Yesterday, the Illinois Gambling Board publicly shared some of its analysis about efforts to place 45,000 video poker machines in every bar and tavern in the state. One Board member described it as “the equivalent of putting up 50 new casinos in the state.”
The Board said they intended to move “cautiously” because "this board has been one that has cleaned up a lot of messes, and we don't intend to make any messes." The Chicago Tribune describes the entire proposal as a “fiasco” in this must-read editorial.
It is a fiasco that severely undermines the purpose and promise of America for tens of thousands of Illinois citizens because the business model for video poker machines is dependent on addicted or heavily-indebted citizens. Video poker proponents attempt to elude charges of exploitation by pleading it is a “voluntary” act, hiding under the cloak of “freedom.” But by definition, someone who is an addict or someone who is in deep financial debt is not free.
In a country where everyone is considered equal, where all blood is royal, how can the state regulate a product that renders some of our fellow citizens as expendable? How do you regulate a product with a business model that relies on people losing their savings, pushing them further into debt? How do you regulate a product that is designed to get its users “to play to extinction?”
The answer is…you can’t.
There is no \"cautious\" way to inject 45,000 slot machines into bars and taverns in Illinois. Slots are toxic. They might as well say they plan to \"cauatiously\" expose 45,000 citizsens to the swine flu, although that would cause much less misery than the slots.