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States Going on the Casino Bandwagon but Will Gamble Pay Out?

The August 09, 2023, By Quirino De Luca

States strapped for cash in this dying, lingering economy have turned to the lure of easy cash from the casinos, in many ways gambling exactly as the players themselves would. This bet could ultimately lead to hurting the taxpayers themselves if the supply of slots, poker tables and racetracks outpaces customers’ demand.

The race to open new casinos is in its fastest pace in the Northwest, which already has 41 casinos with twenty more planned.

The race to open new casinos is most frenzied in the Northeast, which has 41 casinos and 20 more planned. Atlantic City, which for decades held the gambling monopoly outside Nevada, was already reeling from a blow from surrounding states, which all opened casinos. Now New York, which has Indian run casinos has just approves slot machines for its Aqueduct racetrack. Pennsylvania has added table games like poker and blackjack

Massachusetts lawmakers approved plans July 31 for the state's first gambling halls, threatening two tribal casinos in Connecticut and two racetrack casinos in Rhode Island.

Maine's voters decide a casino issue in November; Ohio just approved casinos; Maryland opens its first — along the busy Interstate 95 corridor — this fall; and Delaware's three racetrack casinos started offering table games this summer.

The consequences of saturation can be destructive. Companies are investing billions of dollars courting an ever decreasing part of the market while governments are banking on additional revenue from casinos and gamblers winnings to help run operations and ward off tax hikes. States openly talk of poaching gamblers from their neighboring states, with a view of keeping their own residents’ money inside state lines a religious crusade.

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