i'm not pro gambling but i like anything that horns in on the vatican's bingo racket.

When you have $6 an hour jobs, of course gambling becomes an income source. Cambell and Co. don't give a damn because all they care about is the bottom line - money and to hell with everyone and everything else!

What is more sinister is that gambling in BC is more about money laundering than anything else and all those good friends of the ruling elite who need to launder money have a suberb vehicle to do it!

COMMENT DELETED - TYEE EDITOR

While I can see the merit in Billy Pilgrim's point of view, I still think we should avoid gambling like the plague. There is something that goes wrong in our heads by introducing the idea, that we can get something for nothing. It's what leads to holes in the ozone layer and genetic freaks among the fishes, we though something could be painless and 'free', that couldn't. Bad idea.

The gambling industry's approach to youth is as vile and sinister as that that has been demonstrated by the tobacco industry.

An item today on CBC 690 news suggests BC Lottery Corp's conflict of interest is apparent in obstructing of the freedom of information process. Certain information was sought by someone involved in the treatment of problem gambling. The BC Lottery Corporation "monitors" BC's legalised gambling.

Some will become addicted to gambling,some to alcohol,some to sex,some to buying trinkets,some to coffee,some to pop,some to slasher movies...

And it all starts when you are young,those things ingrained in your learning of the value system.

If you value cheap thrills playing cards for toothpicks/chips when you are young,when you get older,those toothpicks/chips can get expensive real fast and then it really becomes a vicious circle

Seems to me the biggest gambling addict is Government - hooked on lottery revenue. Oh well, lots of people who don't understand probability are happy to pay the "stupid" tax.

Wait a minute - what am I saying? I play Sports Action during NFL season...stupid is as stupid does.

did I just read that right?

neocon just called himself 'stupid'?

at least he was right about the real addict, Government. Only they are not addicted to lotto revenue, but all revenue that they do not have to earn in some way.

As far as the lotto tax goes I think it should be the only tax and scrap all the other ones.

Murdock ! Where would the politicians get the money for jaunts to Europe and elsewhere to investigate how to screw over the great unwashed.

Who paid for the KAMPBELL KLAN to trek around Europe ? DID GORDO BREAK INTO HIS PIGGY BANK ?

Snoooooore.

no conscience, no morals just constantly feeding the need for government monies through anything but corporate taxation. They see us as their sheep to be exploited and comodified. These guys are a waste of skin but, what is worse is that we reelected them in the face of no real party to represent the people.

DELETED BY TYEE EDITOR

DELETED BY TYEE EDITOR

Personally, I love to get sh*t-faced and lose a whole lot of money when I am down in Vegas. I'll play poker, black-jack, craps, roulette or anything that isn't slots. The one common theme is that I always lose, but it is part of the experience. You are paying for entertainment.

The problem with gambling is people that control themselves. It is like alcohol or drugs. I drink heavily on the golf course, or in the casinos or at the Canucks games, or even most Saturday's - but I know my limits and I am responsible.

My broker put me in Wynn Resorts and Las Vegas Sands and Great Canadian Gaming - and to be honest, these investments have been doing fabulous! I've made a ton of money off gaming stocks.

Why should investors be penalized because a few people have addictive personalities? Again, you socialists believe that government should step in and start meddling around. It is not the government's place to say what we can or cannot do, especially when most of the population gambles responsibly.

Should we ban booze, because there are a few alcoholics out there?

Tried that for a while, didn't we?

YOU PHONEY SLEAZE MAYBELLE. I thought you must be under the influence of drugs or booze much of the time you were trying to sell the idea that you know anything about poverty and working people and economics and productivity and investing in anything besides yourself.

Seems like you frequently are, by your own admission.

I'm going to copy your pathetic post and drop it into the conversation every time you have the temerity to drag your sad-sack attitude back here and try to pretend you're anything other than a sleaze!

You are nothing better than 'entertainment' for the people around here who actually give a damn.
YOU CAN BET ON IT!

Mabellbc ,you drunken anarchist you !

It is exactly the governments duty to say what we can and cannot do.

Now i don't buy into gun control,so ,i would like a big pistol, so i could hold up drunken anarchists like you and steal your rolex and maybe you beemer and maybe go to your home and boink your young daughter and then maybe piss in your pool.

Now you tell me why i shouldn't do any of those things and AFTERWARDS tell me again about the goverments duties to our civil society.

now sober up and think straight laddie [B]

I don't mind risk-taking. I do, of course, see that gambling defaces every sport that it touches, and ruins lives -- but that's not because of wagering as such, it is because a lot of people have no regard for mathematics.

1 in 14,000,000! OK, who takes that bet????

Yammer
The House --- every time....that's why governments can't get enough of it..

Now ,who do you think is running around with that $245,000,000 US Dollar Powerball ticket,someone filthy rich or some scmuck looking for the AMERIKAN DREAM ?

Ah, but what about the children, innocent little creatures that they are? I have so many fond memories of children cheating and throwing tantrums growing up. Gambling was never an issue and now that they're adults they still cheat and throw tantrums...in the workplace and at home, every day.

