Hotel Online 
News for the Hospitality Executive


 

South Florida Grapples with the Question of Video Slot Machines

By Michael Putney, The Miami Herald
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Jan. 13, 2005 --You know you're getting close to the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino when you see the sudden proliferation of discount cigarette outlets and pawn shops. The latter include Casino Pawn and Player's Pawn, both of which are located directly across the street on State Road 441 and advertise "Quick cash" and "Fast cash loans."

The message is not subtle: If you're losing at slots, cards or bingo, come on over and hock that wedding ring, watch or whatever you've got, and maybe your luck will improve.

It's a message that South Florida voters should think about as local politicians and administrators dicker with the parimutuel industry over government's cut of the take if and when Vegas-style slots are approved. Right now, it looks like voters in Broward and Miami-Dade will consider that question in March elections. Since both counties solidly approved Amendment 4 last November, it's likely that they'll say Yes again in March.

But should they? What will we get if voters approve putting Class III slot machines in seven Broward and Miami-Dade horse tracks, dog tracks and jai-alai frontons? And also in the six Seminole casinos and one run by the Miccosukees, since by law they can't provide gambling beyond that currently allowed by state law, which is the lottery, low-stakes poker and bingo?

If you haven't visited one of the Indian casinos, you may not realize that their video gambling terminals are no more than glorified bingo machines, even if they look and sound like the slots in Nevada or Atlantic City.

At the old Seminole bingo parlor on SR 441, I was amused to hear a slot making the sound of coins gushing out when a player hit a jackpot, although no money was disgorged. The player in question didn't seem to mind. But he also didn't exclaim, shout or shake his fist in the air in exultation, either, at his winnings. He made no sign of any kind. Just sat there on his stool, a tight smile on his face, cigarette smoke curling upward, catatonic.

I didn't see many happy gamblers on my recent sojourn to the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Granted, 11 o'clock on a Sunday morning is not the hour to see an especially enthusiastic or stylish crowd. What you see are hard-core gamblers.

Most were white, male and middle-aged. Not one bore even a vague resemblance to a tuxedo-clad James Bond playing baccarat at the Hotel de Paris casino in Monte Carlo. Of course, on my one visit there, I didn't see anybody who looked like that, either.

A Hard Rock bartender offered that most of the Sunday-morning gamblers were "service-industry workers" -- bartenders, bouncers, waiters, strippers -- who came in at 3 or 4 a.m. after their shifts ended. Mixed in were some early-rising retirees and perhaps a few hotel guests. Most of the action, such as it was, was at the card tables, particularly the $1 or $2 Texas Hold 'Em tables. About 200 people were playing at tables of eight. Many were smoking, boozing and studying their cards with fierce concentration. There was very little conversation, save for comments by the dealers. All in all, a pretty glum scene. Due in part, no doubt, to the hour.

A confession is in order: I'm not much of a gambler. An occasional bet at Gulfstream, sure, but playing poker, bingo or video slots at 11 a.m. or p.m. is not my idea of a good time. Still, I know that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in my philosophy, and (to mix Shakespearean metaphors) as Sir Toby Belch says to the priggish Malvolio: "Dost thou think, because thou art virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale?"

Well, of course there will. Cakes and ale and craps. Human nature being what it is, people will gamble. It's an urge that's right up there with the drive for sex, food, sex and a 7-series BMW.

The question is whether government should legalize, organize and profit from gambling. I decline to say "gaming" because that's a word invented to make something inherently risky socially acceptable, all warm and cuddly.

As far as I can tell, the people who like to gamble don't want it warm and cuddly. They want the adrenaline rush of taking a chance and the delicious, if distant, promise of hitting a big cash-out.

The Seminoles cleverly capitalize on this with ads and billboards that promise: "$5.9 Million in Payouts Daily. Did You Get Yours?" Probably not, but you can be sure the Seminoles got theirs.

Proponents of legalized slots say that gambling already exists here on cruises to nowhere and the Indian casinos, from which state and local government receive no proceeds. Broward is said to be looking at $10 million annually if slots are installed at four sites. Also, thousands of jobs would be created in both counties and millions spent to upgrade the parimutuels.

But is that enough to offset the expected increase in problem gamblers and attendant social ills? The Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling doesn't think so. It predicts a sharp increase in the number of gambling addicts in Florida, who already number 250,000.

"We're looking at a high number of problem and pathological gamblers if these VLRs (video lottery terminals) are approved," says Pat Rowe of the FCCG, "and we're particularly worried about older folks in Miami-Dade and Broward." I saw dozens of them on Sunday morning. Imagine how many more there would be with 10,000 additional slot machines here.

A telling fact. The average debt of Florida problem gamblers who call the FCCG's telephone hot line: $69,796.

Another telling fact: The cars I saw Sunday in the parking lots of the Seminole casinos were a motley assortment of old Camrys and Carollas with the occasional beat-up Continental or Caddy. And before the day was over, I'm sure that some were driven across the street to Casino Pawn.

-----To see more of The Miami Herald -- including its homes, jobs, cars and other classified listings -- or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.herald.com.

(c) 2005, The Miami Herald. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail [email protected]. RANKY, RNK,

 
advertisement 
To search Hotel Online data base of News and Trends Go to Hotel.OnlineSearch
Home | Welcome| Hospitality News | Classifieds| Catalogs& Pricing |
Viewpoint Forum | Ideas&Trends | Press Releases
Please contact Hotel.Onlinewith your comments and suggestions.