Kentucky Slots or Not

While the popularity of online slots and poker has not really waned due to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, or UIGEA, people have still been interested in playing games in several land casinos in the country. Especially during hard economic times like these, people are looking to stretch their luck to make some bucks, any way they can. Moreover, the horrendous national budget deficit has legislators scrambling for ways to up the funds without resorting to higher taxes, which would be a highly unpopular move. As people’s pocketbooks stretch even tighter this Fall, with the high price of necessary goods like gas and food, any more taxes would just break many households. For this very reason, states are looking into casinos to meet their financial needs.

Casinos are popular, as people enjoy games that give them the chance to make some money. Why not benefit the infrastructure at the same time? From the looks of things, Kentucky might want to be the new Las Vegas state. A new bill which is going to be up this year will decide the fate for slots in the state. If it is passed, it will grant the state over 18,000 slot machines, which are to be distributed among Kentucky’s racetracks and counties. While the financial benefits of gambling are always apparent on paper, the social and personal effects of such behavior are always the main obstacle for this type of legislation.

Just as it has been going on all over the world, it looks like this legislation will thrust the state of Kentucky into the slots debate as well. While the machines would automatically be given to the licensed race tracks (there are eight total) each individual county in the state would then have to decide whether or not they would allow slot machines. Of course, in order to decide, the residents of those counties are going to have to do some soul searching, and weigh it against the demands of their own pocketbooks.

Back to July 2008 Archive.