Legalization Of Gambling In Ohio Essay Research

Paper

Legalization of Gambling in Ohio

The words Casinos and Gambling are often associated with gangsters,

prostitution, murderers, and all the illegal operations one could think of.

Those kinds of stereotypes are picked up in movies like “Casino” and the

countless other gangster and casino related movies that are based in the 50’s,

60’s, and 70’s, but that was then and this is now. “While there may be some

vestigial ties between organized crime and casinos, gambling is now big

business” (Weissman 1). “The term gambling or ‘gaming’ as the industry

calls it, means any legalized form of wagering or betting conducted in a

casino, on a riverboat, on an Indian reservation, or at any other location

under the jurisdiction of the United States” (National Gambling Impact Study

Commission Act). The hobby of gambling is a part of most people lives.

Casual bets on the Bulls and Knicks game or a weekend poker game at your

buddies house are both forms of gambling. Gambling is a multi-billion dollar

industry and Amy J. Seifert said in her article The Stakes that “gambling has

become one of the nation’s fastest growing industries” (Seifert 2). Ohio can

get a piece of that if they legalize all forms of gambling.

Gambling, like baseball, is a national pastime. Gambling is deeply

imbedded in the history of United States.

Many settlers in Jamestown had their passageway paid for by the sale

of lottery tickets. The revolutionary army was funded by lottery tickets

also–Gen. George Washington bought the first one. In the 18th

Century, buildings at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton were financed by

lotteries (History of Gambling…1).

Many people of the 1800’s wouldn’t be caught dead without a deck of

cards. “Despite it’s illegality, gambling during the 1860’s was a popular

pastime among the miners of Virginia City and Gold hill… A deck of cards

was as much a part of a miner’s possessions as was the pick with which he

unearthed silver from the mines” (History of Gambling…1). The first

territorial legislature that outlawed games of chance wasn’t written until

1861(History of Gambling…1), but the law was unenforced. Probably

because the cops themselves were playing. Nothing could be done to stop

gambling so they tried to regulate it. “In 1869 when the state legislature

enacted a law requiring a license to operate a game, the state and local

governments filled their coffers with the fees charged gaming operators”

(History of Gambling…1). Nevada legislature ordered all gambling

establishments to close their doors in 1910 (History of Gambling…1).

So what does someone do when something becomes outlawed? They

go underground, and that’s what people did. “During the ban, gangsters ‘Big

Bill’ Graham and Jimmy ‘The Couch’ Mckay operated illegal halls and

monopolized prostitution and bootlegging when prohibition was enacted in

1919” (History of Gambling…1).

When the Great Depression set-in, everyone looked for ways to make

some money. “During the depression, state legislators sought out ways to

increase state revenues. Phil Tobin, a Nevada legislator from Winnemucca

argued that since gambling still existed despite laws banning it, the state

should legalize gambling and tax it. They did” (History of gambling…1). In

1931, the state of Nevada legalized gambling.(History of Gambling…1).

“Casino gaming did not become a major industry until after World War II,

when it flourished in response to increasing social acceptance and population

booms in California and other western states” (History of Gambling…1).

The first respectable casinos were built in Reno by the Smiths and Bill

Harrah in the mid-1930’s. The Smiths and his partners opened Harolds Club

and Harrah opened Harrah’s (History of Gambling…1). Those clubs were

alright but nothing compared to the casino being built down south in Las

Vegas. “Las Vegas was a small town until gangster Benjamin ‘Bugsy’ Siegal

changed the city’s character forever by constructing it’s first lavish

hotel-casino in 1945” (Gambling-Encarta). It was know as the Flamingo.

The casino industry started and there was no looking back. Nevada’s

economy exploded and has made trillions to date.

Gambling isn’t just rolling the dice and praying for a seven or eleven.

