B B C: Gambling To Be A Major Boost To Economy

[Realistbear]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4911502.stm

Gambling 'major boost to economy'

Twenty-seven local authorities are bidding to have "super" casinos

Gambling could become one of the most lucrative industries in the British economy, researchers have claimed.

By relaxing regulations surrounding betting and gaming and by abolishing tax on punters, the government has ensured an economic boost, they said.

That could eventually see more money generated by the gambling sector than any other, said the Betting Research Unit at Nottingham Trent University.

It could "only be good news for the economy", said researchers.

"There are already around 370,000 problem gamblers in the UK and any rise in problem gambling is far too high a price for possible economic benefits," she said.

Problem: the house always wins.

If Gordon's miracle economy is to be kept going by even more speculative activity than betting on HPI we are surely headed down the toilet. The victims will be the poor who will quickly become addicted to gaming and reliant on winnings to make it through the week.

Is this how desparate Gordo has become?

Edited April 15, 2006 by Realistbear

[BuyingBear]

Problem: the house always wins.

And by implication HM Treasury always wins, how is this a problem if you're Gordon Brown?

Edited April 15, 2006 by BuyingBear

[delite1]

Good God.

Is this what has become of the British Empire?

When our last major produce happens to be unexportable ( 2 bed "luxury apartments" ) we end up viewing widescale gambling as a positive developement?

Will the last one out please turn off the lights.

[Realistbear]

And by implication HM Treasury always wins, how is this a problem if you're Gordon Brown?

Contrary to popular belief, casinos do not bring wealth to a community--they suck the wealth out. By their nature, Casinos tend to be run by tight "families" who are adept at skimming profits and making sure the government's take in minimal. The social disease of addiction spreads and bankruptcies rise, undermining the economy even further.

The State of California has discovered this where the "Indians" run mega casinos and where local communities are just as poor as they used to be. Most of the "Indian" Casinos are run by the Bonanno Family which still controls a lot of what goes on in California at the docks, gambling, transport etc. Arnie Schwarzenegger has tried to tax the casinos so that some local benefit is received but the Indians have so far been successful in saying that as they are built on soveriegn territories no State tax applies. Its a crooked business and only a desparate chancellor would try to rely on it to bolster the economy. At least the jobs would not be offshored in casinos I suppose.

[BuyingBear]

When our last major produce happens to be unexportable ( 2 bed "luxury apartments" ) we end up viewing widescale gambling as a positive developement?

I thought the last five years and said 2 bed apartments were the biggest outbreak of widescale gambling in history?

[delite1]

Indeed, Buying Bear.

[Yankee]

Britain's plan to open gambling casinos is truly a depressing one.

Gambling preys on the poor and causes a huge upswing in embezzling and other crimes. Casinos are also large, ugly complexes that require huge parking lots.

I'm beginning to think maybe I don't want to buy a house in Britain. I will now certainly wait to see where the casinos are going to be and buy as far away from them as possible.

[BuyingBear]

At least the jobs would not be offshored in casinos I suppose.

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Edited April 15, 2006 by BuyingBear

[BillyShears]

Britain's plan to open gambling casinos is truly a depressing one.

Gambling preys on the poor and causes a huge upswing in embezzling and other crimes. Casinos are also large, ugly complexes that require huge parking lots.

I'm beginning to think maybe I don't want to buy a house in Britain. I will now certainly wait to see where the casinos are going to be and buy as far away from them as possible.

I can't understand the reasoning behind the casinos. They money they take from people won't be spent on other things. But the other things in this case won't just be luxuries that people can live without. Gambling addiction is such that people will gamble away the money that they need to buy food, heating, and shelter. Then what happens?

Billy Shears

[Realistbear]

I can't understand the reasoning behind the casinos. They money they take from people won't be spent on other things. But the other things in this case won't just be luxuries that people can live without. Gambling addiction is such that people will gamble away the money that they need to buy food, heating, and shelter. Then what happens?

Billy Shears

With Gordon Brown he doesn't care about social issues and the damage gambling does to people. Its tax he is after and anything to keep jobs going. Gambling is the last desparate attempt of a bankrupt government to fleece the people. Gordon and Co. are a disgrace to Britain. To call a debt ridden economy a "Miracle" stinks of pride an arrogance IMHO.

[BuyingBear]

With Gordon Brown he doesn't care about social issues and the damage gambling does to people. Its tax he is after and anything to keep jobs going.

