It's official - those of us living in Ohio are idiots re: casino gambling

[Kam Fong as Chin Ho]

Casino gambling issue, voted on as a constitutional amendment, passed.

Ohio OKs casinos | Columbus Dispatch Politics

Why does that mean that we're stupid here? Glad you asked.

Well, how about the fact that proposal as drafted for the ballot was actually WRITTEN BY THE CASINO INDUSTRY and is a sweetheart deal for these few businesses. Penn National is the outfit that is now on easy street.

Imagine legislation on, say, safety rules for cars and mileage requirements for cars simply being written by executives at Ford Motor Co. Do you think that such legislation just might be good for Ford and correspondingly bad for consumers and the environment? It's the same way for these casinos in Ohio.

The fact that the casino industry spent well over $30 million promoting the provision in recent television advertisements tells us something, too.

There's just so much wrong with this, even if one actually supports casino gambling. For example, the licenses fees are far too small, monopolies are simply given to the Penn National so there'll be no competition down the road, and the tax rates are smaller then in surrounding states. You know, exactly as the casino operators want. No surprise there, since they wrote the ballot.

In other words, this new amendment is a wet dream come true for casino owners.

And yes, this will hurt the Detroit casinos, as one of the four locations will be Toledo -- the only purpose for this is to try and lure Michiganders down and hurt the Detroit operations. Considering Toledo's population, there's no other reason I can see for Toledo getting one of the four sites (the others being Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland).

[Dr. Strangelove]

This is going to hurt the PA and WV casinos as well.

I enjoy casinos and gambling. I have been to casinos in:

Las Vegas
San Juan
Nassau
Aruba
Atlantic City
Wilkes-Barre, PA
Detroit
New Orleans
Wheeling, WV
Charleston, WV

It used to be glamourous and Vegas still has that vibe, but in the last month I visited the MGM Detroit and the casino in Charleston, WV.

MGM Detroit is a beautiful building it could be in Vegas. Unfortunately it is filled with gang bangers, welfare queens, zombies and people on oxygen. Very depressing place.

WV wasn't much better - just replace the gang bangers with red necks.

Casinos aren't going to solve any state's economic crisis and may well add to it.

[ninowesco]

yea, "the boats" in northwest indiana are just a disgusting collection of people

there is nothing enjoyable about going there

if you are going to gamble that's fine but a pleasant experience it is not

they tried to pass something here where they could put video poker into bars. just an example of trying to further tax the poor and sick - under the guise of civil liberty no less

[Krazykyle]

Originally Posted by Dr. Strangelove

This is going to hurt the PA and WV casinos as well.

I enjoy casinos and gambling. I have been to casinos in:

Las Vegas
San Juan
Nassau
Aruba
Atlantic City
Wilkes-Barre, PA
Detroit
New Orleans
Wheeling, WV
Charleston, WV

It used to be glamourous and Vegas still has that vibe, but in the last month I visited the MGM Detroit and the casino in Charleston, WV.

MGM Detroit is a beautiful building it could be in Vegas. Unfortunately it is filled with gang bangers, welfare queens, zombies and people on oxygen. Very depressing place.

WV wasn't much better - just replace the gang bangers with red necks.

Casinos aren't going to solve any state's economic crisis and may well add to it.

True story, I sat down at a $20 a hand blackjack table and the guy next to me wasn't wearing shoes, and his socks had holes in them. He then proceeded to cuss me out because I wasn't playing "right", and messing up his cards. I just got up and took my money elsewhere, the place looks great, but it's a ****hole. The table minimums there are out of whack with what is appropriate for the area and the clientele is not exactly high rollers as you noted.

It really just gave me even less reason to go down to the city. I initially thought the casinos would be great revenue stream for the city, but truly I think they have sucked even more life out of the surrounding area (see Greektown) and encouraged a lot of people to throw their already small paychecks down the drain.

[ninowesco]

Originally Posted by Krazykyle

True story, I sat down at a $20 a hand blackjack table and the guy next to me wasn't wearing shoes, and his socks had holes in them. He then proceeded to cuss me out because I wasn't playing "right", and messing up his cards. I just got up and took my money elsewhere, the place looks great, but it's a ****hole. The table minimums there are out of whack with what is appropriate for the area and the clientele is not exactly high rollers as you noted.

It really just gave me even less reason to go down to the city. I initially thought the casinos would be great revenue stream for the city, but truly I think they have sucked even more life out of the surrounding area (see Greektown) and encouraged a lot of people to throw their already small paychecks down the drain.

yea, that's another thing

even in detroit you can't find a table for less than $25 a hand

I think I do fairly well and I like to gamble and I can't even justify those stakes

it is straight up depressing to watch poor people drop $300 in 10 minutes

[Dr. Strangelove]

Originally Posted by ninowesco

yea, that's another thing

even in detroit you can't find a table for less than $25 a hand

I think I do fairly well and I like to gamble and I can't even justify those stakes

it is straight up depressing to watch poor people drop $300 in 10 minutes

I landed at Metro at 5:30 the friday before the Michigan game. We went to Lafeyette for coneys then did an hour at the MGM Grand (7ish to 8ish). There were $10 tables offered at that time (jammed) and there were some seats available at the $25 tables.

