Andy Rooney and the Gambling Business

(CBS)  I have good news for you tonight. According to an American Gaming Association report, revenue from casino gambling fell by almost two billion dollars last year.

A lot of people are out of work and it turns out that when people are unemployed, they gamble less. You'd think they might gamble more but they don't. There's some good things about everything, I guess.

In 2008 the casinos earned $32.5 billion. Last year they earned only $30.7 billion. I use the words "earned" and "only" loosely but casino income was down a lousy little two billion dollars last year. It's enough to bring tears to your eyes.

It's a law for people to protect themselves by wearing seat belts for their own safety when they're in car. How come the government doesn't protect citizens from losing their money by making gambling in casinos illegal? There should be a sign in front of every casino that says "enter at your own risk...of losing your shirt."

The thing that bothers me most about gambling is that people fritter away money so they don't get to spend it on things that someone else has been paid to produce. Gambling produces nothing.

There's only so much money in the world and if it's lost at a gambling table, it's money that isn't spent on things America makes. I mean who's best for this country - a machinist at an automobile plant in Detroit or a blackjack dealer in Las Vegas?

The gambling casinos keep something like 20 percent of everything bet for themselves, so there's no chance of anyone but the casinos winning over a period of time. They make billions - and where do the billions come from? They come from all of us because we're the losers. I mean, suckers is what we are.

If I write as though I was above all this, I'm not writing right. I've gambled half a dozen times in Las Vegas and even though I know how dumb it is. I think I can win. I've never won but that doesn't stop me from thinking "maybe next time."


Written by Andy Rooney

[ssalty]

I've lived in Vegas for five years. I've never been a compulsive gambler, and I sympathize with those who are (as well as those who are subject to other types of addictions, like sex, booze, and COOKIES!). People who live in other locales where gambling is permitted have the same choices we all do -- whether to gamble or not. If places like Detroit, where, according to one commenter, "people of color" predominate have legalized river casinos, those people as well as everybody else have to choose to go to them.

But to my wife and myself, taking an afternoon or evening and dropping $20 each into slot machines is simply entertainment -- we'd spend nearly as much going to a movie (and go home feeling much less entertained, given the current state of the movie industry). And there is always the chance, however small, that we may go home with more $$ than we left home with. It happens frequently, though I'm sure we're still in the negative column with pluses and minuses. Neither of us ever loses more than we can afford.

[ssalty]

I've lived in Vegas for five years. I've never been a compulsive gambler, and I sympathize with those who are (as well as those who are subject to other types of addictions, like sex, booze, and COOKIES!). People who live in other locales where gambling is permitted have the same choices we all do -- whether to gamble or not. If places like Detroit, where, according to one commenter, "people of color" predominate have legalized river casinos, those people as well as everybody else have to choose to go to them.

But to my wife and myself, taking an afternoon or evening and dropping $20 each into slot machines is simply entertainment -- we'd spend nearly as much going to a movie (and go home feeling much less entertained, given the current state of the movie industry). And there is always the chance, however small, that we may go home with more $$ than we left home with. It happens frequently, though I'm sure we're still in the negative column with pluses and minuses. Neither of us ever loses more than we can afford.

[NinthSt78]

Best bet is the big brunch bunch...

[dick4021]

Hey ANDY, YOUR ABSOLUTLY RIGHT IN ONE RESPECT. Two other big reasons folks are not gambling as much, is the casino's stopped with the coins. People love to hear and feel those coins in there hands. The don't care about there hands getting dirty, as the casino's claim. The casino's removed them to save alot of money washing them ,and people to move them. Secondly, ever since they stopped the coins, they stopped people from winning any kind of big money. No one any where is winning anything to talk about in Vegas, or atlantic city,and also the Indian casino's got right on the band wagon. I was the very first big winner in Atlantic city after it opened $400,000, and over the years i have seen how it all works. So let them eat it.