More tax + social issues = thousands of new 'gambling awareness officers'

[Elizabeth]

Well I regret the demise of 6 o'clock closing! (no seriously, it did have some point, 11 o'clock closing was fine, but what did they have to extend it to 24hours? VI?). Like everything new build in Britain they will be an ugly cheap post modern metal and steel complexs that locks the punters in with their own addiction, and give the semiotic impression of MODERN... (just like the most recent new build estate at the end of my street???) Kids will be left in the car parks, and social services will be nowhere to be seen until the kids have gone hungry and wild. It will spawn an entirely new boom industry in the NHS providing rehab to addicted gamblers, and the casino businesses will take no responsibility but make token contributions to an allied but indirect charities to wash their hands of far more than 30 pieces of silver. They will attract disorganised crime (eg. muggers) and organised crime (ie. the organisation running it - organised criminals are the only ones with enough experience to be sucessful in the tender).

When I think of Casinos in Europe I think Monte Carlo and old world elegance. I would be better to think another scary deserted industrial estate with no class, no style, nothing to recommend it to anything but the most desparate. Because that is what we are going to get.

[pondlife]

As someone who has worked on the gambling industry for 15 years, just like to make a few points:

1) Casinos have recently been governed by inappropriate 60's legislation. They badly needed a rethink.

2) Casinos come under the departmnent of Culture, Media and Oplympics, which is headed by Tessa Jowell, the one that gave up her family to spend more time with her politics. And yes, Her speaches on the matter demonstrate that she doesn't have a clue about gambling.

3) There is no evidence that increasing the opportunities to bet increases the number of problem gamblers (A problem gambler will have already unmasked himself as a problem gambler on fruit machines, at the bookies, at the races or on online)

4) Gambling is a tax on the daft - a good way of redistributing Tax Credites and MEW and any all the other things that make the forumites vomit

5) I am of the general belief that we should be free to do whatever we please, whether that is hunt creatures, Eat t-bone steaks, smoke, shag prostitutes, drugs, betting or marry our gay lover or whatever. I personally would have supported a do what you want approach for casinos and local authorities.

[Realistbear]

As someone who has worked on the gambling industry for 15 years, just like to make a few points:

1) Casinos have recently been governed by inappropriate 60's legislation. They badly needed a rethink.

2) Casinos come under the departmnent of Culture, Media and Oplympics, which is headed by Tessa Jowell, the one that gave up her family to spend more time with her politics. And yes, Her speaches on the matter demonstrate that she doesn't have a clue about gambling.

3) There is no evidence that increasing the opportunities to bet increases the number of problem gamblers (A problem gambler will have already unmasked himself as a problem gambler on fruit machines, at the bookies, at the races or on online)

4) Gambling is a tax on the daft - a good way of redistributing Tax Credites and MEW and any all the other things that make the forumites vomit

5) I am of the general belief that we should be free to do whatever we please, whether that is hunt creatures, Eat t-bone steaks, smoke, shag prostitutes, drugs, betting or marry our gay lover or whatever. I personally would have supported a do what you want approach for casinos and local authorities.

Point 5 sounds like a policy of NuLabour and should not cause any problems to the expansion of gambling. However, as a former Las Vegas resident and on the periphery of the industry for a few years I think I can accurately say that governments only think they control gaming. Casinos are experts in drawing in people who have never gambled before. Cheap meals and entertainment are ways people get hooked.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...16/MN233762.DTL

The cash-strapped state of California has collected nearly $50 million from the gaming profits of Indian tribes to pay for problems related to the casino boom, including addictive gambling -- but has yet to spend a penny of the money, The Chronicle has learned.

With state tribal gaming profits estimated at $3 billion to $5 billion, California last year ranked second only to Nevada in gaming revenues. But the state ranks first in problem gambling, with more than 1 million addicted gamblers, according to the California Council on Problem Gambling.

"This is the most expensive addiction there is," said Tom Tucker, executive director of the nonprofit organization, which assists tribal leaders and state lottery officials with treatment, counseling and education programs. "You can slam only so many drugs into your arm -- but you can slam $10,000 on the Super Bowl in one day."

[BillyShears]

When I think of Casinos in Europe I think Monte Carlo and old world elegance. I would be better to think another scary deserted industrial estate with no class, no style, nothing to recommend it to anything but the most desparate. Because that is what we are going to get.

I think I read somewhere on the web (how's that for a reference :-) ) that some casinos in the US laid on free buses from retirement villiages to the casinos. Social awareness at its finest.

