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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 nations 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 18 th Century, buildings at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton were financed by lotteries (History of Gambling 1). Many people of the 1800 s wouldnt be caught dead without a deck of cards.
Despite its 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 miners 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 wasnt 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 thats 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 Harold's Club and Harrah opened Harrahs (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 Signal changed the citys character forever by constructing its 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 isnt 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 countrys 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. Its 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 wont 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. 5 th ballot in 1996. Issue 1 was the proposed constitutional amendment to allow casino gambling in Ohio. Its 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 states 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 providences of Canada are another good example of the profitability of gambling. Annual reports for 1994 - 95 show that the casinos in Montreal and Charlevoix 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 isnt 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 Citys 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. Theres so much money out there for the taking and Ohio should take a piece.
Atkinson, Megan M. Gambling in California: An Overview. [Online] Available web Berns, Dave. Talks turn to morality of gaming. [Online] Available http: // web 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 web February 26, 1999 Gambling. Encarta Multimedia Encyclopedia.
CD-ROM, 1997. History of Gambling Adds to Nevada's Colorful Past. [Online] Available web February 26, 1999. Kolasky, Bob. Issue of the Week: Fighting Long Odds. [Online] Available web February 22, 1999 NATIONAL GAMBLING IMPACT STUDY COMMISSION ACT. [Online] Available web 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: // web March 1, 1999 Seifert, Amy J. The stakes. [Online] Available web org/ present 2. html, February 28, 1999. Weissman, Robert. A BAD BET Casino Economics and the Politics of Gambling [Online] Available web hyper / mm 1196. 04.
html, February 10, 1999.
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