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HOUSTON -- The state legislature is considering a proposal to allow voters to decide on legalized casino gaming.

If casino gambling does pass, local investors say they are ready.

"I am fine if gaming does not happen in Texas, but if it does happen in Texas, then I want to be involved,” said Landry's CEO Tilman Fertitta Jr.

Fertitta is the owner of Landry's restaurants, which owns and operates the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas, and is purchasing the Trump Marina Casino in Atlantic City.

If voters approved the proposal, he said he would have the $50 million license fee ready, and doors open in Galveston nearly overnight.

"I'll be honest with you, we can get it done really quick,” he said.” We know how to do that. When I said we can get it done in a few weeks I mean it."

They'd be ready in La Marque, too.

"Right now we have 200 employees here, 100 full-time. That right there would jump up to 1,400 if we had slot machines," said John Paul Faour with Gulf Greyhound Park.

http://www.khou.com/news/local/Investors-ready-for-legalized-casinos-in-Texas.html

With Disney Cruises also coming to Galveston next year, I think it's safe to say that Galveston tourism is back and on the upside. Galveston is where most Texans go for cruises. They like to spend time on the island before their ship departs. If gambling comes, it will only help the island. Can't wait to see a skyline along the seawall. Tilman Feritta wants to turn Galveston into a mix between the Santa Monica Pier area and Atlantic City. This would seriously be a boom for Galveston, which is tailor made for this.

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Tilman has had that $50 million license fee ready for over 10 years. Personally I would love to see it but have my doubts it will ever happen although with the state's serious budget problems, if it's ever going to happen it better happen now.

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This would be amazing if it passed. Does this mean Vegas-style resort casinos, or more like small places with mainly slot machines? Hopefully the former, it would definitely make things more exciting here in Galveston.

EDIT: probably should have watched the video first.

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If they are going to legalize it, I want to see some legit hotel casinos and not dumps like Louisiana has where everyone is walking around with an oxygen mask wearing a tank top and cut off jeans.

I sincerely doubt it will happen, but I do agree that something has to give. If someone wants to destroy their family with a gambling addiction, at least they would be doing it in Texas.

Fertitta has nothing to lose and everything to gain here, not surprised he was in the video.

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casinos are a give up idea for losers and idiots that are too stupid to understand basic mathematics, economics, supply demand, or really anything other than toss your hands up and give in to stupidity and ignorance

I have nothing against gambling per say (I prefer the horses over what casinos have become) which is either an expensive, fake/trashy rendition of a place you could have actually visited for the same money, or a truck stop filled with losers choking down pall malls and inhaling 2 dollar hot dogs

the thought that casino gambling is a viable business for most places in the USA should have faded from the remnants of the brains of anyone that ever was stupid enough to think it was a good idea about 15 years ago when Atlantic City was still a hell hole with a few casinos decades after opening them.......then for those that were brain dead or on life support you could have seen how the casinos treated most of Mississippi after Katrina.......they were doing such a bang up business they decided to walk away from a place that was economically devastated that had continuously changed their rules from "just these few places" to allow casinos about anywhere except in elementary and middle schools

then for those that have been in a coma for 20 years you can look at Louisiana where every casino there has probably gone broke at least once if not multiple times......they have killed what was once a great horse racing industry in favor of asshats sitting around in house robes they pretend are smoking jackets punching at a button on a glorified video game......hell the casino in the "tourist and party mecca" of new orleans has only gone BROKE twice......once before they even got the actual damn building finished and then not long after......the "industry" was given several tax breaks each time (so much for that big tax money rolling in) and now after "promising" and agreeing over and over they would not try and build restaurants and hotels attached to the casino that would compete with the existing local establishments (that don't get tax breaks because they can't move) now all the sudden the casino there needs a hotel and restaurants to "survive"........oh yes sign me up immediately for some vegas idiots version of Louisiana cooking.......yes why would I want to leave this tacky, smoke filled, gaudy, pile of crap filled with lifeless losers and walk down the street to eat at one of the dozens of decades old world renowned new orleans restaurants when I could get some "celebrity chef" casino swill for 50% higher in price right here in the same building with the ambiance of LOSER surrounding me....you can also find reputable studies that show the casino in new orleans is taking business from existing new orleans establishments

