Gambling in Hawaii

[Devany]

Hawaiians historically are really into gambling and specifically at the California Hotel in Las Vegas. Here is an article about it and you can buy the book all over town. I even saw it at the downtown KTA the other day.

http://www.honolulumagazine.com/Honolulu...iis-Vegas/

I have a lifelong friend who is the president of one of the largest gaming companies in the world. He told me many times that gaming is the most lucrative business in the world and that is because there are so many suckers out there that actually think they are going to beat the house. You have a better chance of getting struck by lightening. How do you think they build all of those mega resorts in Las Vegas ???

I had an Architect boss once (in IL, a "riverboat" state) that was such an addict to playing high stakes Blackjack that he ended up losing his entire business AND the Employee's retirement fund. It was terrible. He typically lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in a single session. He occasionally won and that is all we ever heard about at first... his wins. He took all of the staff to Lake Tahoe once and we observed him playing like a maniac, not even leaving the table to eat or go to the bathroom for 12 straight hours. At the end he looked like a zombie and he did supposedly break even after 12 hours. That is a sickness. This guy had a huge firm with 20 architects under him and many contracts with the federal government, he could have been a rich man but he threw it all away and the futures of many employees with it.

A few months ago a California VP at a huge electronics retailer was arrested after it was learned that he had been diverting millions of dollars through a scheme with suppliers to feed his extensive gambling habit. Nobody was really hurt in this scheme, but it is evidence that even very bright people can get caught up in the allure of gambling and how most people ever really win in the long run.

I know another woman in IL who lost her home and had to move in with her son because of her gambling addiction. Fortunately, she did remain employed, but at 60 years old and nothing to show for a long career, it is sad.

As I said in an earlier post, the states that I have lived in where gambling was made legal did not spend the revenue they got in the ways that they were supposed to. Somehow it got diverted away in other directions. This is where the problem lies in my opinion. It is also sad how many people throw their money and lives away when they get sucked into gambling their lives away.

I think it would be a sad day for Hawaii and our island in particular if gaming came here. I am a libertarian in most situations, but this is one thing where I personally have seen so many lives destroyed and communities blighted and I do not want to see that happen here. However having said that, I have no real personal power in the decision making, other than my vote if it ever comes to that and there are even ways around that with tribal gaming. I just think it is a sad thing.


Aloha au i Hawai`i,
devany

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