The Denver Post and several of my sources in South Central Colorado confirmed that the small gambling town of Cripple Creek, Colorado, voted 267 for and 13 against to expand gambling. The city will allow casinos to stay open 24 hours a day, raise maximum betting limits to $100, and add craps and roulette to slots, poker, and blackjack, beginning July 1, 2009.
The measure also takes away state regulators' authority to raise taxes on casinos, thus forcing a statewide vote on future rate hikes. The local referendum follows the state constitutional amendment approved by 60 percent of the state voters in November.
Central City and Blackhawk, Colorado's other two gambling towns, have 26 additional casinos and are expected to pass a similar referendum in the next two months.
Colorado's 43 casinos employ more than 8,000 people and generated $816 million dollars in revenue, producing $112 million in taxes for the state last year. Some estimates say that state tax revenues will grow by $300 million in each of the next five years.
Online Poker Bailout:
GM., Ford, Solomon Bros., A.I.G., Freddie, Fannie, Wells Fargo Bank, and others are taking close to a trillion dollars in bailout money. The online poker business should get a bailout from our government as well. This bailout, however, would generate millions to help with the economic crisis rather than taking billions and refusing to tell the public for what the money is being used and everyone would benefit.
The bailout would consist of the government taking over online poker in the US, regulating it, patrolling for cheats, protecting the players, and adjusting the tax code to allow players to pay taxes on their net poker earnings each year. I think everyone could benefit from such a system:
1. Players would benefit by feeling confident that they are not playing against programmed poker bots, players that can see your hole cards, and other cheaters. Players would also feel that their deposits are safe. A smaller rake could be taken in many cases. By taxing the net profit of a player, players could report their net earnings to the IRS and still feel unworried and honest.
2. The US government would benefit by having more tax revenues.
3. These revenues could be used to help those with gambling addictions as well as the general US treasury.
The above plan is simple and straight forward. It is certainly worth a try in my book. Of course, the government does have a tendency to screw up a good thing.
Feel free to forward the above to your congressman and Senator.
Mike Eikenberry got his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Virginia, where he played varsity tennis and basketball. Founder of one of the leading national tennis camps, Mike is an avid amateur who has played both tournaments and live games for over 25 years. He can be reached at theeiks@comcast.net