which gets me to my final point......who in their right mind (certainly not an idiot politician) would actually travel to a destination with some type of budget in mind and a limit on the total dollars they were going to spend on that trip for anything and everything they did.....you mean there are people out there that actually have the self control to see cheap ass neon, faux some place nice, watery well drinks for too much money, poor quality food lined out by the mile, and a cloud of cheap cigarette smoke and they don't immediately rush in to statistically lose every dollar in their pocket and the daily limit on their ATM card.....and you are actually trying to tell me that those that can't resist the temptations of such libations are the type of people we want to ATTRACT to a city......IMO they are the type of people you need to ship off to a third world country or to an island.....maybe an island with a wildfire going on

there is ONLY so much money that the population of a city, state, country, and world have to spend on minutia or to fritter away on the nothingness of casino gambling or any other type of "entertainment"........I am all for entertainment and spending some money on that......but what I am not for is trying to attract the entertainment dollars of people with a morgan metal building, some neon, some CRAP, and some tight slot machines

the "lets build a casino" crowd should follow that up with "lets build an amusement park" and then they can follow with "lets build a really big shopping mall" and then after that "lets build a convention center" and then after that we can build a big tall steel framed tower, a big statue of a women out in the bay, a fancy cable bridge, a river walk, indoor snow skiing, a really tall mountain, and a a cheap half assed copy of anything and everything that some other place already has a much cooler, much better known, much more interesting, much more attractive, much more realistic (because it is the actual real one), and much cheaper version of already

hell wouldn't it be great if every city, town, village, unincorporated area, and abandoned dump had a casino......why we would have ZERO unemployment then.......because everyone would have casino jobs.....never mind that those that used to actually produce things, add value to things, or create ideas that lead to new things are either sitting on their ass mumbling to themselves between puffs of their GPC cigarette or swills of their rock gut on the rocks.....or they are working at their casino job.....serving those that are sitting on their asses, puffing their winstons and polishing off another silver bullet......and part of their retirement account

how about Texas does something unique and different.......like actually using their brains to come up with something unique and different instead of trying the same lame ass, copy cat, failed, idiot, ideas that other places have tried with absolutely ZERO benefit to their communities the nation over......and when you look at the types of dirt bags casinos attract for the most part.......hell lets just forgo their dollars for the time being......we are Texas not detroit.......we are not that damn desperate

the casino industry had it all in Vegas.....but their stupidity and greed was insatiable and now they have about killed that damn place.....in the past people went to Vegas because gambling was what you did there and there is where you did it......in exchange for being mathematically challenged they they provided you with the feeling of getting a decent room for cheap, some better than olden days cafeteria food for cheap, and some booze......people saved up......went there as a destination......gave away money and came home

now Vegas is just what I described above......a trashy persons knock off of some other place......for higher than the cost of going to that place, with a bunch of over priced food, over priced hotels, over priced entertainment, and a bunch of "party" losers clogging the place to the gills

the have vastly over built and then to top it off they completely cut their legs out from under themselves by allowing every spontaneous, knee jerk, fool, with a need for a little "lever action" or the chance to "throw dem bones" to get their jollies just around the corner in their own neighborhood in the back of the Cstore that has converted to a Cstore and casino

why yes.....what a spectacular investment.....lets immediately invest time and effort to develop 1,000 hotel rooms and several other pieces of infrastructure on the off chance we can pry some dumbass off their stool at a truck stop in central Oklahoma or from some interurban ghetto "boat" casino and get their valuable "recreational dollars" down here to Texas where our economy will blast off from all the trash we have now attracted that no other place that tried the same idiotic idea was able to make materialize

never mind that casino gambling is on it's ass even in the long established "meccas" of casino gambling (that all for the most part are terrible places to actually live with terrible quality of life)......this is Texas we can make a stupid ass idea work!!!!

I won't rest until my local UtoteM and Buccees has a casino!!!!!....that is our FUTURE!!!!!!

