Evidence of Border Traffic Slowdown Damage.

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This is an example of what the border crossing slowdown is doing. Aside from the fact that its a casino getting hurt, the issue is; its too much trouble to cross the border to give away your money. There are tons of businesses along the border that were strategically placed there to capitalize on border traffic, like gas stations, stores (Canadians don't like paying GST), etc, etc. This means the potential for oodles of small businesses FAILING. Not good for the economy.

Casino Windsor Windsor, ON, CANADA Casino Windsor, Canada's largest and most plush gambling complex, announced yesterday it was cutting its workforce by 12% due to a stunning drop in business caused by traffic delays at the Canada-U.S. border and increased competition with casinos in Detroit. 600 part-time employees will lose their jobs effective Oct. 13. The announcement comes just days after 87 of the casino's most junior employees were handed pink slips. Business at Casino Windsor, which opened in 1994, has fallen about 45% since last month's terrorist attacks in the United States, where 80% of the casino's customers live. Border delays up to three hours have discouraged 8,000 American gamblers from making the trip every day. Efforts to lure back wary gamblers with cash incentives and low minimum bets have not succeeded. Casino Windsor has lost customers to three casinos across the Detroit River. All three U.S. casinos have reported a surge in business since Sept. 11.

-- Guy Daley (guydaley1@netzero.net), October 19, 2001

Answers

While, I'm not happy that people in or related to the gambling busines are losing their jobs I'd be all to happy to see the gaming business go down the toilet, the sooner the better.

The entire National Gambling Impact Study Commission Final Report:

http://www.ngisc.gov/reports/fullrpt.html

Just a small slice of what gambling does to America:

An excerpt from

http://www.family.org/docstudy/newsletters/a0004166.html

"Did you know that Americans gamble more money each year than they spend on groceries? 1 Or that more than $600 billion is wagered legally in the United States annually?2 Or that nearly one in five homeless people admit that gambling contributed to their poverty, and yet 37 percent said that they continue to gamble?3 Or that five to eight percent of American adolescents are already addicted to gambling?!4 Or that 75 percent of pathological gamblers admitted they had committed at least one felony to support their habit?5 Or that more money is spent on gambling in the State of Mississippi than on all retail sales combined?6 Or that a decade ago, only New Jersey and Nevada permitted casinos, but now 48 states have legalized some form of gambling?7 Or that more than 30,000 video poker machines, which are called the "crack cocaine of gambling,"8 are scattered through South Carolina, and that the governor who opposed them (David Beasley) was voted out in November?9 Or that children as young as four years of age can put money in those poker machines legally in South Carolina as long as they don’t accept their earnings?10 Or that the massive Las Vegas casino called "New York, New York" was completed in 1996 at a cost of $460 million,11 and more than half of it was paid for in a period of only one year?! 12"

Endnotes: 1 U.S. Bureau of the Census, Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1997, (117th edition,) Washington D.C., 1997, p. 769; Eugene Martin Christiansen, "A New Entitlement," International Gaming and Wagering Business, August 1998, p. 3. 2 Christiansen, op. cit. 3 Tim Poor, "1 in 5 of Homeless in Survey Blame Gambling," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 15, 1998, p. A9. 4 Andrew Quinn, "Studies Find Many Teens Hooked on Gambling," Philadelphia Inquirer, August 16, 1998. 5 Arnold Wexler, "Statistical Information on Compulsive Gamblers," Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey, Inc, pg. 2. 6 Joe Rutherford, "Resist Expansion of Casino Gambling," Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, September 30, 1995, p. 6A. 7 Patricia McQueen, "North American Gaming," International Gaming and Wagering Business, September 1998. 8 Viveca Novak, "They Call it Video Crack," Time, June 1, 1998, p. 58. 9 Edward Walsh, "Gambling's Election Win," The Washington Post, November 6, 1998, p. A1. 10 Testimony of Dr. Frank Quinn, Carolina Psychiatric Services, Columbia, S.C. before the National Gambling Impact Study Commission, Las Vegas, Nevada, November 10, 1998. 11 Carol Bidwell, "Welcome to Boomtown: New York-New York is Just One of Many Megaresorts Rising from the Desert," Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, March 2, 1997, p. 2. 12 "MGM Grand, Inc., Reports Ninth Consecutive Increase in Quarterly Net Income and Record Annual Earnings," PR Newswire, January 29, 1998.

-- Steve McClendon (ke6bjd@yahoo.com), October 19, 2001.


Yup, gambling is a narcotic alright. I wouldn't put as much as one plug nickle in a slot machine. And, it's not because I'm a fanatic who opposes gambling on religious grounds. It's because I fully realize that, over the long haul, when you are dealing with random numbers, you just can't win. Only the casino wins.

-- Uncle Fred (dogboy45@bigfoot.com), October 19, 2001.

If you are willing to put in the time learning and practicing one of the blackjack card counting systems (e.g. Thorpe's "Beat the Dealer") then you can indeed legally beat the odds. Of course once the casino identifies you as a card counter they'll ban you.

-- Barb Knox (barbara-knox@iname.com), October 19, 2001.

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