You may think that the Texas Hold’em card game that has captured the interest of many adults along with an alarming amount of our children is just a fad; but I believe there is much more to it, and that the gaming industry has planned this for quite some time. My theory goes back to the mid 80s, when it was just Nevada and New Jersey with legalized commercial casino gambling. Back then New Jersey casinos didn’t have poker rooms; they came about after the New Jersey State police investigators had found that more than one hundred million dollars in cash was on deposit in the month of August in ten Boardwalk casinos in Atlantic City. After that discovery the Fed’s brought the federal banking laws into all the commercial casinos. This meant the casinos had to report cash transactions of more than ten thousand dollars a day to the U.S. Treasury Department. The Fed’s said it was to prevent narcotics traffickers and mobsters from laundering their money in casinos. Now if you were like me and in bed with the casinos during that time, you would know that the organized crime money was a drop in the bucket compared to what business people like me were dumping down in those joints week after week. In those days the table games were 50% of the take, men were 70% of the gamblers. The slot machines were secondary, kina like a robotic babysitter for the Mrs. or girlfriend. There were none of those “Total Rewards Cards,” that they track your play with today. Back then you had to negotiate for your comps; that is until you had a casino host or should I say “casino pimp.”
The Federal Banking Laws changed forever how commercial casinos would operate. For example take the #1 casino operator at that time in Atlantic City, Steve Wynn, owner of the Golden Nugget hotel and casino. Before the bank reporting Wynn’s Golden Nugget even though being the second smallest square footage of casino space in Atlantic City was always amongst the top three casinos in gaming revenues per-quarter. But with the Fed’s watching those cash transactions Wynn’s formula to breed cash table players into compulsive gamblers had come to an end. So he sold the Golden Nugget and used much of the money to build his dream resort the Mirage in Las Vegas in 1989. Later he built Treasure Island and in 1998 another ‘dream’, the Bellagio. The three resorts brought free attractions, volcano, pirate ship fights and Bellagio’s dancing water show. Wynn’s dreams stirred many others to build and renovate the Strip into “Family Las Vegas.” Since the federal banking laws came into effect, the slot machines became 70 % of gaming revenues. Today 70% of slot players are women and 40% of all slot players are seniors.Wynn’s dreams had a good run but the new century saw the MGM/Mirage merger take place and the master was out of the business and so was “Family Las Vegas.” Today the tables are turning, and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why table games revenues are up 8 to 10% in the last year. It’s those Texas Hold’em tournaments. And the reason for these tournaments is because casino operators know that in the near future those 40% of senior slot players will be off the planet and that the next generation of seniors “baby boomers” are more adapt to playing table games, (games of skill not chance.) And their children along with the future generations of gamblers, who have been playing games of skill (video games) since they got out of diapers, are not about to wait for luck or chance to put cherry’s in a row. The casinos bring in thousands of these so-called skilled players who pay an admission to get into these tournaments, and within a few hours 90% of them are eliminated. And where do they end up, out on the casino floor playing table games like blackjack, craps, and roulette. The gaming operators know that once these so-called skilled players catch a run in blackjack, a roll of the dice, or a few good spin of the wheel and in no time win a few grand, then they just stuck the casino needle in their arm.
A lot of us have experienced the pain and suffering when a loved one or friend is an alcoholic or drug addict. We accept their plight as a sickness, an addiction, but we’re still on the fence when it comes to those compulsive gamblers. Maybe it’s because the compulsive gambler doesn’t drink, smoke, take pills, inhale or inject a substance into them to get high. Being an ex-casino gambling junkie and one who made it through the 60’s I can assure you they’re getting high and their plight is the most costly. Booze and drugs is a cheap high compared to what it cost a gambling addict to get off. And once their finances are diminished they will rob you and it won’t be for a six-pack or a nickel-bag. And they won’t be staggering or slurring their words, you’ll never see it coming.
Wynn and the other casino predators have their crosshairs locked on all of us, and when the breeding starts it’s going to be, ‘a family affair.’
To learn more about my credentials this subject go on line and look up Bill Kearney on casino gambling, or go on YOUTUBE’ and put my name in the search and check out my videos.
Open this link to view a sample of my videos.
