The deliberate ignorance and rationalization of the negative impacts by legislative leadership who refused to calculate or even attempt to calculate costs, is the evidence of elected officials perverted by the false promises and gimmicks of the gambling industry and their special interest backers. That influence is powerful and perverse as seen in the soap operatic behavior of the legislature this spring…..this loss of integrity and objective assessment of the proposals has been revealed. Should the most predatory and lucrative product “slots” have become legal it would not take a crystal ball to see the slippery slope ahead.
Governor Patrick has undoubtedly been given (lots of) bad advice on this issue . He does need to decide and act to take control of this nasty business, that he did indeed invite to the Commonwealth.
A visit to the historic halls of the State House evokes images of our forebears who fought and sacrificed to provide a fledgling nation with the tools of a unique experiment in democracy, ours to use or surrender.
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p>Watching the grinning and the backslapping on the Grand Staircase, the lobbyists arrayed to pop the champagne corks and the willingness of legislators who ignored all evidence to the contrary for the sake of Committee Chairmenships, extra pay, bigger staffs, bigger offices and political contributions defines a corrupt process that is their legacy.
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p>All it took was $12 million.
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p>How cheap the cost of your soul!
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p>For additional information that Beacon Hill has ignored:
United to Stop Slots in Massachusetts
Stop Predatory Gambling
Neighbors of Suffolk Downs
Gladys Kravitz
Middleboro Remembers
…can someone clarify what’s being proposed? When I hear “slot barn” it conjures images of just a bunch of machines in a large facility and nothing else. When I hear “casino”, or especially “resort casino” I think facility that includes slots, but also table games, card games, etc. PLUS restaurants, entertainment venues, and shopping. Leaving aside the racinos I was under the impression we were looking at a couple of full casinos a la Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun. Is that not the case? If it is the case then I would ask that all the opponents who whine about using “gaming” vs. “gambling” not in turn play the same game by spinning the language to make your argument.
70 – 80 % of the revenue from “destination” resort casinos comes from slot machines. The restaurants, table games, concert halls – those are to draw in people to gamble – they aren’t the money makers. Sort of like how supermarkets put the milk at the back of the store, so you have to walk through aisles of colorfully marketed products on your way there and back in hopes you’ll be convinced to buy them them.
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p>Personally, I don’t really have a problem with calling many forms of gambling “gaming” because some games require skill in addition to luck.
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p>Traditional slot machines were more like gambling than gaming because there was no skill involved except the ability to pull a lever. You dropped in your coin and gambled that the reels would stop on a winning combination.
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p>Modern slots, however are neither a game, nor gambling. They are programmed with ‘virtual reels’ that electronically determine when to pay out. They are ergonomically designed in every way to keep players playing, and losing, faster, and to fool the player into thinking they have nearly won. Free drinks are served as further incentive.
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p>Recent evidence suggests that this combination of ergonomics and manipulation creates a form of addiction that is indistinguishable, in the brain, from addiction to crack cocaine.
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p>As with other substances that cause addiction, the majority of people who play the slots do not become addicts – but tellingly – 90% of the revenue generated from slot machines comes from 10% of the players – the ones who are problem and pathological gamblers.
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p>Slot machines are not marked with any consumer protection information that would alert people to the dangers – not unlike like cigarettes which contain undisclosed additives that increase the likelihood of addiction.
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p>Instead, slot machines are marketed with jingles, 5-star restaurants, concert halls, and government sanction.
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p>So to call this ‘gambling’ or ‘gaming’ is inaccurate. It’s really more like cheating.
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p>To to break it down,
– Slot parlors make their money from slot machines.
– Casinos make most of their money from slot machines.
– both make the most of their money from people with gambling problems.
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p>Slot barns. Yee ha.