[barbaram99]

I did not read the article and felt no need to.I do not go to them gaming halls as I call them nor buy them tickets where ye pick numbers etc..I see the ads on TV about the gaming and people playing the games of whet they have in the ads..On TV ads they look like they are having fun and the time of their life..Use common sense..Workers in the gaming houses also know it is in favour of the house..I don't play the numbers..I am poor..I don't bet. I do have things on the computer that I enjoy..
I have been told money is evil and yet we need it to live ..I realise that working in the gaming houses do so to put food on the family table etc.I don't smoke nor drink.I have met others that blew all their money on this issue..Their rent, food,and daily/monthly living money..I have seen news stories on this issue..It is yer money..I have been in a gaming house and there is one person that seem to win alot of money at a machine..My friend told me how the gaming house works..He once worked at one before I knew him. That was years ago..I told him I think the sames machines yer worked on are now computer controled.. I never felt the need to go there after once and it was years ago..He handed me 20 dollars with the message that was it win or lose..I lost. I learnt a lesson. Wall St is a mess,,It is greed..It use to be us poor could live..Every thing is sky high..I am 55 and so I member..I am using a 2rd hand Notebook that has been upgraded in RAM,hard drive and OS from Vista to Win 7. i am a legally blind sp needs person..
I enyoy playing against the computer..I don't play cards with others..I will play a paw of solitaire and that since I was a girl. I play solitaire mahjongg, FATE and that is hard to play.. It would not be for the fully sighted..I play for fun and there is no money won or lost..Should ye go into them gaming hosues..I can't tell ye yes or no..I will say if yer going to play the games set limits and don't go over..I stay out of them places..

[saadell]

I applaud Andy Rooney for speaking about about the predatory casino industry. I also want to say that, after reading the comments that have been posted here, I see how difficult it is going to be to try and persuade the public that the country is at a point of saturation when it comes to gambling.

True, Las Vegas employs thousands of people. It is, after all, a gambling resort destination. But places like Detroit, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, and Gary, Indiana are not. To put casinos in these communities, ones with predominately people of color, by the way, is to ensure that those who have the least will remain at the bottom of the economic ladder. Economists and others who study the gambling industry have shown that close proximity to casinos result in increased numbers of people committing crimes, losing their livelihoods and their families as a result of gambling addictions.

With regard to the predatory practices of Wall Street, let us not forget that it employs thousands of people as well, but most of us are very angered about the way ordinary, hard-working citizens have been fleeced. A similar fleecing is going on with the casino industry. As Andy Rooney astutely remarked, in order for the casino industry to rake in more than $30 billion, millions of people had to lose an awful lot of money. And most of us are just sitting by, letting the thievery happen.

Sandra Adell, Author: CONFESSIONS OF A SLOT MACHINE QUEEN: A MEMOIR. See also my blog, "A Black Woman's Reflections on Casino Gambling" www.saadell.wordpress.com.

[RenoMomof3]

Why stop at the Casino's? Lets just shut down Hawaii - how dare people spend thousands of dollars to just sit out in the sun and spend way too much money on alcohol. Heck, they're increasing their risk of skin cancer! We should all just stop vacationing, enjoying the fruits of our labor - it's a waste of money, after all. Those tourism supported communities don't need jobs, schools, roads, airports, police and fire stations, or parks. We can just all go on Welfare! Oh wait - where's the State of Nevada going to get the money for welfare without gaming? But I thought gaming didn't produce anything??

[Stopallpleasure]

I say why stop at shutting down Hawaii? How about demanding closure of all restaurants? Trully it is wastefull in these tough times to sit arround lazily awaiting others to prepare food and SERVE you as you sit, food that would be prepared cheaper and more responibly at home...and what about Movies, theatre, professional sports or other entertainment? We should all demand the appropriate closure of Hollywood and friends. Gambling is entertainment and there are risks and it is these risks that make it exciting. In the new Peoples Republic of Amerika I guess we should do away with all wasteful entertainment, sound good Andy?

[KearneyBill]

I know the day would come when someone from 60 minutes would talk about the ill-effects of casino gambling. I was hopping that it would have been sooner and one of the segments but being that no other television investigating news program has ever address this issue it was nice to see it brought to the forefront by Andy Rooney.

