Casino in Chicago (town, baseball, near)

[Vlajos]

If this happens, Gary and Hammond are dead.

[Aleking]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

If this happens, Gary and Hammond are dead.

I had no idea Gary was alive.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by Aleking

I had no idea Gary was alive.

You got me there

[Chicago60614]

I say hell yeah. I know a ton of friends and coworkers who would definitely stop by after work or take the L down on the weekend for a few hours of gambling.

I don't know how people think this would LOSE money.

[Irishtom29]

Originally Posted by Aleking

I had no idea Gary was alive.

It's at least as alive as Uptown. And has more good paying jobs in the bargain.

[doublenickels]

Illinois politicians fended off this entire casino matter going to referendum.

Taxpayers will get no tax BURDEN RELIEF from a Chicago casino. Read the legislation. That legislation is going to deliver millions to race track owners.

DO YOU PEOPLE have any idea of the cost of the management contract for the casino? City workers don't manage casinos. You need a casino management company WHICH REQUIRES A MULTI MILLION DOLLAR FEE / CONTRACT. That company is going to be the primary beneficiary of a Chicago casino.... HUGE MONEY. Then, the gaming company suppliers, builders, construction etc. They will all benefit....not the taxpayers. Chicago / Cook County taxpayers are going to foot the bill.

Cook County is NOT GOING TO REDUCE YOUR PROPERTY TAXES, because of a Chicago casino. You will still get an increase, as usual. The price of your City Sticker is not going down.

A Chicago casino is going to have an effect on taxpayers similar to the Illinois Lottery. You know it is in place, but the state is still asking YOU THE TAXPAYER for more and more money.

Why did rural Danville get a casino license, if the idea is to generate revenue for a cash strapped state? The entire "casino legislation" thing stinks.

[sthornt1]

A casino in arguably the most corrupt city in the country can only be bad news. At best it will simply line the pockets of the politically connected. At worst it'll be a fiscal disaster and cesspool of crime lurking at the taxpayers' doorstep.

[linicx]

I've gambled in casinos from Shreveport, NOLA, Vicksberg, SoCAL, LV, KC. Little Reno and several Indian tribal owned casinos. Some were opulent and had great food. Some were not. Some had valet service some did not. I currently do not live too far from a half-dozen casinos. I was never in Binion's much to my regret. Casino's invest a lot of money in food. Low quality food, tight slots, short shots, weak coffee, poor to average quality rooms are trade tricks to save money. Surly, dealers, unfriendly staff, cheap booze, high table entry fees, over-priced gift shop filled with junk, aging entertainers, etc.. drive money out the door.

A Chicago casino could do very well for a couple of reaosns. Tourists. 5-Star restaurants, money and no competition. Indiana is not competition. A tourist who comes to Chicago, comes to Chicago. They do not go to Indiana to come to Chicago. They come to Chicago to eat in Chicago, sleep in Chicago, do the toursit things in Chicago, and spend money in Chicago. Toiurists do NOT flock to Chicago to do these things in Indiana or any other state. They come to Chicago. Keep your eye on the prize. .

To make money you spend money wisely - which is not on eye-candy, or seven restauronts, or a recreated Fifth Avenue for the women. It is spent on larger, nicer guest rooms, a buffet that is well stocked, at least one restaurant that serves only 5-start meals and top shelf booze. Guest have perks the public does not get, and every guest gets a comp. If you are going to open a casinos then open a casino and court the gamblers. High stakes tables, loose slots (not too loose), $1-$500 poker tables and give upscale service to everyone. Whales want to be pampered and they expect it.

I dislike the H****h's casinos. The arrogance, the employes who act like they do you a favor to answer a question, rude security, tight slots is who they are. I've never been in any of their casinos where I thought the guests were having fun. It wasn't raucous or rowdy; it wasn't even fun. I didn't see any one walk out with a bucket of change; the buffet was dirty; no attendant in the restrooms, and we left. I want to have fun when I gamble. I never had that feeling in these company owned casino's anywhere. It's even worse in small towns.