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how about Texas does something unique and different.......like actually using their brains to come up with something unique and different instead of trying the same lame ass, copy cat, failed, idiot, ideas that other places have tried with absolutely ZERO benefit to their communities the nation over......and when you look at the types of dirt bags casinos attract for the most part.......hell lets just forgo their dollars for the time being......we are Texas not detroit.......we are not that damn desperate

While I was amused that you had nary a single statistic to support your claims (EVERY entertainment dollar can be considered wasteful spending), I had to laugh out loud at the above statement. It is the classic retort to any proposal that the writer disagrees with. "Do something unique!" As if the goal of commercial ventures was a prize of uniqueness. As if money spent by tourists on unique and different things is money well spent. It is not. The goal of commercial enterprises is to profit. The goal of government revenue schemes is to raise revenue. This proposal would do both. The construction bonanza alone makes it worth it.

At least you did not advocate for something family friendly.

Note that I agree with you on the type of clientele attracted to these money pits, from the downtrodden addicted gambler pawning his watch, to the hipsters impressing each other with how much money they can waste on niteclub "bottle service", to the hip hop wannabes who try to appear as if they are big spenders, but really only drink water and take up space with their "posse" (is that still a word?).

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Although I'm not against casinos I have to wonder how long they would stay popular. I remember when dog racing first came to Texas and the tracks were packed. Now the parking lots are empty. Horse racing is the same. Sam Houston Race Track only stays afloat because of the many non-racing events they host.

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While I was amused that you had nary a single statistic to support your claims (EVERY entertainment dollar can be considered wasteful spending), I had to laugh out loud at the above statement. It is the classic retort to any proposal that the writer disagrees with. "Do something unique!" As if the goal of commercial ventures was a prize of uniqueness. As if money spent by tourists on unique and different things is money well spent. It is not. The goal of commercial enterprises is to profit. The goal of government revenue schemes is to raise revenue. This proposal would do both. The construction bonanza alone makes it worth it.

At least you did not advocate for something family friendly.

Note that I agree with you on the type of clientele attracted to these money pits, from the downtrodden addicted gambler pawning his watch, to the hipsters impressing each other with how much money they can waste on niteclub "bottle service", to the hip hop wannabes who try to appear as if they are big spenders, but really only drink water and take up space with their "posse" (is that still a word?).

1. I am pretty sure Helen Keller knows that Atlantic city is a total and complete dump.....with a few casinos.....and anyone that has breathed air in the last 10 years knows that several if not all of those casinos have gone broke at least two times each.....especially the ones with Trump in the name

2. a doctor in the TMC just ask a person with serious brain damage to squeeze his fingers if Vegas was over built and going broke....the doctor now has a broken hand

3. Shreveport is still Shreveport......with some casinos

here is how the story starts out

"After two bankruptcies"

http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2009/10/after_a_shaky_start_harrahs_ne.html

so I see a lot of numbers tossed around.....but what I really see is the usual casino tactics......a lot of un-kept promises about taxes they will pay......a lot of arm twisting to get things approved they said they would not ask for when they first came to town.....and at the end of the day their business is WAY down in Vegas and hotel occupancy is very low in New Orleans......and there at the end......the casino still wants to build more hotel rooms to suck the life out of all the rest

so great 10 years from now when the economy should be better Texas will just then have a bunch of crappy casinos all over the place to "save" our economy.....no thanks

http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2011/01/harrahs_new_orleans_replaces_f.html

cutting back on FULL TIME staff.....more McCasino jobs for everyone!

and again you can see....they have mandates placed on them.....they fail to meet them.....they are lowered.....and they still fail to meet them.....just a crappy industry all around

http://www.onlinepoker.net/poker-news/casino-news/mississippi-casino-revenue-november-1796m/8889

Mississippi revenues declining

Atlantic City non-Trump in bankruptcy

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/communities/atlantic-city_pleasantville_brigantine/article_159a35a6-2360-11e0-94e2-001cc4c002e0.html

if this does not sum it up for Mississippi in general.....unbuilt!

http://msgaminglaw.com/mississippi-gaming-development-since-katrina-part-one-of-a-series/

Indiana/Vegas

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/mar/04/gaming-executive-files-bankruptcy-after-failed-str/

Billings

http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/article_af4c1c54-c83f-11df-8802-001cc4c03286.html