Only the last of these links mentions a free bus from a retirement home, but all of them mention problems with gambling.

http://gamblingmagazine.com/articles/41/41-118.htm

http://www.calproblemgambling.org/news_cov021305.html

http://www.medillnewsdc.com/gambling/gambling_bus.shtml

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/loca..._gamble23m.html

http://www.casinowatch.org/elderly/elderly_excerpts.html

Billy Shears

[BuyingBear]

Point 5 sounds like a policy of NuLabour and should not cause any problems to the expansion of gambling.

Depends, does it make money? This government has banned more things than ever before, yet they'd allow people to beat up their wife in an instant if it meant extra tax revenue

[pondlife]

I think I read somewhere on the web (how's that for a reference :-) ) that some casinos in the US laid on free buses from retirement villiages to the casinos.

I like the way American Casinos pump oxygen/drugs/hormones into the air conditioning to make sure the punters don't fall asleep.

I think I read it on the web somwhere.

[BuyingBear]

I think I read somewhere on the web (how's that for a reference :-) ) that some casinos in the US laid on free buses from retirement villiages to the casinos. Social awareness at its finest.

Remember that story recently about a US political lobbyist called Jack Abramoff? He bribed countless congressmen from both parties with free trips to golfing in Scotland and all sorts of other jollies. He did a lot of 'work' on the behalf of casinos on Indian reserves and the tradition of 'pork barrelling' is better than ever, he helped 'convince' politicians as to the virtues of spending millions of dollars of public money into the building of interstate junctions and even entire highways simply to serve said casinos so they could drag in countless more punters.

Gambling is a beast, it encourages and feeds off corruption from top to bottom.

Edited April 15, 2006 by BuyingBear

[pondlife]

Gambling is a beast, it encourages and feeds off corruption from top to bottom.

But Gambling is a much larger problem in unregulated countries across asia where drug dealers and pimps are the bookies

[BuyingBear]

But Gambling is a much larger problem in unregulated countries across asia where drug dealers and pimps are the bookies

Yes, in the UK they have much nicer suits.

[737]

Depends, does it make money? This government has banned more things than ever before, yet they'd allow people to beat up their wife in an instant if it meant extra tax revenue

I wouldn't want to try beat up John Prescotts wife!

[Its time to buy]

gambling is BOOMING

i remember when labrokes was the only betting shop around

they were horrible places attended by old men who stank of fags and look like they never washed

TODAY theres been like 5 new bookies opened up in portsmouth

Those including Bet Fred, Corel, Williams, Bet choice etc...

They are now light and airy, all walks of life go in - men, women, young adults...

This is probably a good thing for jobs but, unfortunatley some will become addicts and lose everything

[MarkG]

This is probably a good thing for jobs but, unfortunatley some will become addicts and lose everything

Gambling is just a means of redistributing wealth from the desperate to the betting companies and government: it achieves nothing productive.

[SHERWICK]

gambling is BOOMING

i remember when labrokes was the only betting shop around

they were horrible places attended by old men who stank of fags and look like they never washed

TODAY theres been like 5 new bookies opened up in portsmouth

Those including Bet Fred, Corel, Williams, Bet choice etc...

They are now light and airy, all walks of life go in - men, women, young adults...

This is probably a good thing for jobs but, unfortunatley some will become addicts and lose everything

The reason for the sudden increase is that there is now no tax on gambling profits individuals make. Why this occurred is bizarre. Why isn't there also no tax on stock market investing? To remove tax on something leads to people doing it more, and firms springing up to service them (think of how lowering interest rates has led to a huge property industrial complex). It really is a travesty why there is no tax on gambling winnings but there is on other 'winnings'.

[Elizabeth]

The reason for the sudden increase is that there is now no tax on gambling profits individuals make. Why this occurred is bizarre. Why isn't there also no tax on stock market investing? To remove tax on something leads to people doing it more, and firms springing up to service them (think of how lowering interest rates has led to a huge property industrial complex). It really is a travesty why there is no tax on gambling winnings but there is on other 'winnings'.

There is however a problem in the treatment of winnings. Most people loose big time. So therefore, before they took out the tax, I was paying tax on my winnings but I couldn't offset it against my more generous loosings! If we are going to have casinos I think their should be an at least 75% windfall tax on the profits that bookies and other betting industries make - offset of course against reciepts from income tax!!! since its money for nothing really, taken out of the pockets of hard working wage earners.