got to wondering about this last night visiting a casino (Winstar) last night. As im looking for a parking space in the parking garage almost all the plates on the cars and trucks are Texas I would think the state would want to keep that money in state instead of leaving Texas and going to Oklahoma. what say ye OT?

I'm fine with having casinos in the state. You can zone them in or out of a community depending on what the area wants. May as well keep some of that money here.

Texas does not like the revenue generated from them.

I dont understand that argument Texas has we have horse racing

There are some on Indian reservations.

Guess Tx dont need the jobs or the money we are just fine without um (no jobless, schools have plenty money, everythings wonderful here,kids dont need new pair o shoes)

cuz we threatened to scalp the legislature if they take our source of wampum.

Stephen B---WHERE ?

The Texas Religious organizations own too many lobbyists and politicians and they are the ones who don't want legalized gambling in Texas. They consider gambling the work of the Devil.

Texas will figure it out in a 100 years or so on this issue.

I do not want junk gambling sites across the state but with limited sites the state would benifit.

Lots of rivers here sure would dress Brazos up in Waco lite it up for nite fishin

Cause we would all go broke.

Casinos meh. Glitter and futile attempts at a brass ring. The house wins most of the time.

Sorry!

No sarcasm font!

They have casinos in Eagle Pass Texas, I think it's on a reservation.

We dont need no casinos, We just go play bingo with all the old geezer smokers with their oxygen tanks.

They need to build a couple of Casinos over by the race track in GP! Central location for all of DFW, it would create much needed jobs, tax revenue and it would be a boom for the businesses in that area!

I just don't understand it!

Pew jumping Baptists have kept it out.

ALL of the states bordering Texas have casino gambling and video poker games at race tracks.

And what's the predicted budget deficit again for your state of Texas?

Doesn't matter to me one way or the other, but the few times I have been in a casino it made me said to see the type of people that seem to frequently gamble, ie; those that can least afford to

Those are the ones I'm remembering. My parents used to live close to there.

Lots of money flows from Shreveport/Bossier to Austin. Nuff said.

Don't blame it on religion, too much money floating in Austin for Those who
Vote against it.
Mo

So the Baptists are spending millions of dollars lobbying against casino's in Texas?? Wrong.
The casino owners from Louisiana and Indian reservations are putting up some major money so they don't lose their gold mine sucking money out of Texas.

At slots yes... I'll stick to holdem. I've done VERY well at WinStar.

The House of the Rising Sun


Am . C/g . |D/f# . F . |Am . E . *|Am . . .

Am C/g D/f# F
There is a house down in New Orleans
Am C/g E
they call the rising sun
Am C/g D/f# F
And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy
Am E Am
and me, oh God, I'm one.

My mother was a tailor,
she sowed these new blue jeans
My father was a gambler, Lord,
down in New Orleans.

Now the only thing a gambler needs
is a suitcase and a trunk
And the only time when he's satisfied
is when he's on a drunk.

He fills his glasses up to the brim
and he'll pass the cards around
And the only pleasure he gets out of life
is rambling from town to town.


Oh tell my baby sister
not to do what I have done
But shun that house in New Orleans
they call the rising sun.

Well with one foot on the platform
and the other foot on the train
I'm going back to New Orleans
to wear that ball and chain.

I'm going back to New Orleans,
my race is almost run
I'm going back to end my life
down in the rising sun.

There is a house in New Orleans
they call the rising sun
And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy
and me, oh God, I'm one.

Oh, and you think gambling interests in Louisiana and Indian reservations are going to out spend Texas lobbyists? And where just might this groundswell of anti-gambling support come from?

Out of curiousity, please state your religious affiliation.

Yep, that Texas lottery is really keeping those coffers full.

You think casinos would be any different?

Thackerville OK is a fine example of glitz and glammer..

There is a QUANTUM difference between the lottery and casino and video poker gambling.

And I mean a QUANTUM difference.

There are any number of savy gamblers on the TFF, ask them what they think.

The projected Texas state budget deficit is between $15 billion and $27 billion. But hey, let's send money to NM, OK, LA and AR because some Baptist preacher in Tyler thinks you'll burn in hell for all eternity if you gamble.

Guys above nailed it, politicians getting greased by the neighboring Casinos to NOT legalize it. It would desimate those Casinos that are just over our borders.
Besides, we got enough Texas money being gambled to build the 3rd largest Casino in the world.........IN OKLAHOMA! ( Winstar )

The religious influence is more of a ruse to disguise where the real loyalty is ( the money.....in the political pockets.......from the bordering Casinos.

