A High Stakes Gamble

Gambling is a worthless endeavor that can get you killed, or otherwise ruin what you might have left that passes for a life. So to that extent I can understand the reluctance of Kentucky legislators to pass bill 600, which recently got moved to committee. This was a way some few legislative supporters had of holding off what had been the almost certain defeat of this bill , which would allow some Kentucky race tracks to operate as casinos. The main proponents of the bill is an organization called KEEP, for Kenucky Equine Education Project, and it is an obvious boondoggle. Racetracks in Kentucky have traditionally been opponents of any measure to extend any form of legalized gambling outside their purview, but this was meant to be to their benefit, in fact, it was meant to insure a monopoly on the gambling industry, aside of course from the state run lottery.

This was only one of the reasons it ws doomed to failure, there was also the very real and legitimate concern about the impact on society, especially among the poor, who are traditionally the heaviest investors in the gambling industry. Casinos would only be seen as exacerbating the problem, opening up doors to prostitution, increased crime and alcohol related problems, etc.

Still, the main point is that the state could definitely use the money which is now being spent in neighboring states by those who will gamble regardless. The bill should pass,. but the racetracks should not be the only benefiiaries. The current consideration of the bill is a proposal to extend the range to thirteen casinos in as yet unspecified ares of the stae, with only five or six of these being racetracks.

I definitely agree with KEEP on one thing. They should let the people decide. Then again, maybe they shouldn’t. The religious right will probably just flood the airwaives and newspapers with a deluge of ads, most of them misleading and exxaggerated, in an effort to defeat the bill,and their efforts would probably be succesful.

Instead, the legislators should decide to have some backbone and vote for the bill. After all, no one that I know of lost an election in Kentucky by supporting the state lottery, and I have no doubt the same would be the case here.

I’m not much of a gambling person myself, though I have done it from time to time, a pick three here, a pick four there, a Powerball ticket every now and then. I’ve even played some penny ante poker a few, a very few times. My gambling drug of choice is, in fact, the throughbred races. There, you do have a chance of winning, and I don’t believe for a minute that the races are rigged, not the major stakes anyway,though this was a minor problem in the past. Regardlss, it is fun, as long as you don’t let yourself get caught up in the excitement of a few wins and end up losing your winnings and more, as I did once to the tune of 200 dollars on one race. I bet on one of the best jockeys in the business at the time to come in third, or show, in a field of five, in a race where he was ranked fourth, which is what he came in at.

So, I put my hand up to the burner and learned the consequences, and that is a lesson that has stayed with me to this day. And, though other people may not be so adaptive, the opportunity should be legal and availiable, which it is in Indiana, which is draining millions of dollars in sorely needed revenue from the state.

With all it’s potential downside, bill 600 should still be passed, but it probably will not be. Our state legislators and governor though will gladly pass bills such as the one recently signed into law that allows the Ten Commandments to be erected on the Frankfort state capitol grounds. In the context of a “historical display”, of course. I don’t expect, however, to see any statues of Hammurabi in any Kentucky courthouses and schools anytime soon. And that of course is where this is all eventually heading, if this bunch has their way.

That I would almost bet the farm on.