I'll bet people cheat less while gambling than while they're writing a test, carrying on a relationship or dealing in workplace politics. God bless the gaming tables! May the overhead cameras and securty details keep us honest in at least one arena of our sad little lives!

But what will become of the stock markets?

The marketeers have to grow their market and if it isn't saturday morning cartoons with tons of advertising it will be something else.

And since we are at the top of the food chain there are no other consumers to flog merchandise too.

No wonder they are looking for extraterrestrial life ,they want a fresh consumer market.

No wonder we haven't found life in space,i guess they already know about playstation and tupperware and the other technological advances we have to offer.

Well i'm not going to wonder any longer about why we are here,i have seen the light.

Skip Tracer

True, all including every little carney operation will have its multitude of security cameras and/or decoys. Some of us gamblers suspect their primary purpose is less for security against chip stealing or other criminal activity by patrons and/or staff, or to resolve disputed gambling decisions, than to aid the casino's game control.

I'm no prude on gambling, but I see a need for constant and increased vigilance on the public's behalf. Addiction, clearly, has touched more than the individual.

Quote:

”But what will become of the stock markets?”

Golly – is that my problem? Is everything my problem? My customers are not mostly coupon-clippers, and so I don’t think I will choose to care. Maybe the stock market will crash, and maybe then the workers can buy the stocks for peanuts, and run their own lives, and maybe that would have been good for many reasons.

I don’t think it will happen, though. I work with intelligent, supposedly eneterprising people, who have academic and technical credentials coming out of their ears, but some of them are not enterprising enough to try to take a multi-bit screwdriver apart on their own, without asking if it can be done, is all right, etc.

“only he who is willing to risk going too far can find out how far one can go”. What happened to that understanding? Was the stuffing beaten out of everyone so thoroughly in school?

Very good quote Dorothy:

You are writing an ultra-left audience here. Nobody on this forum has enterpreneurial skills or an understanding of business for that matter.

These are your classic "what has the government done for me" people. They do not wish to take risks, but rather hang out and collect the goods. These are the same people that do not understand the word "responsibility".

All of their shortcomings are blamed on the government or greedy corporations.

On the rare occasions that gambling is discussed, the shill will always emerge.

The, I'm sure, tongue-in-cheek question:

appears to have been used to go off topic, while another poster prefers to insult all forum contributors.

DOn't bother looking up post, here's what maybelle said yesterday - check out these words of wisdom:

commentor: mabellbc
posted: 19 Hours Ago
Personally, I love to get sh*t-faced and lose a whole lot of money when I am down in Vegas. I'll play poker, black-jack, craps, roulette or anything that isn't slots. The one common theme is that I always lose, but it is part of the experience. You are paying for entertainment.

The problem with gambling is people that control themselves. It is like alcohol or drugs. I drink heavily on the golf course, or in the casinos or at the Canucks games, or even most Saturday's - but I know my limits and I am responsible.

My broker put me in Wynn Resorts and Las Vegas Sands and Great Canadian Gaming - and to be honest, these investments have been doing fabulous! I've made a ton of money off gaming stocks.

Why should investors be penalized because a few people have addictive personalities? Again, you socialists believe that government should step in and start meddling around. It is not the government's place to say what we can or cannot do, especially when most of the population gambles responsibly.

Should we ban booze, because there are a few alcoholics out there?

Gambling is attached to our society. We
can't get rid of it. Losing the slots and
tables will only drive the pensioners down
south, so why lose all the good tax money.
As for kids gambling, that is a tough one to
fix. Looking at the stock market is an
excellent one. Heck, their education funds
are bought with mutual funds which are,
incidentally, invested (gambled), in the stock
market. The clear problem which lies here is
that gambling is connected to risk-taking.
I think that we should teach our kids that
taking calculated risks is good. Gambling isn't so good because there aren't
any calculations to guide the decision and the
outcome is based on chance, not calculation
and theory. I gamble a bit but only socially
and among friends. What makes me a bad
gambler is that I'm competitive by nature and
I naturally hate losing. Sitting at a
blackjack table incites me too much and
sometimes I know if I would start losing (which is most of the time), I would want to
get up and throttle the dealer. In all, I
think the differentiation of gambling and
risk-taking should be taught in school to the
young kids, that way they have the tools to
make a better decision, even when they are
gambling.

It would only appear that way to one who can't see that our entire economy is essentially a confidence game which entails similar cycles of risk and addiction.

Government gambling represents a tax on cupidity and desperation, and while it is true that there are a lot of both around that doesn't mean that they should be taxed....

I'm not even saying that there shouldn't be a lottery... as I know what used to happen with Irish Sweeps tickets when everything else was illegal. Still, the current mania is ruining lives....

MabellBC... how you know, huh? How you know? Because they don't agree with you? I would suggest reading Nassim's book "Fooled by Randomness" before you go on shooting your mouth off.