So you trust that the same Texas legislature is going to do a bang up job of governing a gambling industry? Oh, we can PRIVITIZE it....Stand back boys. That's when the real crooks come in. There will be 4 or 5 people making billions off the backs of Texans. What's your plan to make it work Spags?

oh and God Bless your soul Scags...

Your last sentence is comical.

What rubbish.

They said the SAME EXACT THING about pari-mutuel horse racing until someone got the cojones to push it through.

Explain to me this then, how is it that Galveston, once the epicenter of gambling and prostitution in this state, allowed these heathen activities to take place for decades?

Weebs,

You would be surprised how far Green Briar's arm of influence is here in East Texas.

40, 50,60 years ago local governments governed themselves. You didn't know that?

It's not that way anymore.

For the record< I think casinos in Galveston, rockport, Houston channel, Town Lake, San Antonio etc. would be a great idea. They don't scare me.

Man, he's controlling the world from little ol' Tyler? I had no idea.

Love that Baptist mafia baby. They are ruthless.

Still waiting on the plan for running it on the up and up???

I don't want any crooks like Jerry Jones taking my money.

I actually did a speech over this exact topic last semester. I know what I am talking about. You obviously do not. It's not a matter of what I "think," it's a matter of what I know.
And I am a Christian.

I think the mob was running galveston back in the day

Thats who will be running the Texas casinos basically. You run it private and the bidding starts.

where's the plan Scags?

Maybe you're right WEEBS.

Texas prides itself on being under educated, under sophisticated, under cultured and incapable of managing enterprise level sources of revenue.

By far, neighboring states like Oklahoma and Louisiana are much better advanced at organizing and administering gambling.

TFP <==== Chuckling with amusement at the bemusement of most of the post in this thread.

The notion that gambling is somehow the silver bullet that will solve revenue shortfalls, and fiscal issue for Texas is no so much laughable, as is pathetic.

I’m amused only because of the shallowness of any analysis that would lead one to conclude that if we just had gambling in Texas our problems would be even one-tenth of the way solved.

The fact is that gambling does NOT create wealth. I merely transfers existent wealth from one party, or parties to another party, or other parties. Again, gambling does NOT create wealth. Many are confused by the illusion of the creation of wealth in places such as Las Vegas, etc.. In the case of Vegas what has happened is that a state with a small population, and low population density offers something that in not legal in more populous locals. Enough folks from these large population centers travel to Vegas to gamble that given the relatively small population of Vegas and the rest of Nevada that the influx of $$$ is sufficient to boost that local economy. What caused the rise of the Vegas economy is the large influx of gamblers —relative to the Vegas population— who live in the extremely massive population centers of Southern California, and are thus in close enough proximity to Vegas to inexpensively, and conveniently travel by roadway to and from Vegas.

This is exactly the same thing that is happening with Shreveport, LA. The I-20 corridor has a massive population center along it, specifically the DFW metro-mess, as well as number of other significant population centers and a relatively high population density in the rural areas within the corridor. With I-20 providing inexpensive, and convenient access to Shreveport there is enough of an influx of Texans, and their $$$ to serve a significant boost to that local economy.

If gambling were widely available in Texas it would NOT serve as a boost in the local economies here because of the amount of money that would go into gambling relitive to the size of the population here is quite low. The illusion of gambling have a positive economic effect is due to the narrow distribution of gambling centers. If gambling were as widely spread as movie theaters the net boost to local economies would be less than positive. Indeed, gambling would be seen to be a net drag on economic activity.


TFP

Makes me wonder why people that don't like it live here??? Confusing...I guess people that are bad-mouthing us must be making money here or they wouldn't stay in this backwoods hick state. I mean OK and LA are meccas of decadence and splendor...Nothing against those states. Love to visit both and come back home but to insinuate that Oklahoma and Louisiana are better than Texas because they voted in gambling is just silly.

I said, maybe you're right.

You can quit now.

I don't think the Baptists or the casinos in states outside of Texas want casinos in Texas. Between the two groups, they'll probably continue to keep casinos out of Texas for many years. Eventually, Texas will get casinos--the money's too much to pass up. I don't think casinos would solve all TX's budget shortfalls, but it wouldn't hurt to keep a lot of that money in the state.

I thought you were being sarcastic as usual.

I totally dispute this.

As per my previous post in this thread, the net total economic effect on the entire United States is negative. Positive effects on local, or state economies is due solely to the transfer of wealth from very large populations to the much smaller populations that exist where gambling is allowed. Widening the availability of gambling goes only to dilute the economic impact of gambling by spreading gambling revenues over a larger population.

