Should Massachusetts ban casinos? (Boston, Everett: crime rate, high school, live)

[Bettafish]

Originally Posted by Guineas

Eh. They are just the state profiting off human misery. They don't really help the area so much as make it dependent. It also seems largely a Boomer attraction. What's going to happen in a few decades? I honestly don't see Millennials or later that into them.

I saw a lot of young people in Boston encore too, including college students. I also saw a guy from US army (he said it). Hopefully they don't go there regularly.

[Msats]

Waiting till he losses money in 401k stocks... then he is going to want to ban it.

[Boston Shudra]

Originally Posted by Guineas

Eh. They are just the state profiting off human misery.

This isn’t the first time I’ve seen this wording used in the thread. I have co-workers that go to casinos a few times a year, and they definitely aren’t miserable for it. Not everyone there is betting their next meal away.

[bostongymjunkie]

Originally Posted by Guineas

Eh. They are just the state profiting off human misery. They don't really help the area so much as make it dependent. It also seems largely a Boomer attraction. What's going to happen in a few decades? I honestly don't see Millennials or later that into them.

This never made much sense to me either. In a state (within a nation) that already has significant problems with addiction of other types, why would you want to encourage businesses that will most likely lead to increases in addiction, crime, and despair? I don't see the benefits outweighing the costs.

[Urban Peasant]

Just recently I wrote in the Asia forum that I visit Macau for the culture, not the casinos, and have no desire to visit Las Vegas. Flushing your hard earned money down those machines in the casinos is like flushing money down a toilet. That's not what I call fun. Do you know how I have fun taking chances? By stopping by bank after bank asking for "funny money" i.e. half dollars, $2 banknotes, Eisenhowers, etc. I'm big on Eisenhowers right now. Last week I hit big by landing 15 Eisenhower dollars at a local bank - at market rate OK, no surcharges like with proofs and sets. Today, I tried to do the same at another branch, the teller told me she had 46 of them last week but another customer bought them all in one fell swoop. So I did not gain but I did not lose either. I amassed a solid collection of half dollars, $2 banknotes, and a smaller amount of Eisenhowers that way, not to mention every single quarter dollar edition so far except Guam, Gettysburg, and Tuskegee Airmen. I'm still on the lookout for Indian head pennies, Liberty dimes, and Franklin half dollars and I look for Canadian penny rolls, 50 cent pieces, and Voyageurs whenever I am in Canada.

But to the O.P.'s question regarding our casinos, the horse is already out of the barn. Closing them would mean forfeiting revenue and losing jobs to Rhode Island and Connecticut. If I can't convince people to act like me and play safely with my anecdote above, then leave alone with their own pleasure and pain. As mentioned before, there are plenty of counseling services out there for gambling addicts.

[Guineas]

https://wallethub.com/edu/states-mos...gambling/20846

Most gambling addicted states in 2021 heh

[BostonMike7]

Originally Posted by Boston Shudra

This isn’t the first time I’ve seen this wording used in the thread. I have co-workers that go to casinos a few times a year, and they definitely aren’t miserable for it. Not everyone there is betting their next meal away.

Same here. My wife and I usually go 2X a year for a night away at a Casino. Sometimes we make it a group event with our friends and their spouses. It's not a miserable event at all for us. In fact i look forward to it. We are millennials as well. I know quite a few folks who visit a casino at least 1X a year. None of them strike me as the type to have an gambling addiction. It just seems they want a night away to enjoy some gaming, dinner and a hotel room.

Not everyone goes to a casino to gamble their life savings away. $200 will easily last me the night on a Roulette table and i'm fine if i lose it all. I stop there and call it a night. I don't think banning the idea of casinos to protect some people from themselves is the way to go here, when many others can enjoy such things responsibly.

There are other parallels that could be made here. The lottery? What about folks who jumped on the Robinhood bandwagon early this year and lost their shirts because they have no idea how to trade options or bought on Margin and got carried away? The stock market is just another form of "gambling"

https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/19/busin...rns/index.html

Originally Posted by Urban Peasant

By stopping by bank after bank asking for "funny money" i.e. half dollars, $2 banknotes, Eisenhowers, etc. I'm big on Eisenhowers right now. Last week I hit big by landing 15 Eisenhower dollars at a local bank - at market rate OK, no surcharges like with proofs and sets. Today, I tried to do the same at another branch, the teller told me she had 46 of them last week but another customer bought them all in one fell swoop. So I did not gain but I did not lose either. I amassed a solid collection of half dollars, $2 banknotes, and a smaller amount of Eisenhowers that way, not to mention every single quarter dollar edition so far except Guam, Gettysburg, and Tuskegee Airmen. I'm still on the lookout for Indian head pennies, Liberty dimes, and Franklin half dollars and I look for Canadian penny rolls, 50 cent pieces, and Voyageurs whenever I am in Canada.

Ha. I do that too, although Covid has put a damper on my box hunting. Years ago, at my local bank i had a teller save me a few "old dollars" which ended up being 4 Morgans. I did a happy dance right there in the lobby as i bought those for face. Still searching for my first "W" mint quarter and Tuskegee.

I still like buying coffee with a $2 bill and Kennedy half. Always get a kick out of the reactions

[msRB311]

I'm not into casinos...i could care less about them. If someone enjoys them I don't care either.

[masssachoicetts]

This thread is outsiders getting mad at Mass for allowing casinos. Idek.

[Bettafish]

Originally Posted by masssachoicetts

This thread is outsiders getting mad at Mass for allowing casinos. Idek.

I live in Arlington MA, for quite a few years. Not really an outsider.