Can you tell how sick I am of it all?
"Mass. gamblers enjoy ride, but would rather play in state" by Brian MacQuarrie, Globe Staff | April 13, 2010
Curtis Harris of Cambridge, a self-described poker professional, sits alone by the window, reading “An Introduction to Theories of Personality.’’ Behind him, Irene Loussedes of Chelsea raves to her brother about the “Wizard of Oz’’ slot machine. And across the aisle, Ray Mendes, a disabled veteran from Dorchester, chuckles that he lets his neighbor confiscate his ATM card before each trip.
Welcome to the 11:05 a.m. Greyhound bus from South Station to the Foxwoods casino, a no-fuss ferry of Massachusetts gamblers who are bound for the gaming emporium in Mashantucket, Conn.
So this is what the Boston Globe reporter is "investigating," huh?
Tagging along with the sad sack addicts of the gambling world?
No wonder their circulation is declining and revenue cratering.
“This is the only place I can go to have fun,’’ says Mendes, 63, who spends all his nonessential income at Foxwoods. “And if I win, I have money, too!’’
How sad, how truly sad.
People such as these, who travel to Foxwoods and nearby Mohegan Sun, are key targets for gambling proponents on Beacon Hill, where the House will begin debate on a casino bill today. And if the passengers on this bus are any indication, many would indeed spend their money in a Massachusetts casino if one is built. It is, they say, a matter of simple convenience.
“We’ve got everything else in Massachusetts,’’ says Gene Havens, 45, who decided on a whim to trek with his sister to the Foxwoods slots. “We’ve got the daily numbers, the Powerball. Why not have casinos on the ground?’’
Havens and Loussedes say a closer casino would be an attractive alternative to the two-hour drive to Foxwoods. Mendes, too, says he would give a Massachusetts casino a try, although he is enamored with bingo at Foxwoods, where $20 admits him to several hours of drawings and a chance for the $1,500 prize.
“I just love it,’’ Mendes says. “My mother turned me on to bingo, and I won the first time I went, at a church in Dorchester.’’
Sigh.
On this weekday, the mood on the bus ride is one of upbeat anticipation.
It is called a GAMBLER'S RUSH, Globe!
Mendes imagines a winning night and an extra day’s stay, Loussedes looks ahead to a low-stress afternoon at the penny and quarter slots, and Harris outlines a strategy that yields at least $100 in winnings every day.
Really?
That what the tall-tale telling gambler told you?
“I’m trying to outsmart people who are already smart,’’ says Harris, 34, who supports two children with his gambling.
That is really a SICK STATEMENT and DISGUSTING "journalism," if you can call it that. I know what I call it.
Yup, GAMBLING can be a CAREER, didn't you know that?
This outing went well. Harris, who played nonstop from 2 p.m. Friday until noon Sunday, left with $710....
No wonder Foxwoods is going under.
Critics argue that casino gambling is a pernicious and regressive tax on many customers, including the poor and elderly, who might poach from meager incomes to feed the slots and other games that always favor the casino. Mendes might be an example for the opponents. When his military disability pay arrives at the beginning of each month, Mendes said, he pays his rent and utilities, stocks his refrigerator, and buys a monthly MBTA pass. The rest, he said, is devoted to as many trips to Foxwoods as his bank balance and winnings will allow.
“If I don’t win at bingo tonight, I’ll be on the 2:10 a.m. bus back,’’ Mendes says. “I’ve got about $80 left in my account. But I’ve got food in my fridge and a roof over my head. I’m a happy camper.’’
I give up.
Lose your shirt, s***ter; just don't ask for mine afterward.
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Massachusetts residents are estimated to lose $1.1 billion per year at the Connecticut casinos and two gaming facilities in Rhode Island, according to studies commissioned by the Legislature.
Also see: Casino Comparisons: Rhode Island's Red Ink
Studies commissioned by WHO?
If gambling isn’t recession-proof, it’s certainly not paralyzed. As the Boston contingent rides the escalator into Foxwoods, the cavernous gaming rooms are buzzing with the clinking, blinking, and clattering business of all-day, all-night sensory overload.
Row after row of slot machines have a mesmerizing pull, the poker tables are nearly full, and long lines form outside a warehouse-size bingo hall. It’s this vision of low-maintenance, never-ending revenue that is dancing in the heads of casino proponents in the Massachusetts Legislature....
With the Globe NOSTALGICALLY CHEERING THEM ON, huh?
This is NAUSEATING "journalism," folks!
On this afternoon, the demographic seems to be tilted heavily toward the geriatric. Gray appears to be the leading hair color, dozens of motorized wheelchairs navigate the aisles, and canes vie with walkers for popularity.
Yeah, ROBBING OLD PEOPLE is GOOD FOR STATE COFFERS!!!!
One customer with a cane, 84-year-old Roland Lavasseur of Biddeford, Maine, sits before a penny slot machine, pushing a button with metronomic regularity, as his son stands behind him and watches the colorful, spinning symbols. “He likes coming down here, even though it’s a three-hour trip,’’ says David Lavasseur, 50, who is treating his father to a birthday present. But a closer destination, he predicts, is only a matter of time. “They’re legalizing it everywhere,’’ he says.