TFP

What about the methodists, mormons, redeemer lutherans, non-denoms and the presbyterians?

I go to the big city to eat fancy. I might play a little black jack while I'm there.

I think the big towns and tourist areas of Texas could support one or two casinos each. Put em' right downtown.

us presbys don't care

I still want to know who's running them and where the money is going to go before I vote for it.

I put the "meh" in Methodist on most issues regarding the church.

Casinos don't need to be everywhere. That's why we're able to chop things up as necessary with zoning restrictions.

It is NOT a question of an area, or local being able to support a casino. Rather, it is a question of whether or not a casino would enhance a local economy, and also that of the state as a whole.

I firmly maintain that there would be NO net economic benefit from casinos to either the local economy, nor the state economy of Texas because any revenues that would go to either state or local government would be diluted through the distribution over much larger populations than is the case with the current situation in Shreveport/Boiser City.

Further, I firmly maintain that the ‘gaming industry’ does NOT create wealth it just transfers existent wealth. Thus, while the ‘gaming industry’ generates economic activity, it does NOT add to the economic productivity of the United States as a whole.

The economic viability of the ‘gaming industry’ itself is totally dependent on restricting ‘gaming’ to smaller population centers that are in relatively close proximity to much larger population centers.


TFP

I trust you on this, but help me understand the statement about "creating" wealth. I feel like this could be said about many industries. Tourism (which kind of goes hand in hand with gambling), and amusement parks come to mind. Just because the good (fun/excitement) that casino's provide is intangible does not make it an unproductive industry in my mind.
My opinion on casino's in Texas is that it is absolutely none of the governments business to tell grown men and women that they can't gamble. I would love to have a card room down here in c stat where I could go play some real texas hold em.

Texas needs casinos

It would provide JOBS in TEXAS. Which should help a lot of families in TEXAS.

It is better to keep the money inside the state than let them go to another because we don't have a casino.

Doe-sent take a rocket scientist to figure out whos keepin these casinos open just drive through the parkin lots 90% are Tx plates. I just believe we could use the jobs right here. People ARE GONNA GAMBLE save the gas and do it here its a green thing saving resources.

I don't really care for gambling, but I also am not stupid when I see all of the Texas people spending their money at them in LA or OK. I think a couple of casino's in our state would not be a bad idea, and might actually provide some needed tourist industry dollars. i.e San Antonio, Galveston, Ft Worth, etc.

way too lazy to read all this. I wrote a paper on this once though, and found that Rick Perry and a lot of other state level elected officials receive considerable campaign funding from the tribes representing the casinos in Oklahoma and New Mexico. Totally legal, just typical political BS though.

my opinion is that people who gamble, are going to gamble. Why not let them do it here and let the state, not the state officials, reap the benefit of the tax revenue?

What jobs? Dishwasher, bartender, blackjack dealer, security cop? Anyone wealthy enough to buy commercial property and build a casino will likely bring in some experienced operators from another state. I'm not dead set against casinos although I wouldn't waste a dime at one, I don't see any real economic advantage.

Is this your opinion or do you have facts that back up your position? Money spent out of state in casino's directly effects the economy of Texas. I just don't understand how keeping that money local wouldn't help at all?

The casino's across the border's contribute major dollars to our politician's. The horse racing industry has a stake in it in Texas that was negotiated when the racing industry was approved. I am sure that the churches play a role as well.

People who want to gamble will gamble just like people who want to drink will find a place to buy it. Money kept in the State has to be better than money leaving the State.

one of the smartest 1st posts ever.

I propose a 5 mile wide casino zone than runs the entire borders of New Mexico,
Oklahoma and Louisiana. The # of licences to be determined by
traffic. 3-4 on interstates , less on secondary roads. Licenses to be won
by highest bid.

MO

Few people really benefit from gambling.

Casino's provide 1000's of jobs. I hardly consider that a few.

We aready have gambling, Texans already gamble,
what many people would like to see are casinos
inside the state lines , rather than just across
the border.

Gambling in Texas

Bingo , lottery , horseracing ( an industry that is
dying because all the border states give casino funds to the
horesracing industry) , scratch offs ( a 50% payback ripoff)
dog racing.

Texas has gambling , just no casino revenue.


MO

I don't care about the money for Texas part I just don't want to have to drive so far to gamble. Put a river boat on each lake is my vote.

unless Texas puts a casino closer to the DFW area than Winstar, 90% of 'us' dfw peeps will still go to Winstar. i will guarantee that. putting that casino right across the border was genius.

oh and you better believe they are contributing to the Perry fund.