Indiana again....big promises.....bankruptcy

http://www.ibj.com/casino-operator-centaur-aims-to-exit-bankruptcy-much-leaner/PARAMS/article/21775

one can't deny that Gary Indiana has benefited from casinos......people now know of it as a total pile of crap with a casino that went broke

http://www.indianabusinessnews.com/main.asp?SectionID=31&SubSectionID=198&ArticleID=58936

The Station properties.....in BK since 2009 for several of them toss all of them into BK now

http://www.bankruptcyhome.com/bankruptcy-news/800483900/Nevada-casino-owner-files-for-Chapter-11

Maryland.....race track throws in the towel because casino is going to open

http://washingtonexaminer.com/maryland/2010/11/laurel-park-close-anne-arundel-casino-moves-forward

Sahara Vegas closing

http://www.lvrj.com/business/sahara-hotel-to-close-on-may-16-117800628.html

can't even keep one in a bowling alley

http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/kitsap/pat/news/92721159.html

who would not want to get in on the gold mine that is a southeast Kansas casino

http://www.kansasreporter.org/73483.aspx

casinos are just a saturated, crappy, BS filled business that have gone from being something unique to catering to any loser with 20 dollars burning a hole in their pocket

I will have to pass on the attractiveness and unkept promises above for Texas

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Now, that's more like it.

I'd like to point out a few things, while not specifically cheerleading for casinos...

First, Atlantic City was a hellhole prior to casinos arriving on the scene. Casinos did not cause it, they simply cannot be said to have cured it. Similarly, New Orleans is beset with problems unrelated to casinos. In fact, that Harrah's survived all of the problems in New Orleans is a credit. And, the $1 billion in infrastructure added to the construction economy, just as the gambling helped lure dollars into the tourist economy.

And, a 60 year old Vegas casino closed during a big recession? Shocker. I'll be concerned about that problem in Texas in 2072. Frankly, what gutted Las Vegas was not the casinos, but its erroneous belief that it was some kind of wonderful place to live aside from the casino industry. The housing implosion killed Vegas, not the casinos. Perhaps the gambling mentality convinced Vegas to believe that they could win at anything, but that is another story.

As for horse tracks (or dog tracks, for that matter) closing because casinos are opening, complaining that one form of gambling is declining because customers prefer another form of gambling is a non-starter. Let's face it, the sport of kings died with...well, kings.

True, gambling tax revenue is down 3.1% in Mississippi, and in other places. However, Mississippi still has $179.4 in gaming tax revenue that Texas does not. And, during the worst recession in 70 years, ALL discretionary revenue dropped. To single out gambling revenue during this period is disingenuous, if not outright misleading.

True, casinos cater to losers, douchebags and and other money-for-nothing types. But, Texas is staring at a potential $28 billion budget shortfall. Would you rather raise your taxes, lower your services, or take money from a douchebags wallet? Personally, I see no suggestion that I will be required to patronize casinos if they are built in Texas. Voluntary taxes, such as the tax on cigarettes and alcohol, are favorites in Texas. I see nothing wrong with a voluntary tax producing casino. They'll certainly help bridge the budget deficit better than tax-exmept churches. FWIW, I don't patronize either one.

EDIT: Oops, almost forgot. What do you propose that is unique and different that will produce $180 million in new tax revenue?

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EDIT: Oops, almost forgot. What do you propose that is unique and different that will produce $180 million in new tax revenue?

Maybe an Elvis impersonator in a bedazzled space suit singing atop of a shuttle mockup?

Gotta have tassels, though.

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Personally, I see no suggestion that I will be required to patronize casinos if they are built in Texas.