I assume that they raise the table stakes as the night goes on. The place was jammed but it was seedier than AC. The most disturbing image of the night (well besides the wanding to enter) was an old lady on oxygen in a hoveround sitting in front of slot machine doing the two handed face plant like she had just blown that month's SS check.

[Krazykyle]

Originally Posted by ninowesco

yea, that's another thing

even in detroit you can't find a table for less than $25 a hand

I think I do fairly well and I like to gamble and I can't even justify those stakes

it is straight up depressing to watch poor people drop $300 in 10 minutes

Seriously. I have the money, and I played 3 hands, lost $75 and felt like an ass for the rest of night because I got zero enjoyment out of it. Give me the $5 hands every day of the week, I may not make much but at least I'll finish a drink before I lose a hundred bucks.

The folks there however are somehow very out of touch, I saw a guy who clearly did not have the money put $500 on the roulette table. Roulette! I was dumbfounded, he put it all on the numbers and lost it in one spin. I was just baffled.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Originally Posted by Krazykyle

Seriously. I have the money, and I played 3 hands, lost $75 and felt like an ass for the rest of night because I got zero enjoyment out of it. Give me the $5 hands every day of the week, I may not make much but at least I'll finish a drink before I lose a hundred bucks.

The folks there however are somehow very out of touch, I saw a guy who clearly did not have the money put $500 on the roulette table. Roulette! I was dumbfounded, he put it all on the numbers and lost it in one spin. I was just baffled.

I always place one roulette bet when I'm at a casino - I throw a $20 on black. As Wesley Snipes said, "Always bet on black".

[Dr. Strangelove]

I love the OP's name. Here's a gem from his wiki:

The 1997 shot at a Five-O revival and Kam Fong
Talk had centered around a remake or a feature film version of the show for years. In 1997, CBS and Stephen J. Cannell (The Rockford Files, Baretta, The Commish) collaborated on a pilot for a possible new Five-O series. The pilot would introduce some of the new cast and feature former regulars from the original series, including Fong.

According to Five-O fan and author of a book on the show, Karen Rhodes, Fong was asked to reprise his role and appear in the pilot. Neither Fong nor any of the other regulars told Cannell that Chin Ho had been killed off at the end of the tenth season.

This was only discovered after all of Fong's scenes had been shot and to excise him from the project would have caused delays and overruns in cost. Hoping that CBS executives would not remember the one episode out of hundreds, Cannell screened the pilot.

[GRR Spartan]

Arizona has seen some Indian tribe casinos close because just like wholesale clubs there needs to be a sizable population to support one.

Toledo will hurt Detroit but the feel of going to gamble being "special" is going away fast. Too many casinos, decreased revenue will cause some to close, all remaining to be less profitable and the reduced cash flow will have them looking Old Las Vegas seedy sooner than expected.

[Green Cheesiest™]

All the casinos in SE Indiana are a joke. They suck. They have a bunch of blue hairs. They are all in the middle of nowhere.

Penn National is only doing the casinos in Columbus and Toledo, according to Dan Gilbert.

I hope whatever they end up with in Cincinnati doesn't end up being dumb like riverboat casinos, but there is like a 10% chance of that actually happening.

[Kam Fong as Chin Ho]

Originally Posted by Dr. Strangelove

I love the OP's name. Here's a gem from his wiki:

The 1997 shot at a Five-O revival and Kam Fong
Talk had centered around a remake or a feature film version of the show for years. In 1997, CBS and Stephen J. Cannell (The Rockford Files, Baretta, The Commish) collaborated on a pilot for a possible new Five-O series. The pilot would introduce some of the new cast and feature former regulars from the original series, including Fong.

According to Five-O fan and author of a book on the show, Karen Rhodes, Fong was asked to reprise his role and appear in the pilot. Neither Fong nor any of the other regulars told Cannell that Chin Ho had been killed off at the end of the tenth season.

This was only discovered after all of Fong's scenes had been shot and to excise him from the project would have caused delays and overruns in cost. Hoping that CBS executives would not remember the one episode out of hundreds, Cannell screened the pilot.

Thanks. I gave long thought to my RCMB name before registering.

I did not know about the pilot of a remake. It's hilarious that the Chin Ho character was being reprised.

[ChicagoMark]

Casinos are so far from the answer it it a joke. Let those idiots build them for hundreds of millions. Just don't ask the taxpayer to pay for the construction because they are going to lose there ass.

[richwig]

Originally Posted by Dr. Strangelove

I love the OP's name. Here's a gem from his wiki:

The 1997 shot at a Five-O revival and Kam Fong
Talk had centered around a remake or a feature film version of the show for years. In 1997, CBS and Stephen J. Cannell (The Rockford Files, Baretta, The Commish) collaborated on a pilot for a possible new Five-O series. The pilot would introduce some of the new cast and feature former regulars from the original series, including Fong.

As I understand it, Magnum PI was born and set in Hawaii because CBS had equipment and crew settled in Hawaii, and wanted to reuse those resources.

And I love the OP's screen name, too. I remember my friends and I as teenagers thought they might as well as used the actor's name instead of making up a new one.