[/quote]

What jobs? Dishwasher, bartender, blackjack dealer, security cop? Anyone wealthy enough to buy commercial property and build a casino will likely bring in some experienced operators from another state. I'm not dead set against casinos although I wouldn't waste a dime at one, I don't see any real economic advantage. [/quote]

There are a LOT more jobs then what you stated. And nothing wrong with being a dishwasher or a bartender, etc etc. I married a bartender and she is now a nurse. Put herself thru school. Plus what about the maintance personal, managers, etc.. Are you just a snob or a Bigot?

Working as a VIP Casino Host is my second career job choice.

I don't want to have to move out of state to do it,

Mo

Cheap, low-end jobs are what provided much of the job growth in Rick Perry's "Texas Miracle".

TFP is partially correct. Gambling is just transferring wealth for one entity to another. If you consider Oklahoma, Louisiana, and New Mexico as separate entities, then Texas receives no benefit when the wealth changes hands. With casinos inside the state border, the transfer of wealth would then become a revenue benefit for Texas.

then don't play...problem solved

Wow. A bigot or a snob? Far from it partner. There is nothing wrong with those jobs, my point was in reply to someone saying look at all the jobs Casinos will bring. How many bartenders and dishwashers will they employ? A casino will not solve a job problem in Texas. If you wanted to solve a job problem bring in some manufacturing.

You read something way wrong into my text.

Good advice.

I watched the boom in Shreveport once the casinos caught on. What they did was help clean up a lot of the crime and provided LOTS of jobs, not only in the casinos, but elsewhere.

Here's what happened:
Many people got better paying jobs at the casinos, because they pay better for certain positions. Those people began to spend that money around town....new cars, homes....etc....which provided even more jobs to some folks. The big new shopping centers here, located on Highway 1 were built mainly due to the casino ripple effect.

The downside, is that ALL of your local restaurants will lose their very best workers because the casinos pay so much more, provide medical insurance,401k plans and other benefits. A local restaurant is at a distinct disadvantage in hiring quality workers due to the casino packages....who pay as much as 50% more for the same work. Some restaurants will simply close down and the ones that remain will offer substandard service in many cases...due to the scumbags they are forced to hire. Not to mention the fact that people like me would rather go eat a FREE meal at a casino than spend $70 at a local restaurant 3 X a week.
Well....we "think" it's free....anyway....

Pawn shops will begin to do well too, as the locals lose their money in the casinos.

I lost my nearly retired partner to a casino...seriously. An MBA CFP....too. One smart SOB.

He thought it would be "fun" to become a dealer for 2 years prior to his scheduled retirement, although he didnt need the money. In fact, he took a substantial pay cut...but he wanted something different. He was already wealthy.

Casinos are coming to Texas sooner or later....like it or not. You cant stop them forever. They quietly slip around and get "their people" elected over a period of years, then one day, you'll wake up and it's a done deal. There is just way too much money involved. "When"....is the question. Not "if". ...and once they move into a town, they own it. Period. The politicians will not go against them because they get used to all of that new revenue for their pet projects. Personally, I'd love Texas to get them, so maybe the traffic in Shreveport would subside a little.

Is Jack Abramoff friendly to Texas casino interests?

What?!?! wait.....

Well then I will stand corrected in my thinking Casinos would not create that many jobs. I have no argument when case history proves otherwise.

This seems to have turned into an argument about whether or not Casinos allowed in Texas would solve any/all problems.
My take on it is this...drive through any border Casino and 80+% of license plates are from Texas. I'd rather just keep the money in Texas.

I read just what you typed and just re-read it again. I was correct in what I said and how I said it. I hope I'm wrong and it's just your emotions coming out.

I agree with Oldfrog and some of the other posters. If you don't want to gamble don't go into the casino. Problem solved.

Really? Most libs are saying it's oil jobs. Get with it t grass. You are falling behind on your talking points.

The fact about the high percentage of people living in poverty in Texas is because of the large Hispanic population (almost 40%). In the US the poverty rate for Hispanic's is around 26.5%.

Oh and by the way, Texas has the 4th highest per capita income level when adjusted for cost of living.

So you don't know me but call me a bigot and a snob anyway. Nice. I get it, you like casinos. You're one of those who like to throw the bigot word around. Thanks for the echoed advice about gambling too.

Cant we all just get along?

I suspect this thread is heading for lockdown......so let me be the first to say...... IBTL

IBTL.


This is almost as bad as voting on liquor sales.