Take note, Gov. Patrick: The state of Rhode Island may have to bail out its ailing casino.
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7 thoughts on “Yet another reason casinos are a bad idea”
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To call Twin Rivers a casino is a stretch. Slots, virtual roulette and virtual blackjack doesn’t quite cut it, especially with the real deal a few more miles down the road in CT. I can do virtual gambling at home, with a credit card. Drop the “virtual” and watch the Massachusetts plates fill the Twin Rivers lot and Rhode Island’s coffers.
I know of a local man who, in a tight bind financially who went to Twin Rivers to try his luck. He lost the all money to pay his monthly bills, couldn’t face his wife, and killed himself. His son grows up today without a father.Every time I start to get tired of this fight, and of comments about how much $$ there is to be had bringing gambling to MA, I think of the little boy.But I guess some might call that a ‘stretch’.
My brother died an alcoholic at age 39. He lost every job he ever had, so couldn’t pay his monthly bills. He separated from his wife and two sons and finally drank himself to death in a rooming house in Brockton near the VA hospital where they were trying, alas in vain, to help him.Every time I get tired of the fight to keep alcohol illegal, and of comments about how much money there is to be had bringing alcohol to MA, I think of my brother’s little boys. (Well, it happened 25 years ago so they’re not so little anymore but, whatever. My eyes still mist up!)See also.
Very clever Neil.Also insensitive and callous.Gambling addiction isn’t a joke and we can do much better than that.
Gladys, my point was that for those of us who enjoy the table games, playing them on computer isn’t the same as playing them for real. Sure, for the addicted, both can be problematic as can be betting from home using the internet.Just curious Gladys, and I’m not being saracastic, what is your stance on the state lottery?
Neil and O-Fish,You’re both talking about things that are already legal, we are trying to stop SLOTS/CASINOS. Today we enjoy a beer or a scratch ticket, tomorrow we’re addicted. Who will pay to “fix” my problems when I can’t afford to? The taxpayer. Why create a ploblem entity in Mass. if it’s a loser. If you read the fine print in regards to casinos, especially tribal ones, you’ll find they provide revenue, but also cost the taxpayer(State programs) because slots have proven to be addictive. They are designed to TAKE YOUR MONEY. Stressing the entertainment value of table games is weak. By the way, a person can become addicted to anything,sex, food etc. But a least you get what you pay for.
I’d like to try and answer your question, O-Fish-L, for Gladys. There are scratch tickets behind the counter at convenient stores and liquor stores but they’re just there, hanging against the wall. One can decide to purchase one and some may become addicted to buying them. But there is no deliberate attempt to manipulate you into purchasing the item.Casinos masquerade their true intention for having you enter by enticing the consumer with words like “entertainment” or “resort” or “dinner”. Casinos don’t make their money on this stuff. They make it on the slots. Once they lure the unexpected consumer onto the premises, there is intentional manipulation to play the games. The slots are where the money making is. They are rigged to keep the player there with the intent to have the player spend all of their money.See this link http://bellicose-bumpkin.blogspot.com/search/label/schull What makes casinos different from the lottery is the intentional degree of manipulation and preying on the consumer, deliberately disguised to appear as harmless entertainment.O-Fish-L, I appreciate the sincerity of your question.