There are many different types of legalized gambling. The most obvious

being casino-style gambling. Someone could play roulette, card and dice

games, slot machines, and electronic games such as video poker and video

slots. Other forms of gambling include Horse racing-the wagering of money

on the outcome of a horse race, Indian gambling-the gambling allowed on

Indian owned land. “In 1988, Congress passed the Indian Gaming

Regulatory Act which reestablished the right of sovereign Indian tribes to run

casinos on their land without having to follow the gambling laws of the state

they occupy” (Kolasky 2). “One-third of the country’s 557 federally

recognized tribes offer some form of gaming” (Berns 2).

More forms of gambling include charitable gambling-serves as a

fund-raiser for nonprofit organizations, Riverboat gambling-the casino-style

gambling on a boat in the water, Sports betting-the wagering of money on the

outcome of sports games, Internet gambling-gambling over the Internet, and

probably the most used of all is lotteries-the buying of numbered tickets in

which prizes given out to those whose numbers are drawn. The only forms of

gambling allowed in the state of Ohio are lotteries, horse racing, and

charitable gambling such as bingo (Drinkard 2)

Along with the legal forms there are also illegal forms of gambling.

It’s illegal when someone makes a bet, lets say on the outcome of a sporting

event, with a non-licensed bookie. A bookie is a person who people call up

or met with to place bets with, usually on sports. A non-licensed bookie is

someone who is not registered and does not have a licenses Another form of

illegal gambling would be any kind of gambling in a non-regulated casino

type facility. For example, if the place where someone gambles does not

have the appropriate licenses and does not pays taxes then that is an illegal

form of betting.

The amount of money available in gambling is almost endless. The

legalization of all forms of gambling in Ohio would give the state millions of

dollars of extra money.

The Ohio initiative specifies that casino revenues, after pay out of

winnings to gamblers, will be taxed 20 percent, with 80 percent of the

collected monies going to fund schools. Kate Hubben, a spokesperson

for Yes on One, the group campaigning for passage of the gambling

initiative, says the tax is expected to raise $180 million to $200 million

for Ohio schools. ‘While that certainly won’t solve’ all the problems

facing the schools, she says, it would buy 62,000 computers and 4.56

million text books (Weissman 3).

The term “Yes on One” that Hubben refers to was Issue 1 on the Nov.

5th ballot in 1996. Issue 1 was the proposed constitutional amendment to

allow casino gambling in Ohio. It’s unfortunate to say that Issue 1 did not

pass. It was voted down by a count of 2,659,076 against it to only 1,639,955

for it (Official Report of Votes for Statewide Issue 1). If Issue 1 would of

been passed, the schools of Ohio would have had millions of dollars in their

pockets. Schools could buy more than just new books and computers. For

example, they could hire more teaches to cut down class sizes, build new

state of the art school buildings, buy safer and better equipment for there

schools sports, buy safer and more fun playground equipment for younger

grades, buy new buses, increase the number of elective classes and extra

curricular activities for students. The possibilities are almost endless.

To understand the economic benefits of the legalizing of all forms of

gambling in Ohio, one needs only to look at the numbers. A report by Megan

M. Atkinson titled California: An Overview states:

In 1996, the estimated revenue for the gambling industry nationwide

in 1996 was $47.7 billion. Casino gambling (not including Indian

casinos) received the largest share of revenue, with a total of $17.5

billion, or nearly 37 percent, of the nationwide total. Lotteries grossed

the next largest share of gambling revenue totaling $16.2 billion, or 34

percent, of the total (Atkinson 3).

In 1995 Indian gambling raked in $4.5 billion (Drinkard 2). In

California, “Indian gambling has experienced dramatic growth in recent

years. Revenues have grown from an estimated $120 million in 1991 to $5.4

billion in 1996–a 114 percent annual growth rate” (Atkinson 4). Amy Seifert

reports:

In Minnesota the economic benefits of gambling include millions of

dollars raised for the state’s general fund, charities and an

environmental trust fund as well as benefits to Indian communities who

are building schools, clinics, roads and businesses through their

casinos” (Seifert 2).

“In 1996, estimated gross gambling revenues for the California

gambling industry totaled $2.3 billion” (Atkinson 6).

