[Southsider2k12]

http://www.journalgazette.net/article/2011...990/1147/EDIT07

Gambling expansion
The cynical response to Indiana lawmakers’ latest action on gambling is that members of the General Assembly are against expanding gambling – except when they are for it.

How else to explain their vote to allow the state’s casinos to offer gambling outside their restricted gambling floors and inside the hotels that adjoin casinos?

The intent of the legislature is to allow casinos to hold large poker tournaments. Anyone who has visited any of the state’s casinos is quickly impressed by their enormous size – the Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City boasts of a 65,000-square-foot gambling hall – but the casinos complain they just don’t have enough room to hold card tournaments. (A football field, including the end zones, is 57,600 square feet.)

Only their hotel lobbies and meeting rooms can accommodate these tournaments, they argue. So, as a matter of public policy for the state of Indiana, both the House and Senate have agreed that gambling need no longer be confined to the gambling floor.

Why?

It’s no secret that the state’s casinos are struggling with real and potential competition – some from each other, some from new casinos in Michigan, and some expected from Ohio and, perhaps, Kentucky. The lawmakers who approved the expansion into adjoining hotels undoubtedly wanted to do what they could to boost the revenue of the casinos and, not coincidentally, the taxes they pay.

Yet expanding gambling past the casino floor and into the hotels poses new questions about new locations that need security and state oversight. Plus, children can stay in the hotels. Does the state really want gambling in hotel lobbies?

Sadly, the state’s reliance on gambling revenue has made lawmakers quick to grant the requests of the big operators without fully considering the ramifications. When horse-track revenue didn’t meet expectation, lawmakers gave the two tracks permission to add casinos – thus siphoning revenue from the other casinos.

When it became clear that the original “riverboat casinos” could make more money as “riverside” casinos, the state dropped requirements that they go out on the water. Indeed, the same bill the House approved this week that allows gambling in the hotels also drops the requirement that the boats be navigable, allowing them to be permanently moored.

Now – in an effort to stem their losses, much like a desperate gambler – lawmakers have decided that casino gambling need not be confined to the casino.

As expansion of gambling goes, it’s not a huge step. But it’s yet another incremental expansion in a series of them.

[IndyTransplant]

http://www.journalgazette.net/article/2011...990/1147/EDIT07

The person that wrote this article is probably not a card player and evidently not familiar with the room sizes needed for large poker tournaments such as the WTP, Heartland Poker Tour, WSOP, The Midwest NA Poker championship, etc. In order to host such an event in its casino, Blue Chip would have to remove their slot machines. Although a large poker event is a nice revenue maker, it would not do them much good to remove one large source of revenue to make way for one that would most certainly not be as profitable as their slot machines.

Blue Chip has a wonderful event center that could be used for such an event. This could open the door for yet another large event or two, drawing visitors & tourists to Michigan City with their expendable dollars being spent in our restaurants, shopping areas and local venues. A tournament event such as those listed above could draw new visitors to Michigan City and they might discover they like our beaches, parks, lakeshore, shops, and other entertainment venues.


I agree with the fact that obviously hotels could not hold them in open lobbies since children are in those areas. However event spaces, banquet areas and such can be closed to children during such events. I was pleased to see that this bill passed, as it could lead to an opening for a new event for Michigan City. Since Blue Chip has the largest casino hotel in the area and Horseshoe does not even have a hotel yet, this may give Blue Chip (and Michigan City) another leg up in the market.