Maryland's low payout casinos: who really benefits

Maryland’s low payout casinos: who really benefits

Prior to Governor O’Malley assuming office casinos were viewed as an anathema in Annapolis. Fears of gambling addiction and the harsh impact on those who are already impoverished were on the tongue of every democrat in Annapolis. When Governor Ehrlich faded from the scene those same tongues had a new message far removed from their initial exhortations. The new message is: Gambling “profits”are needed to build and refurbish schools, improve infrastructure and shore up the general fund. The message behind the message casts doubt on where those funds would actually end up. Well known to those who use to flock to Maryland’s first casino, Hollywood, that its payouts are extremely low. Weekdays there may be more workers on the premises than players. Month after month this casino notes profits from its machines that are a contradiction to the number who move through this facility each day. Floor workers admit that complaints abound concerning payoffs from the machines they tend day after day. Validation comes in the form of a visit to this facility, it might be your last. Maryland live in Anne Arundel County opened in June to a massive influx of the hopeful, whose expectations were shattered when they put their hard earned entitlement money into the machines. Maryland Live has reported tens of millions in earnings for one reason, minimal payoffs are made to its players. Advertisements from the latter two casinos note a few high payoffs to the occasional lucky visitor. These sums are pennies to facilities that are cleverly defrauding an unsuspecting populace of millions each day. There is gambling than there is stealing.  Maryland’s facilities are in stealing mode presently. Maryland’s new bank’s depositors are the vast entitlement crowd, pensioners, the Workers Compensation community, the disabled and a few that actually work outside of government circles. Few if any of these groups are benefitting from the influx of Casinos. Commercials state that Maryland’s schools benefit from casino money. Do we need to rob people in casinos to support schools? How many families have been destroyed by the gambling infection brought to us by Maryland democrats? Worse, how many businesses have closed because of gambling debts? Who really benefits from gambling? No one! Jurisdictions that receive funds from casino payments know that someone had to lose large sums for them to gain. Neither the Governor nor the legislature that forced casinos upon us have a moral center to work from. Therefore, the negative ramifications casinos in Maryland have wrought are no consequence to those who lost their souls a long time ago. One question remains who was bought off to bring these low paying facilities to fruition? Watch the headlines, any day the shackles will be on those who sold Maryland to the highest bidder. Mark Davis author of Demons of Democracy and the forthcoming book, Obamacare: Dead on Arrival. platomd@gmail.com