Got Any Sugar In The House (Part Two)?

SugarHouse Casino Official Website

There are several ways to look at Thursday's opening of SugarHouse, Philadelphia's first casino, depending on, among other variables, where you live, whether you like to gamble, and whether you found a job at the new casino. But, there's one way that shouldn't be overlooked: SugarHouse is a cog in a well-oiled machine designed to print money and that machine is "ruthlessly" successful. Consider these jaw-dropping numbers...

The nine casinos in the state generated revenues of $2.7 billion in the 12 months ending in August. Slots alone generated $200 million in revenues in August alone, and table games brought in $ 52 million in their first two months. Well, that's great news if you're a casino operator and pretty good news for the state, which gets a cut of these winnings. But, there's another way to look at these casino-revenue figures: These dollars are what gamblers LOST! In other words, people visiting the state's casinos lost $234 million in the month of August! H-E-L-L-O! Is anybody home?

Across the East Coast, the numbers are even more staggering. According to Gaming Industry Observer, which collects revenue reports from most of the casinos in nine states, gamblers dropped nearly a billion dollars in August! Where is this money coming from? Isn't there a recession going on? Isn't the unemployment rate nearly 10% now? But, the more important question is: What are people NOT spending this money on? What choices are people making when they wager their dollars at a casino and not elsewhere? "Other casinos" is only a partial answer and what are the implications of these choices?

Objective data on these decisions doesn't exist at the present time and getting it is a job for the House Gaming Oversight Committee. The General Assembly brought gaming to the state and they should know all there is to know about what that decision may mean for the people of our city. It was previously reported that casinos, particularly those in Atlantic City, were suffering losses during the recession... but, these figures sound like a far cry from losses to me. More importantly, I cannot understand why people are expected to support casinos with the little money they do have (or don't have), in addition to everything else on their plates right now.

It seems to me that Philadelphia needs this casino like a "hole in the head." And, to add insult to injury, nothing is really going to change for the better in this city where it really counts (i.e. neighborhoods, schools, services, taxes, etc.). Even the new jobs that SugarHouse provides are limited in number, so let's not pretend it will solve all of our unemployment problems. If you really want to know how this works, just ask the people living in Atlantic City. As far as I can tell, all they got for the lies that were told about the revenue casinos would bring to their city was a bunch of outlet stores in the downtown area. And, if memory serves me correctly, it was several years before they were built and only after the people called the city to task about their neglect.

Nobody's quality of life in Atlantic City actually changed for the better, as promised, and I believe the same can be said for the good city of Chester, which laid out their welcome mat for a casino back in 2006. More than likely, a few "bones" or "crumbs" will be tossed our way, but nothing of any real significance will change in Philadelphia either... you'll see. So, do we really need this casino on top of the difficulties many people are already experiencing from the recession? I think not. I've asked this question a few times before about other "hair-brained" ideas coming from City Hall regarding raising money (or cutting services) for Philadelphia, and I'll ask it again... "Nutter, Are You Nuts?

Disclaimer: For the record, my husband and I did pay a visit to the SugarHouse Casino this past Friday evening after a long and exhausting work week. I'm happy to report that we made the decision before going in that the only money they were going to get from us was the cost of a meal. We're not really gamblers anyway, but we had to eat, right? LOL!