The providence’s of Canada are another good example of the

profitability of gambling. “

Annual reports for 1994-95 show that the casinos in Montreal and

Charlevois took in $363.2 million in gross revenues, the

casino in Windsor grossed $418.9 million, and the Crystal Casino in

Winnipeg reportedly gross revenues of $19.6 million for a four-casino

total of $801.7 million” (Gambling: A Multi-Billion-Dollar Industry).

Money isn’t the only advantage of the legalization of gambling. The

next biggest factor is the amount of jobs that casinos bring to a city. Kate

Hubben says “the casinos [in Ohio] would create 21,000 permanent jobs,

with an average salary of $25,000, as well as 17,000 temporary construction

jobs” (Weissman 3). Frank Fahrenkopf, the president of the American

Gaming Association, said, “For state governments, casinos were a way to

find jobs for people out of employment and to pump money and capital

investment into the economy” (Kolasky 2). For a corporation to build a

casino they need alot of help. Opportunities for business in a casino area are

very high. Such opportunities would involve construction of new casino

facilities and related real estate developments consisting of hotels and

shopping centers as well as actual management and operation of the casino.

“Casinos directly and indirectly employ one million people, asserts Kelley

Gannon, communications director for the AGA, and, she says, they ‘generate

a lot of [tax] revenue at the state and local levels’”(Weissman 1). The jobs

are almost endless.

The growth of tourism is also an advantage of gambling. Visitors

would come to Ohio and want to bring back souvenirs from their trip. This

gives many residents of Ohio a good chance to bring in some extra dough by

selling souvenirs. The tourists will need places to sleep, eat, relax, and have

a good time. The growth of tourism in Ohio will positively effect almost

every business and community.

Casinos also give alot of money to charity. Local organizations

could profit from the legalization of gambling. “Atlantic City’s casinos

contribute $300 million a year to state programs for the elderly and disabled”

(Flander 2).

The legalization of gambling is a great way for the state of Ohio to

make money. The president of the American Gaming Association Frank

Fahrenkopf says that “not only does revenue go up for the hotel industry (and

others directly effected by gambling), but retail sales go up across the whole

community” (Kolasky 2). The legalization of gambling is also away to avoid

raising taxes. Usually when a state or country needs money, the first thing

they do is hike up the taxes. Gambling will combat that. There’s so much

money out there for the taking and Ohio should take a piece.

Atkinson, Megan M. Gambling in California: An Overview. [Online]

Available http://www.lao.ca.gov/12998_gambling.html

Berns, Dave. Talks turn to morality of gaming. [Online] Available http://

www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/1998/Jul-31-Fri-1998/business/7946838.html

Drinkard, Jim. “Campaign finance.” USA TODAY [Online] 12 February

1998.

Flander, Scott. “Gambling on the future.” Philadelphia Daily News [Online]

3 February 1997.

GAMBLING: A MULTI-BILLION-DOLLAR INDUSTRY. [Online]

Available http://www.ccsa.ca/gmbi.htm, February 26, 1999

“Gambling.” Encarta Multimedia Encyclopedia. CD-ROM, 1997.

History of Gambling Adds to Nevada’s Colorful Past. [Online] Available

http://www.laketahoe.com/About/Gamhist.htm, February 26, 1999.

Kolasky, Bob. Issue of the Week: Fighting Long Odds. [Online] Available

http://www.intellectualcapital.com/issues/97/0911/icissue.asp,

February 22, 1999

NATIONAL GAMBLING IMPACT STUDY COMMISSION ACT.

[Online] Available http://www.ngisc.gov/c-law.html, February 20,

1999

“Neon Night in Las Vegas.” Encarta Multimedia Encyclopedia. CD-ROM,

1997.

Official Report of Votes for Statewide Issue 1. [Online] Available http://

www.state.oh.us/sos/dpatlarg.html, March 1, 1999

Seifert, Amy J. The stakes. [Online] Available http://www.churchstreetumc.

org/ present2.html, February 28, 1999.

Weissman, Robert. A BAD BET Casino Economics and the Politics of

Gambling [Online] Available http://prince.essential.org/monitor/

hyper/mm1196.04. html, February 10, 1999.