Many states right now are looking to bringing gaming in to their markets. They know that slots’ gaming is highly lucrative and want a piece of the pie. Markets were left in shambles after the recession and legislators are now faced with huge deficits and budgetary shortfalls. They are worried that they aren’t going to be able to find other means of bringing in the millions of dollars needed to turn things around. Illinois is a state that is seriously looking to make some slots changes and use the games as a means of overcoming financial difficulties. Right now there is a bill on the table that would allow slots gaming to be in the state at race tracks and the other slots locations already in existence. These locations would be able to substantially increase their slots games on the floors and bring in that much more revenue. The race tracks in the state would be able to incorporate gaming from slots too. They would be able to use slots to bring patrons in and to also take advantage of the money slots naturally bring in. The goal is twofold. If people come to the race tracks, operators are hoping they will start wagering on races once again. The other goal is to bring in money from slots to be able to build bigger purses. This is a problem with the racing market—the numbers are drastically down and that is stifling companies from building purses like they once did. This does little to bring in patrons and a big chance of a good win could be what is needed to return them to the tracks.

Right now the Illinois bill would allow the state to tax slots parlors anywhere from twelve to twenty-six percent on their revenue. Considering that small slots parlors can still bring in hundreds-of-thousands of dollars any given month, this could add up and help the market turn itself around quicker. The House of Representatives already approved the bill and now the state Senate has to go over it. Most likely there won’t be many hand ups with it though. It seems that the legislators in the state are ready for gaming, and so is the Illinois voting public.

States in the US have been debating slots for some time now. Some legislators want the games in the market. They believe that no one can pass up the millions of dollars they would bring in. Take Hollywood Casino in Perryville Maryland for example. The casino opened at the end of November of 2010 and within four days it posted $2- million in revenue. With numbers like that it could easily bring in upwards of $50-million in just one month of operations. Of course opening day probably was a huge draw and most likely their revenue will taper off, but that still could leave $30 to $40- million in revenue on the table for the state. This is part of the reason why pro-gambling activists are pushing so hard for new legislation to allow the games. They believe that there are few other options that possibly could compete with that kine of revenue and supplement. States already have gone through hefty budget cuts and are trying to think of new ways to stop the cut backs. They want to go ahead with plans for expansion, development, roads, construction, education and public works. However, without some new money to fuel those plans, they may have a difficult time finding funding. Add to the issue the huge deficits most states are under and you have a true financial dilemma to deal with.

On the other hand though there are also anti-gambling activists fighting just as hard from the other side of the coin. They acknowledge that slots will bring in millions of dollars. That is a given– the games are popular and people love testing out new ones. Their concern though is that the cost of legalizing gambling is a large one. For example, let’s say gambling is legalized and a good slots parlor brings in $10-million per month. The crime rate will go up due to the move and so would addiction and money laundering, or so says the anti-gambling world. That could create a need for more policemen to manage crime, more money for addiction centers and more money for task forces to investigate illegal activities. Though states would bringing in huge dollars a large portion may have to go directly to the problems gaming creates.

Part two coming next.

If you have studied gambling at all, then you  know the changes that happened in 2006. Basically the history of gambling in the US can be split into pre-UIGEA and post-UIGEA timelines. The UIGEA is the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. It was passed in 2006, but was in the works for many years prior to that. Initially Congress first began working with gambling law back in 1998. The country was trying to find a viable way to handle online gambling. Until 2006 though the US legislators efforts all proved ineffective. In 2006 there were some negative happenings in the world of gambling. For this reason the “American Values Agenda” was created and in it, gambling was banned completely. Representatives Jim Leach and Bob Goodlatte were the leaders for the cause and they pushed to eliminate gambling because they believed it would increase fraud, identity theft, security needs and money laundering. Though there was no proof that this is what would happen, the country ended up accepting their arguments. Though there was some opposition, the UIGEA was pushed through on the tails of another bill called the Homeland Security bill. It was a huge change in the market and banned gaming overal.

