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NEWS > U.S.A. > CASINOS SHOCKED AS PEOPLE WITH NO MONEY STOP GAMBLING
CASINOS SHOCKED AS PEOPLE WITH NO MONEY STOP GAMBLING
March 20 2009
Atlantic City, NJ – The history of gambling goes back further, much further than the history of Casinos. Evidence of gambling can be traced back to at least 2300 B.C.E. when the ancient Chinese began playing card games for money. Ivory dice from at least 3500 years ago have been uncovered in Egypt and writings have even been found on tablets in the Giza pyramids. In 1000 C.E. Norway became the first country to officially endorse the sport and by 1638 Venice had opened the first true Casino.Throughout that history, gambling both legal and illicit has been a sport of sin.
Through the modern day incarnations of mafia rule to government endorsed lotteries, successful and unsuccessful people have placed their hopes and dreams on winning the big one. Now though, with the economy in tatters, Casinos across the United States are finding that their own luck is running out as more and more gamblers are spending what little money they have on the basics of human survival, things such as heat and food.
“Casinos in Atlantic City have seen traffic drop in the neighbourhood of 20 per cent this year. That is dramatic for any business but especially so for a business that usually thrives on
human misery. Really they should be doing boffo business right now but it seems people are just being stingy with their dollars,” said Scrape TV Business analyst Ken Green. “Las Vegas is seeing a reduction as well, though not as dramatic. Much of this likely has to do with the fact that fewer and fewer people have assets to gamble away. It’s one thing to gamble your kids college fund, but the real dollars come from people mortgaging their houses and taking loans against their cars. Now people just don’t have houses or cars to borrow against so inevitably gambling is going to feel the crunch.”
Three of Atlantic City’s eleven casinos, all owned by Trump Entertainment, have also recently filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. Two other planned resorts by Pinnacle and MGM Mirage have also been cancelled in the wake of the deteriorating economy.
“The mood in the city is definitely depressed but more and more people are finding amazement at the reality of the situation before them. The success of legalized gambling has always been the exploitation of human misery and their lack of success in that area many casino owners baffled,” continued Green. “Many are afraid as well that if things keep going this way legalized gambling may once again fall into the hands of the mafia. That’s going to make it a lot more difficult for legitimate businesses to make money off people once the economy turns back around.”
Many Casinos are trying to battle the downturn with clever marketing, including one tongue-in-cheek billboard from Pinnacle Entertainment stating ‘You know what this town needs? Another casino.’ The company has not yet seen an uptick in traffic, due partly to the fact that it’s only advertising to local residents.
“Atlantic City has always had it rough in the battle for gambling dollars. Its advantage of course is that is in the vicinity of major population centres. Its disadvantage has always been in competing with the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas and the fact that it’s in New Jersey,” continued Green. “I mean who seriously wants to go to New Jersey? What they should really be doing is running depressing ads. Sharing misery has always been proven to be successful. From Radiohead to Edgar Allen Poe to the Blues, endorsing misery as a sort of cure for depression has always been successful. Business wise anyway, I won’t speak to the psychological impact. They could serve themselves well by exploiting people’s misery through marketing. Simply put people aren’t going to just come to New Jersey. They either have to be conned or dragged there in concrete boots. To stay afloat they need to get really clever, or really depressed.”
Atlantic City has been one of the principal revenue generators for the state and it is expected that if the city’s casinos were to go under the entire state may close, something for which many lawmakers are crossing their fingers.
Mike Michaels, American Correspondent
NEWS > U.S.A. > CASINOS SHOCKED AS PEOPLE WITH NO MONEY STOP GAMBLING
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