Exactly. If you don't like the casinos, then don't go. It's pretty simple. Personally, I enjoy playing some blackjack at a casino every once in awhile, but I don't go in there with the expectation that I'm going to win money. I'm spending my money on entertainment, just like I would be if I went to a Texans game or the opera or whatever else. I could go to Reliant Stadium and spend $200 on tickets, $20 on parking, another $30 on food/beer, or I could take that $250 to a casino and play 5 or 10 dollar blackjack for a few hours, getting free (albeit not great quality, but whatever) drinks and enjoying myself. And if I do happen to win some money, or break even, or even not lose all $250 like I would going to a Texans game and spending it all, then it's even better. I live in Galveston, and we could certainly use some more dining and entertainment options that would come with a big-time casino. Granted, they would be overpriced, but it would be nice to have some decent restaurants and maybe some concerts or whatever other shows that they would have. Of course, I understand that casinos prey on people who can't really control themselves/have gambling addictions, and that's not a good thing, but they're going to do that no matter what, so we might as well have them doing it in Texas instead of Louisiana and other states. It's a form of revenue, and like RedScare said, I'd certainly rather have casinos than higher taxes. Although I agree that they shouldn't build some dump casino like they have in Lake Charles or wherever, it would have to be a major Vegas-style resort for me to really support it. But with the licensing fee being $50 million, I imagine that Fertita (or whoever) would make it pretty decent.

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  • 3 years later...

Diggin' up bones like Randy Travis here, but a bill that would legalize casinos in Texas' major cities has apparently been introduced to the state legislature.

 

What do you think are the odds of this thing passing?

 

It would be instant development for every major city in Texas.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

 

http://watchdogwire.com/texas/2014/11/12/texas-legislature-considering-measure-legalizing-casino-gambling/

 

http://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=83R&Bill=HJR47

 

 

 

 

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I always thought it would be a good compromise to have some sort of "natural island" clause restricting casino locations to naturally occurring islands along the gulf coast. Vast majority of the state would remain casino free while the gulf coast tourism industry would see a boost. The few casinos that are built would be of very high caliber because of the limited potential site locations.

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I thought the caveats were that there were certain "districts" in Texas where they could pop-up? Corpus, Padre... Galveston. Instant development for Galveston, not sure of the other areas.

I hope this is what it is.. If it's a free for all development/smorgasbord of casinos scattered all over the state they won't create a draw for people to go out of there way to visit, and I don't think they would thrive on there own as much as if there were districts for this type of development.

While I LOVE the idea of the barrier island clause or w/e that was proposed in the comment above, to boost tourism along the gulf coast, I would love even more to see a cluster of Casinos somewhere along the bayou in downtown (while also having an even larger assortment of Casinos along East Beach or something) What if the Post Office Site was turned into a casino district?

Also Casinos on Lake Travis would be legit.

San Antonio would likely build there's downtown with the rest of its tourist/historic stuff.

Not sure of a good place in DFW. Maybe Ft Worth? They could use the boost.

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Diggin' up bones like Randy Travis here, but a bill that would legalize casinos in Texas' major cities has apparently been introduced to the state legislature.

What do you think are the odds of this thing passing?

It would be instant development for every major city in Texas.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

http://watchdogwire.com/texas/2014/11/12/texas-legislature-considering-measure-legalizing-casino-gambling/

http://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=83R&Bill=HJR47

I would give the odds to just below slim to none. I wish our Texas $$$ wouldn't go to Lake Charles, but alas, it just a wish.

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This won't happen with the Bible preaching gun toting dan patrick in office. I really wish it would, but we will have to wait until the tea party ultra conservative republicans don't have control over the state anymore.

If it's in voting now, Dan Patrick won't be in office yet.

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I don't understand the religious opposition. Does the Bible say that gambling is bad (serious question)? I can't really see what the downside is, especially if they had specific casino districts like Galveston/the islands, as mentioned above.

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I don't understand the religious opposition. Does the Bible say that gambling is bad (serious question)? I can't really see what the downside is, especially if they had specific casino districts like Galveston/the islands, as mentioned above.

 

The Bible doesn't directly address gambling.  But, it doesn't directly address dancing or shooting pool either but both activities have traditionally been looked poorly upon by certain religious denominations.

 

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There's plenty of reasons not related to religion why casino gambling may not be a good idea. For example, there's an argument on Gawker (NOT a conservative website by any means) that casinos are a regressive tax that basically prey on the poor (liberal idea there), and that it will oversaturate the casino market, which will steal Louisiana's casino dollars and mess up their economy further. 

 

Would it be a slippery slope argument to claim that if adding casinos to Galveston wrecks Louisiana's economy, and people from Louisiana end up coming to Texas...well, did anyone really enjoy having Katrina evacuees here?

 

(Barring the argument above, adding casinos will probably make Galveston sketchier than normal)

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