Small-stakes gambling has been operating here in Colorado for over a dozen years. It's been a great success. In fact it's been so good, it's time to double down. The minimum $5 bet needs to be raised.
In the last election, voters buried a question that would allow limited-stakes video gambling to expand to race tracks. But does that mean we've had it with gambling? Apparently not.
Amendment 33 was riddled with objections, including that the state had to buy the machines, the communities didn't have any approval over the expansion, and there were no fees collected to offset the impacts of the traffic. And a few folks didn't like that the profits would go to Wembley, the company that spent millions pushing the initiative.
There is a good argument to giving the mountain towns a little competition. It's too bad 33 was so poorly done.
While Coloradans have been reluctant to expand gambling, they still love it.
Since the doors opened in October 1991 at casinos in Black Hawk, Cripple Creek and Central City, gamblers have wagered $88.3 billion in Colorado. What's staggering about that is it was reached with bets of $5 or less. That would be 17.5 billion $5 bets. By my back-of-the-envelope calculations, that's around 4 million wagers per day! All in just three little towns.
Or look at it this way, after 12 years of gambling in Colorado, it is the equivalent of every man, woman and child wagering around $20,000. Five bucks at a time!
To be fair, that number counts all the winnings that are then replayed and bet again. All the same, someone is gambling a whole lot more than I am.
Who knew the little old ladies shuttled up to Black Hawk had such stamina? Eat your heart out, Bill Bennett.
While gamblers put $88.3 billion on the table, the casinos have paid out $82.9 in winnings. That has left them over $5.4 billion in gross profits over 12 years. No wonder they could spare a few million to make sure Wembley's race tracks would never compete with them.
Gambling-hating moralists aren't satisfied that they themselves don't gamble. Apparently you're not to gamble either. Instead of convincing people to change their behavior willingly, they want government to force their values on everyone. To them, a virtuous society wouldn't let people indulge in such vices.
But the social ills and dreadful impacts from gaming simply haven't materialized in Colorado as they secretly hoped. Gambling didn't spread through the state; folks seem content to keep it tucked out of sight in the mountain towns. And those towns haven't turned into Vegas, either. In fact after an initial boom, Central City's economy has been steadily shrinking. They finally built a new road in desperate hopes of attracting new business.
Even if you don't like gambling, you should like the next part. From that $5.4 billion in earnings, casinos have placed $684 million into the Colorado tax coffers. That's $57 million a year. Nearly half of the dough goes into the state's general fund, 22 percent goes to the cities and counties where the gambling is, and an obscene 28 percent goes to the Colorado Historical Society, making it the richest historical society in the country.
No evil effects, more tax revenue, happy little old ladies, one conclusion raise the minimum allowed bet.
If the minimum were doubled to $10, Colorado could potentially see another $57 million a year without any real change in "impact" to Colorado. I doubt $10 bets will tempt Siegfried and Roy to revive their act in Cripple Creek.
The obvious reason to raise the stakes is simple inflation. When voters approved gaming 12 years ago, five bucks was worth more. Today that same five bucks are worth only about $3.78. To keep up with inflation, the minimum would need be raise closer to seven bucks.
But the best reason to raise the limits is that gambling at only $5 a pop is a drag. You cannot let your winnings ride. I enjoy blackjack every now and then, but I wouldn't play it here because I couldn't manage my bets freely.
Gov. Bill Owens is not a big fan of gambling and is not likely to sign a bill increasing wagers. That's a shame. As the Legislature looks to prop up the budget, this seems like a no-brainer.
Besides, how else am I going to fund my retirement?
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