My name is Bill Kearney, I am a former compulsive casino gambling degenerate who's been educating the citizens of my state and others throughout our country and other countries on the pitfalls of what the gaming industry and an alarming number of our government officials call a form of entertainment, no different then going to the ballpark or theater. I am also the author of a novel titled ?COMPED.?

For over twenty years I've been addressing and proving that there are major flaws in gaming laws throughout our country. In other words, there are no safeguards or provisions in place that will protect today's casino gamblers and future casino gamblers from becoming what I once was. Casinos are operating like amusement parks with no safety belts or cages on their ride. There is absolutely no consumer protection.

My cause is not about casino prohibition, re-criminalization nor is it imposing my beliefs on the majority of responsible adults participating in what is known today as Gaming. My cause is all about consumer protection, which our Gaming Law here in Pennsylvania like others throughout our country does not have when it comes to addressing the compulsive casino gambling problem before one has the problem. The key word here is BEFORE.

This link - http://www.blip.tv/file/707657/ - will take you to a trailer for a documentary I'm working on that's going to expose the casino operators along with those so-called pillars of society who are in bed with the gaming industry and who have done nothing to stop the casino casualties from coming home.

These video links will give you an idea of what I?m going to accomplish here in Pennsylvania. And when that day comes it won?t be the same as what they say in Vegas, which is, ?What happens here stays here.? No, my safeguard will be adapted in every commercial casino in our country and that will stop the casino predators from breeding law abiding citizens into casino gambling degenerates.

Now here's what I've been doing to save others from becoming what I once was!

CBS NEWS - http://www.blip.tv/file/2958218

KDKA - http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=4163619

ABC 6 - http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=4185500

WFMZ's 69 - http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/news/watch/v18495258r7NJ4KN5

WBRE - TV - http://pahomepage.com/content/fulltext/?cid=22519#

CN8 - http://www.blip.tv/file/708140/

To learn more about the real ill effects of casino gambling go on line and look up Bill Kearney on casino gambling.

[ryanw430]

And in the meantime, gambling revenue in Macau has skyrocketed. Americans are still gambling. AMERICA is simply making less money from foreigners gambling. Do some research Andy/CBS. Or hire an economist.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/macaus-gambling-revenue-hits-record-high-report-2010-05-04

[allysonwonderland]

Mr. Rooney states, "There's only so much money in the world and if it's lost at a gambling table, it's money that isn't spent on things America makes."
That's actually incorrect. America does make these things. We make almost everything that goes into a local casino.
The slot machines made for people to play on, a great deal of them are manufactured here in Las Vegas. The casinos themselves were manufactured by carpenters, plumbers, designers, carpet installers, electricians, and on and on, local people who need these jobs. The tables, the cards, they come from paces all around this country.
But maybe when Mr. Rooney says this, that it?s not something America makes, maybe he means the gambling itself is not something we produce. But, we do. We produce entertainment.
Yes, there are people who use gambling in other ways, but it?s not the true intent. Gambling is like pinball, except you could actually win something. It?s like the video games in the arcade, except you might get some of the change back. And in terms of entertainment, it?s like the film industry. But to frank, I lose more money going to the movie theatre with my family than I do when I gamble.
Demeaning our life and what we do for a living, that's the problem with this piece Mr. Rooney has created. Just like everyone else in this horrible space in time, we are suffering. Why should you delight in our suffering? Do our children not need food as much as yours? Do our grandparents not need elderly care as much as yours? Maybe your spouse deserves more medical care than mine? Maybe what you have you value you more. Maybe not. Maybe we are actually equal. And maybe you just have a bad attitude towards the rest of us who work hard in this country and in this economy.
We do not have the advantages that you do, Mr. Rooney. We live and breathe in the dust and the vacancy of our neighborhoods. We delight in the small successes of our families because at times, that?s all we have. We live and move forward because it's all we can do. We hope that it gets better.
What we do not do is delight in someone else?s hardship. We do not demean what they do to pay their mortgages. We do not take away what little they have left in these hard times. We do not add to their hardship.
Mr. Rooney, when is the last time you could say the same?