Or so you’d think, to hear the reaction to the news that Florida is contemplating bringing a micromanaged form of casino gambling to its fair shores. S&G readers are well rehearsed in the flaws of the bill being contemplated in Tallahassee (although it’s an improvement on an earlier proposal that would have made the entire Sunshine State a Las Vegas Sands fiefdom). However, the Tampa Tribune manages to fire off an entire bandoleer of anti-casino clichés without once hitting the target. Come to think of it, if the solution to problem gambling is to get rid of casinos, parimutuels and lotteries, then the cure for alcoholism would be …
Panic isn’t exclusive to Tampa. Back home, the Las Vegas Weekly‘s Rick Lax took a little too much Ex-Lax, to judge by his incontinent reaction to the Florida bill. The end is nigh! Las Vegas is doomed!
We’ve heard it all before. Besides, if Nevada had ever legalized casinos in the manner Floridians are considering, the Strip would just be a wide spot in the road to California. Imagine if, when Billy Wilkerson (left) began building the Flamingo, the nearest a competitor could be was Beatty, Nev.? The Silver State’s signature industry would never have gotten off the ground.
A more legitimate cause for concern is that, after much skittishness, Hawaii‘s Legislature is expected to take up the issue of casino gambling in a big way. The Aloha State is a critical Vegas feeder market (Boyd Gaming executives must be reaching for their Pepto-Bismol already). Also, the mere idea of slots and video poker in hotels up and down the islands could prompt many tourists to skip Vegas altogether. We may have wave pools but they’ve got the real thing. Looking on the bright side, a Hawaiian casino industry would provide a treasure trove of plot lines for Hawaii Five-0. It would also leave Utah, the Afghanistan of America, as our only gambling-free zone. How much longer can it resist?
Kudos to Dan Gilbert and to his Rock Ventures, which vows to hire 95% of the workforce for its Cincinnati casino locally. This is perhaps not such good news if you’re an employee of Gilbert’s partner, Caesars Entertainment, and were hoping to flee Vegas in favor of this newest outpost of the Caesars empire.
Clueless headline at topless pool. An e-mail blast from the American Gaming Association was slugged, “Gloomy economy does not dampen alcohol sales in Las Vegas.” Yes, because when times are tough, people have never been known to find solace at the bottom of a bottle — even an overpriced one of Stoli at a nightclub or pool party.
I’ve lived in Hawaii all my life and I don’t think much of the chances of having casinos on my island of Oahu. The new Honolulu mayor (and former city prosecutor) would have alot to say against that idea. The locals would still flock to Las Vegas for their gambling fix. The state legislators would stand a better chance of sticking any casino off Oahu instead. We have a good slice of the Japanese tourist market (gambling for the most part is illegal in Japan) and we’re starting starting to advertise heavily in the mainland Chinese market. We could become a version of Macau. Then Las Vegas would have cause to worry.