Dear Mark,
I can't wait for
gambling to come to Detroit. Do you think with just three casinos, there
will be enough competition to benefit the player? Benny D.
A resounding NO, and here's why. The
precipitous price for those three casino licensees will have to be
absorbed by the unwilling and unknowing player. For starters, a state
gaming tax of 18 percent of the casino profits was set by Michigan's
Proposition E referendum. Next, add an additional $25 million a year to
the Michigan Gaming Control Board, plus $5 million for compulsive
gambling. State legislators also enacted laws that require each
licensee to pay more than $8 million in annual fees. As the Consumer
Price Index increases, so do the service fees. The casinos must also pay
an additional annual municipal fee of 1.25 percent of the adjusted gross
receipts, or $4 million, whichever is greater.
Now if you think the Lords of Chance will
be footing the bill for the price of a casino license-the highest amount
extracted yet from any casino operator-lose the tears. They'll sulk like
a 10-year-old when they have to fork over so much money, but whose
pocket will they really take it out of? YOURS. How? By oppressive rules
in blackjack, sky-high limits at table games, tight video poker machines
and even tighter cybernetic one-armed bandits.
Welcome, Detroit, my hometown, to what I
believe will be some of the highest table limits and toughest odds
nationwide. For the customers' sake, I hope I'm wrong and will have to
digest these words.
