The Red Herring Of Granite State Gambling - Granite Grok

The Red Herring Of Granite State Gambling

“I don’t gamble, because winning a hundred dollars doesn’t give me great pleasure. But losing a hundred dollars pisses me off.” — Alex Trebek

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 Back in the early 90’s while attending college at night, I took an elective course called Public Policy. At that time, I was a staunch advocate for expanded gaming in the Granite State.  “Put a couple of Casinos up around Breton Woods and the North Country!” I made all the usual pro-gambling arguments we see here today. Since that time, I have changed my position. I am against expanded gambling in New Hampshire now, but for the very narrowest of reasons, chiefly, that we are all being lied to.  

Conditions in the late 80’s and early 90’s were excellent to consider and adopt expanded gambling in the Granite State. Now it is not.  New Hampshire missed the boat on this big opportunity and the reasoning for the push now is faulty. One simply cannot advocate for something simply because Massachusetts is doing it. That logic fails right out of the gate. There is a shared sentiment in the Granite State that if Massachusetts does it, New Hampshire ought not to.

 The reason for the change of mind is not only simple, but quite logical. In the 80’s and 90’s there were far fewer gambling venues for Granite Staters to enjoy. Casino Gambling meant taking a trip to Atlantic City, Las Vegas or Down to Connecticut. However,  Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 literally saturated the gambling market with options. Since then, Rhode Island, Maine and Connecticut have jumped on board and now offer venues.  The market is saturated. More casinos means less revenue for all as each one fights and lobbies for those dollars.

 For years, I have watched busloads of seasoned citizens leave New Hampshire for Casino destinations. Now pro-gambling advocates warn that a Bay State Plan could siphon off Granite State gambling revenues. Well, not so much…dollars already leave the state “en mass” so in reality we have been losing this revenue all along….and now it is a big issue?  

 Lottery Commission executive director Charles McIntyre is leading the charge which is to be expected…After all, he is New Hampshire’s “gambling czar.” And like any other bureaucrat, he welcomes the opportunity for his own niche in the quest for empire building and its requisite attendant bureaucracy.

 In 1964 the New Hampshire lottery was created to bolster educational funding. It does all but that, now. It is my humble opinion that expanding New Hampshire Gambling would provide broad expansion of government and less revenue relief for the tax payer. New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies’ Executive Director Steve Norton espouses the concept that New Hampshire should build at least one Casino to offset the revenue losses and social costs.

 Today, I am still not opposed to Casinos themselves. Personally, I very rarely gamble and I don’t go to such venues, nor do I possess any philosophical or moral arguments against Casinos. But when I am told we must build them because Massachusetts is, I feel a bit hosed….lied to…a victim of charlatanry. I don’t believe for a second that net revenues will enhance Granite State coffers or benefit the citizens, as evidenced by how the New Hampshire State Lottery Commission has evolved.

We “missed the bus” in the nineties on Gambling. Moreover, the number of gamblers is finite whose fannies will warm chairs in front of one-armed bandits. Gamblers have more choices than ever before without the Granite State being a gambling destination. So what exactly is it that will make New Hampshire the “go to” location for gambling? I ain’t seeing it.

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