Using your own arguments, why shouldn't some profit motivated intrepreneur invest in a gun or computer and defraud you? Just because you can't defend yourself from computer fraud or armed robbery, why should the "investor" be penalized? So you can't stay awake all night with a shotgun and then work in the daytime? Geez, too bad...

In fact, the same arguments apply to drugs and loan sharking as well, don't they? Not to mention prostitution (I can't figure out why the tax collector hasn't cottoned to that one out yet) and moonshining...

If we don't protect the weak, of what value is our society?

R. Smiley

anything they can tax ...they will,moonshing is now HOME BREWING !

when i was in Holland i was amazed at how tiny the stairs were in the old hotels and houses,compared to my big feet.

i was told that every square inch of stairs/space was taxed along with the materials.

those who rule are EXPERTS ,getting BLOOD FROM A STONE

billy pilgrim

I was in a B.C. casino where the most popular table game, mini-baccarat, is played. On one of the tables the bet limits are minimum: $300 maximum: $5,000. Makes you wonder why they call it "mini".

A player covered the nine spots on the table, meaning that he had $45,000 wagered and the outcome to be determined by the turn of one card.

Is that horny enough for you, billy pilgrim?

A good lesson for all children, from kindergarten on, is that we exist to be milked and that government is as venal as any. Make healthy cynics of them all - the children, that is.

Gambling considered a sport?????

Could watching television be next on the list?

Shame on TSN for attempting to legitimize it. The same people watch it that go to hockey games to see brawling.

I dislike government involvement in gambling because:
-governments need moral authority to govern
-governments should not profit from addiction

It's strange to watch films from the 20's and 30's, where police chase bootleggers and bookies. Now the state itself is the bootlegger and bookie.

I'd like the government to require casinos to prominently post "number of suicides in our washrooms this week". That would take some of the "fun" out of "gaming".

Relax. I can remember playing a casino video game on my PowerMac. Remember those, the little grey rectangular Macs from the 80s? We've had gambling and exposure to gambling for EVER. What we're seeing now is an extended Poker fad, nothing more. Honestly, this fad has served me pretty well. Before Poker got back on television, I couldn't find four friends who wanted to play.

We need each to take responsibility for our gambling habits. If you get the high, beware. If you lose too much, quit. If your children are gambling, teach them how. The rule for gambling is the rule for everything else: pay attention and don't let yourself be stupid.

That may work in your house, theHouse, but there are lots of houses where the house wins too much of the time and the victims are almost always people who seem to end up victimizing a lot of other people who live in their house.

Check out the actual statistics for people who have real problems with problem gambling - it's no one's imagination.

On tries to 'take responsibility' for one's driving, for example, but you can still get sideswiped by others behavior and foibles - you can ask Wayne Gretzky about that.

last sentence should start with 'One' not 'On'

I take your point, but that doesn't really address my point. I agree that many people struggle with gambling and lose devastating amounts of money. But tell me something. Would you rather have gambling controlled by the state or by an unaccountable industry? I think we can all see that the former is the lesser of those two evils.

Further, whose responsibility is it to make sure that individuals gamble responsibly? It's THEIRS! Just as, to paraphrase your example, it is a bad driver's responsibility to learn safe road habits and to pay attention (which almost nobody on the road seems to do), so too is it the individual player's responsibility to play safely. Honestly, are we adults or not?

theHouse
You actually didn't read very carefully. I have no problem with the government running gambling. But, I do expect government to take some responsibility for ameliorating its bad effects; bad effects which aren't restricted to problem gamblers but extend to their families and society at large. Just as I expect the government, which is involved in distributing alcohol to the population and makes a significant profit from its sale to use a portion of its profits to ameliorate the problems of alcohol abuse and alcoholism. Just as I expect the government to ensure that houses are built as safely as possible and according to certain standards of construction and fire safety and on and on – the examples are myriad

That's the whole idea, purpose and need for government. It is a contract among all of us (not just the current bunch who happen to be elected in Victoria) to ensure that we can have, as much as possible a safe and equitable environment for everyone - families, children etc. It's a kind of insurance policy we all pay for and the government has a responsibility to ensure that the bad effects of things like selling alcohol and gambling are not any more problematic than they absolutely have to be. If you take the trouble to do some research you will soon realize that it is not just the gamblers who are hurt - there are a number of excellent recent studies which confirm the wider damage that ripples out from irresponsible gambling through their families and into their communities. Alcohol misuse and problems are similar.

That's what government is all about - it is a kind of insurance policy that attempts to assist the innocent victims of bad behavior and also to educate others to avoid that kind of bad behavior. Just as car insurance helps protect us from the bad drivers you mention if and when we are unlucky enough to get whacked by one of them. We can't ensure they won't be on the roads but we can try to ensure that if we are involved in an accident there will be some attempt to mitigate the damage. Controlling and assisting people when they have problems with gambling is much the same sort of thing.

If responsibility were a normative quality in society we wouldn't need government, or police, or any regulatory functions of any kind. It’s not and we do. So it's not just theirs - it's all of ours.