An editorial “Pa., gambling Mecca of East” pronounces “Everybody makes money of course except hapless casino patrons.”
WATCHDOG: Let’s put this in perspective. Couples can pay $200 on an outing to a football game, a Broadway musical, an opera, or a rock concert. We ascribe such expenditures to entertainment.
Couples also, especially the elderly, will spend a couple of hundred dollars, often far less, on a trip to a casino. They absorb the ambiance, catch some of the entertainment, enjoy a meal, and lose perhaps a hundred bucks.
When the Watchdog was a college pup and traveled through Reno on his way to Cal Berkeley, he noted the signs placed throughout Harold’s Club: “Don’t gamble more than you can afford to lose. We want you to come back.”
Well, things have changed since those days when, along with the Burma Shave messages, there were signs along the highways throughout the country with an arrow and stating the number of miles to Harold’s Club. But their sentiment was correct.
When the youthful Watchdog sought to cash a check at Harold’s Club, he was asked how much would he care to cash in the future. He asked if they were going to run a credit check. “Oh no”, he was told. “That’s your self imposed limit so you won’t be tempted to gamble more than you had intended.”
The problem isn’t with casinos per se. They provide entertainment. It is with those addicted to gambling. The casinos and the authorities need to be more pro-active in identifying and helping them. Perhaps the New Era editors can come up with some suggestions along those lines.
Just wait until the Convention Center is turned into a casino……The LNP Editors will all have GLOWING statistics and testimonials to share about how GREAT this will be for Lancaster City and County (not to mention their adjacent hotel). LNP always pats the back that is attached to the arm that is putting money in their pockets.
No cronyism there……is there?????