Place Your Bets

Another re-cycled spleen venting.  This time, a letter to the editor at Bermuda's Royal Gazette.  The writer praised an essay by some (unidentified) high schooler, who praised the idea of Bermuda casting its future with casinos.  What follows is my reply.


It's very, very easy to overestimate the boon from casinos.  Nevada, Las Vegas in particular, is a wasteland.  As you may know, it depends on casinos.

Here in CT, we have two of the largest casinos on the planet.  Few understand how they make their money.  Here's the answer:  they bus in old people from New York and Boston (Asians are particularly susceptible) who spend their giveaway rolls of quarters, then empty their pockets.  The notion that it's a bunch of high rollers making poor folks rich is a myth (or perhaps just a lie).  It's far closer to the truth that it's poor folks making rich folks richer.

So:  what would be the draw?  Anyone who's spent time at casinos knows the main fact:  the casinos go to great lengths to keep folks inside.  The wonder of Bermuda makes no difference to casino operators.  Access to lots of dupes is what makes the difference.  Atlantic City hasn't done so well just because it isn't right off the interstate between major cities; the CT casinos are, and that's how they manage to keep a steady supply of bus people.  Who will be the bus people for Bermuda casinos?  That's right, the poor folk of Bermuda.  Casinos end up being a form of regressive taxation; something the 1%-ers dearly covet.

To determine whether casinos on Bermuda could make sense, there is a simple test available.  Permit the cruise boats to run casinos while in port (with a split on gross to Government, of course). 

Doing so will demonstrate a number of useful points.
- is the income from casinos greater than the loss from other business revenue
- is there any net increase in revenue at all

Remember, Bermuda isn't like the Caribbean islands, which are not only individually larger, but comprise a connected "country" of much larger size.  Bermuda is just a tiny rock in the middle of nowhere.