![handle is hein.journals/gmglwr19 and id is 1 raw text is: DOI: 10.1089/glre.2015.1911
Gambits
News in brief about the gaming world
INDIANA REPRESENTATIVE
INTRODUCES SPORTS
BETTING AND FANTASY
SPORTS BILLS
Sports betting and fantasy sports
are potentially big money makers
for states-for example, National
Basketball Association (NBA) Com-
missioner Adam Silver has esti-
mated that illegal sports gambling
in the U.S. is a $400 billion annual
business. How much money is
that? For reference, that's more-or-
less equal to Michigan's gross do-
mestic product (GDP) in 2013-or
for a more international flavor,
more-or-less equal to the GDP of
Thailand. That's why so many U.S.
states want a piece of it, as well as
of the not-as-lucrative-but-still-big
fantasy sports market.
An Indiana state representative
(Alan Morrison [R]) recently intro-
duced two bills in the state legislature.
One of them would allow Indiana's
casinos and racinos to offer sports
betting-after the state Gaming Com-
mission determines its legal. The other
would allow racinos to offer fantasy
sports. Neither bill's a shoe-in, and
Rep. Morrison admits that the sports
betting bill is a longer shot...but with
the state's Legislative Services Agency
estimating that sports betting could
bring in $12mm to $70mm annually,
he thinks it's worth taking that shot'
and he's betting that a critical mass
of his colleagues will, too.
ILLINOIS GARNISHING
CASINO WINNINGS
TO PAY CHILD SUPPORT
One of the arguments always
raised in favor of gambling by sup-
porters is that the money it brings
in to state coffers can be used for
good purposes, the way U.S. states
dedicate lottery-derived funds to ed-
ucation. Illinois has added a new
good purpose to those funded by
gambling: child support. Under the
Child Support Intercept program, if
a casino patron who is delinquent
on child support wins a large-
enough jackpot that he'd have to
fill out a W2G tax form, a portion
of his winnings will be withheld
and applied against his arrears; the
money will be sent to the state
Department of Healthcare and Fam-
ily Support, which will then send the
money to his family. So far, since the
program's Fall 2014 debut, more
than $120,000.00 has been withheld
for child support.
ONTARIO DEBUTS ONLINE
GAMBLING SITE
The Canadian province of Ontario
launched its online gaming site at
the beginning of January 2015. In
doing so, it joins a number of other
provinces (British Columbia, Mani-
toba, Quebec, and the Atlantic Prov-
inces) in offering online casino-style
games, poker, and lottery. Ontario
has high hopes for online gaming:
the province hopes to bring in an ad-
ditional $375mm profits over the next
five years ($75mm per year), by tap-
ping into an estimated $400mm to
$500mm spent annually by Ontarians
on online gambling sites located else-
where. It's believed (based on a five-
week trial of the site) that the average
player will spent $95 per week on
online gambling.
SOUTH DAKOTA MAY
EXPAND GAMBLING
AT DEADWOOD
Deadwood, South Dakota: the
town's name conjures up visions of
the American Old West-the wild,
gunfighting, gambling, outlaw side
of the Old West. (As opposed to the
more staid, but much-more vital his-
torically, homesteaders, farmers,
and ranchers Old West). Wild Bill
Hickock was murdered, and is bur-
ied there; Calamity Jane is buried
there, too. During the heyday of the
Wild West, Deadwood was a gold
mining town, and flush with gold
money...but mines play out, and
when they do, often little other eco-
nomic activity remains. So it was
with Deadwood, which was dying
by inches in the second half of the
twentieth century, after the ore ran
out and the interstate passed it by.
That spurred the state legislature to
legalize limited gambling in Dead-
wood in 1989, which helped stabilize
the small (approximately 1,200 resi-
dent) town.'
But if some gambling is good,
more would be better, or at least
that's the thinking. Deadwood
sought permission from the state leg-
islature last year to expand gaming,
from the currently allowed black-
jack, poker, and slot machines to
also include keno, craps, and rou-
lette. Legislators responded favor-
ably and agreed to put expanded
gambling up for a popular vote-
and the state's citizens also responded
favorably, voting 57% to 43% to allow
the expansion. With that accom-
plished, the state Gaming Commis-
sion is looking take the next step by
asking the state legislature for au-
thority to implement and regulate
the new games. Assuming expanded
gambling moves forward-which,
given the popular support for it,
seems a safe bet-the people of Dead-
wood will be winners: it's been esti-
mated that adding the new games
will add 50-75 casino jobs, which
may be a relatively small number in
absolute terms, but is equal to 5% of
the town's population.
'It would be unfair and inaccurate to imply that gambling is all that Deadwood has. Its tourist-based economy has more legs than
that, with tourists coming for the scenic beauty and history, and skiing also available nearby in-season. The author visited Dead-
wood when he was 15 years old-more years ago than he cares to admit to-and found the countryside beautiful and that the
town's buildings offered a glimpse of a bygone era.
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