Chicago has her Whales. You have to offer something to keep them coming back. Beeny Binion's attraction was a display of one million dollars on the casino floor and no closed rooms for high rollers. Put together a winning ticket and then host the WSOP tournament every year. When I go to a casino I want to see people laughing, smiling and having fun. I don't want to see gamblers who look like they are attending their own funeral.

Unless the boat moves off shore the biggest hurdle will probably be the State NO-Smoking Ban.

[americangeneral]

You've gotta hand it to the people of Chicago. They're corrupt to the bone, have been for several generations, and have more civic pride than nearly anyone I've ever seen. Their baseball team never wins, they've been run by a single family for most of (long) living memory, the city is brutally segregated, and Illinois keeps sending governors to jail for (mostly) Chicago-based corruption.


City Hall running a gambling racket makes me laugh. All the neighboring states are going to send their simple, small town folk over to blow a lot of money, while being brutally mocked by the Windy Citizens.


Say what you will about Giuliani, at least he got New York relatively cleaned up. Emanuel looks to be going in the opposite direction.

[Chicago76]

Since this thread has new life, my 2 cents, having worked with casinos on their P&Ls, forecasts, and sales of casinos for a few years:

1-there are two types of casinos: those that cater to local markets situated on highways and those that are destinations, mainly in Vegas.

2-casinos generate a lot of cash, but don't make as much money as people may expect. This is due to extremely high taxes on gaming profits (typically between 25% and 50% depending upon the state). These taxes are in addition to state and federal income tax.

3-The only casinos not making money today fall into three categories: 1) those that overbuild for their market. Companies finish out their rooms at 150K-250K per room details when the market is more of a 50K per room market. 2) those that are cut off from their gaming customers thanks to a new casino. If your place is 40 miles up the road from city center X and a competitor builds only 30 miles up the road, you're in trouble. 3) Many places in Vegas, given the current economy as the market is more of a pure gambling destination vacation. Notice how Vegas has been plugging shows, shopping, and golf more since 9/11? They're trying to recession-proof the business model a bit by emphasizing other free standing offerings. The reality of it is, people go to gamble, and when they don't have money to gamble, they're not flying to Vegas for rounds of golf or to take in a show.

A DT casino in Chicago doesn't suffer from these problems. The location is central and there would only be one license, so the operator is in a perfect situation. People come here regardless, and some will want to gamble. There's no need to make things super high end: something along the lines of a Mandalay in Vegas or a bit better than Lumiere quality in STL will do. Put two separate floors in: one in closer proximity to the rooms to capture the high end clietele and the other closer to something on the streetscape to entice the local or the basic weekend tourist. High end = more table games and high dollar slots and more accessible = something closer to your standard midwest gaming venue. One upscale dining venue, a couple mid-scale, no generic buffet line. One nightclub and for something entirely different, an upscale pub that doubles as a sports book. You couldn't cover NBA/NHL/NFL/MLS, but you could do horses + rugby + international soccer. This would be a huge draw for internationals as they're not all at common here but exist quite a bit in GB and Ireland. Soccer bars do a great bit of business in Chicago, but none of them can offer gambling. There are a lot of Irish and English living on the east cost that would make a trip for something like that, if done well.

The operator wouldn't make money hand over fist (thanks to the gaming taxes), but they would have a healthy income stream. The city and state would be the biggest winners. Better to have a visitor lose $300 gambling (where the state and city may get $100-$150 of that) than to have a visitor spend $300 shopping (where they get less than $30). This would do quite well on Navy Pier, somewhere close to the S. Loop/convention center or as part of a reviatilzation effort around the old post office or Goose Island (if the city wanted to make a concerted development effort here, allowing for some mid-rise or high-rse residences w/ decent transit linkage post-real estate recovery).