Related: Casino Comparisons: The Maine Message
Looks to me like they didn't get the message.
Loussedes, 59, who keeps close to the low-stakes slot machines, gambles for close to five hours before heading back to Boston. She leaves Foxwoods in the plus column; her brother departs slightly in the red. “I’m coming home with six hundred-something dollars, so I’m pleased,’’ Loussedes says.
Yup, LOOK at the DAY'S HAUL, readers!!!
Never mind that little bit in the red; everyone knows the ODDS are AGAINST the HOUSE!! Look at the loot these guys are pulling down everyday!!
Must be true; my Boston Globe got it straight from the gamblers mouths (ever notice a gambler always tells you he won big or only lost a little?)!!!!
The experience has been enjoyable, and brother and sister proclaim the outing a success.
Yup, this is what the Globe is doing for "investigative reporting" these days.
Still, a two-hour ride awaits them, and the bus leaves Foxwoods an hour behind schedule....
Bummer, huh, flakker?
That's why we ought to have 'em here, right?
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Besides, EVERYONE has MONEY to LOSE!!!
"Spending on gambling would rise, study says" by Sean P. Murphy, Globe Staff | April 13, 2010
The revenue projections for adding casinos in Massachusetts assume Bay State residents would spend at least $200 million more annually at gambling venues than they do now, according to a study commissioned by a legislative committee.
Study for WHO?
Pffffft!!!!
Massachusetts residents reportedly spend $1.1 billion to play slot machines, roulette, blackjack, and other games at two casinos in Connecticut and two gambling facilities in Rhode Island.
How can they possibly know that?
Coin has your home state on it when you slip it in the slot?
The additional $200 million would bring that figure to $1.3 billion, according to the study, which proponents of expanded gambling say is evidence a sizable market exists for new casinos and slot parlors here.
Sigh.
Yup, more self-serving "evidence" for a self-serving cause.
Lawmakers today will begin debate on a bill to license two resort-style casinos, plus up to 750 slot machines at each of the state’s four racetracks. The bill was drafted by House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo, who has made clear to members that he wants to see it passed. DeLeo and other supporters of the bill are relying heavily on studies by Spectrum Gaming Group of New Jersey, which has closely studied the Massachusetts market.
Oh, I'm sure they are an impartial observer.
Siiiiighhhhh!
Casino opponents, however, are skeptical of the conclusions....
Can't imagine why we would be, can you?
The 70-page, $28,000 report is an update of a 300-page, $189,000 study that Spectrum did two years ago for Governor Deval Patrick, when the Legislature was weighing his proposal for three resort-style casinos.
They WASTED TAX DOLLARS on THAT and then just "updated" it for you?
Oh, Bay-Staters, come on!
SMELL the SHIT PILE, will ya?!
Still, the Spectrum study is useful because it shows overall strong demand for gambling in the state, said Brian S. Dempsey, House chairman of the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies.
“It shows the market is still a strong market,’’ said Dempsey, who helped write the bill. “We are comfortable with the projections. We believe the market is there.’’
Oh, so it is a LEAP of FAITH now -- or shall we say a ROLL of the DICE!
I BELIEVE!!!!
Had enough of the agenda-pushing s***-shovel yet, readers?
I have had my fill.
There is, however, no study to back up revenue projections for slots at the tracks, a controversial centerpiece of DeLeo’s proposal.
Translation: It is ALL FART MIST!!
Kathleen Conley Norbut, president of the group United to Stop Slots in Massachusetts, dismissed the Spectrum study.
“Many of the numbers they use are based on assumptions for which there is no strict science,’’ she said. “But the major flaw of the report is that the Legislature asked for a benefits analysis only, not a cost-benefits analysis.’’
Norbut also said increased gambling losses by Massachusetts residents would take a toll on many families.
But enough worrying about them, right, agenda-pusher?
The Spectrum study assumes each casino would have a 2,000-room hotel and other amenities. The projections are for gaming only, however, and do not take into account additional revenue from hotels and restaurants. In its report, Spectrum notes the effect of the recession on casinos, including at Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, where slot revenues were off by about 6 percent last year.
But don't pay attention to that!
But new facilities in Massachusetts would be expected to draw increasing numbers of patrons, even in a recession, just as new facilities in eastern Pennsylvania did in 2008 and 2009, while existing casinos in nearby Atlantic City experienced 9 percent and 13 percent drops in slot revenue in those years, respectively.
Why must they LIE!!!?
See: The One-Armed Bandit of Massachusetts
READERS!!!!!!!
It is FROM THEIR OWN MOUTHS!!!!
“We suggest this picture is instructive, in that it portrays a trend roughly similar to what may likely occur in Connecticut and Rhode Island,’’ the report says. DeLeo and Dempsey say that expanded gambling is necessary to increase tax revenues and create jobs....
Can you tell I am SO SICK of reading and hearing the SAME SELF-SERVING S*** come out their mouth?
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