michigan and South Carolina earned Top Five status.
Casinos in Florida: A Look at Crime and Prison Costs From the Introduction of Casinos into Miami-Dade
This 2012 report authored by Richard Herring and David Beggs analyzes the inextricable link between casinos and crime in surrounding counties. Based on the introduction of casinos into Miami-Dade County, a conservative estimate projects a $3 billion dollar impact on just the state prison system over a 10-year period.