Once the UIGEA was passed, it changed the market. It forced financial institutions to say no to gambling. They had to police all transactions coming in, flag those that were affiliated with gambling and then deny them. If they didn’t they were under the threat of high fines and the surrender of money. Banks became overly cautions for fear of losing money and activities that should have been legal were swept away under the heading of “gambling related” activities. The deficiencies of the UIGEA are becoming fully apparent now. The bill was supposed to stop gambling, but all it did in retrospect was to stop gambling in the US. US players quickly shifted to offshore gambling companies and used them to play games. That of course means that billions of dollars were channeled out of the country- and that money will never be recovered. The UIGEA was an incomplete document and now there are serious changes coming about to amend it. If the changes do go through, it looks like gambling will be legalized and regulated. Only time will tell what really happens, but it seems that legalizing gambling is only a matter of a few months.

Back in 2008 the state of Maryland got good news. Horse racing venues were promised additional funding to help them manage through the difficult economy. Now, that good news is turning sour and it looks like they may not get the help they still sorely need. There are two new bills that are entering the law book and they are threatening the horse racing industry altogether. The first one is proposing a cut of 50% for the slot machine revenues. The second one is proposing cutting slot machine money in the industry of racing completely.

Luiz Simmons, representative for Montgomery County, said earlier last month that he wants to take 7% of horse racing funs or up to $100 million and put it directly towards school funding. Since the recession, education has been cut drastically and is seen to need many more cuts with the upcoming 2011 school year approaching.  Simmons cites no problem with the horse racing industry itself, but rather believes that the industry should not be receiving a hand out when other, more important, organizations are also in need of additional funding. He sees other entities like education and building as priorities, whereas horse racing is way down the list in importance. His house Bill#885 is the one that would direct money to building and expanding the education system within the state. Most of these projects have been put on hold due to the recession. The state is now trying to manage a $2.5 billion budget deficit for 2010 fiscal year.

All states have had a difficult time managing through the recession. Now that it is over, they are still looking for ways to overcome huge deficits and budget shortfalls. Without the revenue from gambling, many states are at a loss for bringing in the money needed to sustain their budgets and overcome financial deficiencies. Race tracks are suffering though because they also know that if the states cut into their slot machine revenue, they will be losing too. Race tracks have suffered greatly in the recession and have few options themselves as to what to do to spur on business. People stopped visiting race tracks to wager almost immediately when the recession began. It was a difficult thing to recover from and now, new bills are threatening them even more.

Non-profits and charities in Maryland are worried about slot machines. The state is one of the many US states debating using slot machines to bring in much-needed cash to state coffers. It is hoping that the machines are the answer to the post-recessionary financial deficits created by a struggling economy. The unemployment rate, lending crash and real estate issues all added together to create a financial climate that was difficult to say the least. Businesses throughout the US closed down quickly and others had to file bankruptcy to reorganize huge debts. Casinos were not impervious to the recession and suffered just as much financial despair.

It looks like slots are going to be part of the Maryland business industry sooner than later. The problem that is coming about though is the difficulties non-profits and charities are going to have when slots are legalized. Both entities are trying to get a bill passed that would allow them to use slot machines as a means of fund-raising. Both non-profits and charity organizations know how lucrative slots are and they are in need of ways to raise money.

Part of the issue is that non-profits and charities have tried to pass bills before. In fact it was about two years ago that they first brought the issue up. The latest move to pass a bill would allow non profit organizations like the American Legion to bring in slot machines and collect the winnings from them. Organizations like these say that most of their revenues go out to charity anyway, so allowing them to use slots to bring in revenue would be a benefit to all parties involved. Organizers say that visitors will be more likely to come in and spend money if slots are used to woo them. The added bonus is that they would be able to compete with casinos in the area.

Charity and non-profit organizers are hoping that the bill is passed and since slot machines were passed for the state, it is looking good. It could be the next few months when both organizations are allowed to take advantage of the money-generating and lucrative industry of slot machine gambling.