Casinos....do we need them?

[bigtxhorseman]

I'm curious as to what the consensus is in our community on this....

We've got some sharp people here and I would like to hear yall's opinions, pros and cons.

As for me? We need them. I am being somewhat selfish since the horseracing industry in TX will not survive without them.

Would they effect our hobby? Let's get the ideas flowing! There are bills before the house now, waiting to go into committee.

[Sleepy363]

We have horse racing. We have the lotto. There is no reason we shouldn't have casinos as well

[pyramider]

Why have all the TX gambling losses going to LA and OK?

[huskerdude]

Horseracing does need gambling to do better here. All our gamblers go to LA and OK.
Why not keep them here. Maybe money can go towards education and we can keep more teachers.

[Spike21]

We need casinos, and we need them ASAP. Helps the state budget, the horse racing, and provides jobs. What is not to like?

[cptjohnstone]

We in OK say thank you. I have 2 daughters that are 1/8th Otoe Missouri and they get about $700 a quarter from theirs

Win Star is the 5th largest in the country

Isn't this the reason Randy Galloway hates Baylor

[wldtravel26]

I don't know about horse racing and other gaming outside of casino's, but I would say no to casino's in Tx. Yes the tax revenue etc is great, but it just brings a bad element that I wouldn't want in my community. I love to go to Vegas for the weekend, but after 3 nights, I can't wait to get out of there. Same thing for Shreveport, nice for a night of fun but I wouldn't want to live in either one of those cities. Having a city with a mindset of drinking, gambling and partying 24/7 isn't the type of place I would want to live in long term.

I haven't gone to the casino's in OK, so I don't know what their like, but based on my experiences with Vegas and Louisiana casino's, I wouldn't want to live in a city that had them.

[Toasted]

The reality is: at sporting/gambling events in our neighbor states the majority of license plates are TX. Thus, we prefer to export several hunderd million to our neighbors on an annual basis. We were once told the Texas Lottery would would bolster the Educational Fund statewide and we bought that load of poles. I would like to see open horse racing and casinoes here after ALL ( most all) of our current, trustworthy and honorable people representatines in Austin have their greedy digits seperated from their bodies.

The industries do not create "the problem", the lack of due dilligiance and supervision do. Your representatives are incompetent. Therefore, they established a more incompentent (and less cost effective) Texas Lottery Commission as their friends and supporters needed high paying jobs.

These will eventually come to Texas - let us find a structure that serves the peoples interest!!!

[TexTushHog]

No one "needs" casinos. However, we should have them is a different question. Personally, I'm for all the voluntary taxation that we can get. As others have pointed out, there are significant amounts of Texans crossing State lines to be taxed in other States every day. I'm in favor of keeping that money home. Likewise, I have a libertarian bent and favor gambling to the extent that the market will support it. I specifically think that Texas could support a big poker industry.

And while I love horse racing, I would oppose sending revenues to horse tracks. It needs to go to general revenue.

[Boltfan]

What we don't NEED is the government making the decision as to whether or not we can have casinos. If the market is there casinos should be built.

And when 90% of the plates at Winstar and Choctaw are from Texas the market is there.

[bigtxhorseman]

Hopefully we will get a chance to vote this November. There are 20 something different bills in the house right now. As you can all imagine, each Rep is trying to hedge his bet and get all he/she can to line their pockets.
I agree with one of the previous statements about not wanting to live next to a casino. But the money leaving the state, the number of new jobs possibly created, and not to mention the number of jobs saved should be enough for everyone to want to give casinos a try.

The "leading" bill so far calls for casinos (slots only) at the tracks and up to 8 resort style casinos in Galveston, South Padre, Corpus Christi, San Antonio, Midland/Odessa, and 2 in the DFW area.

[planojim]

That will be a start but I won't be satisfied until we have table games.
Better odds for the player!

Originally Posted by bigtxhorseman

Hopefully we will get a chance to vote this November. There are 20 something different bills in the house right now. As you can all imagine, each Rep is trying to hedge his bet and get all he/she can to line their pockets.
I agree with one of the previous statements about not wanting to live next to a casino. But the money leaving the state, the number of new jobs possibly created, and not to mention the number of jobs saved should be enough for everyone to want to give casinos a try.

The "leading" bill so far calls for casinos (slots only) at the tracks and up to 8 resort style casinos in Galveston, South Padre, Corpus Christi, San Antonio, Midland/Odessa, and 2 in the DFW area.

[TexTushHog]

For those hoping for casinos, the bills won't pass either the House or the Senate. No substantial Republican support. It's just not going to happen.

[argus256]

the companies that run the OK and LA casinos are filling the texas politicians pockets to not allow it, heh

[TexRich]

Originally Posted by TexTushHog

For those hoping for casinos, the bills won't pass either the House or the Senate. No substantial Republican support. It's just not going to happen.

that is true, all the rest of the talk here is just chatter and a pipe dream.