Why is the Senate stalling Sports Gambling Bill?

[Boges]

I love going to Niagara Falls, and do so frequently. I'll be there all next weekend.

That said, the casino is nothing but depressing, much like the town it touted it would revive but clearly failed to.

The Casino hasn't made NF worse. I guess unless you hate tourist traps. But Fallsview is a very classy joint. The old one could easily be closed and no one would miss it but jobs are at stake.

This also has less to do with full blown casinos and more to do with the unfair way we do sport gambling in this country. This law could make Proline, you know, actually fair. But I do think Sports Books would be great draws. You can already bet on horses pretty much anywhere, why not team sports.

Edited September 25, 2014 by Boges

[Moonbox]

The Casino hasn't made NF worse. I guess unless you hate tourist traps. But Fallsview is a very classy joint. The old one could easily be closed and no one would miss it but jobs are at stake.

It maybe didn't make it worse, but it's generally hard to find compelling evidence showing a casino reviving a local economy.Niagara Falls is no exception.

This also has less to do with full blown casinos and more to do with the unfair way we do sport gambling in this country. This law could make Proline, you know, actually fair. But I do think Sports Books would be great draws. You can already bet on horses pretty much anywhere, why not team sports.

First off, the appeal of horse racing is extremely limited. The VAST majority of sports enthusiasts don't know a thing or care a smidge for horse racing. If not for gambling the sport would hardly even exist.

As for professional sports, all I think this leads to is dumb sports enthusiasts overconfident in their knowledge losing more than they can't afford. You're generally not able to make $1000+ dollar bets on Proline or with your friends, but who knows what you can drop on a single game if it sports betting is legalized. The compulsive and addictive nature of gambling is a perfectly horrible ingredient to combine with the emotional and unreasonable experience of being a sports fan.

Combine this with the aforementioned risk of game-fixing (which used to happen all of the time prior to these laws being introduced), and it becomes very difficult for anyone to convince me that this would provide any net benefit to the economy or well-being of Canadians.

Casinos are generally not value-adding contributors to local economies. Unless it's a huge tourist attraction (like Vegas) and brings people from all over, they suck out just as much, if not more, than they ever bring in. At best, gambling is a sin/vice tax that demographically tends to hit the most vulnerable and least educated the hardest.

[Boges]

Game fixing may have been an issue when pro athletes didn't make a lot of money but it's hard to buy an athlete that makes millions of dollars. The minimum wage in these sports are in the $500,000 year range.

The current model of parlays is far more able to separate dumb people from their money. Anyone who knows anything about sports doesn't do a parlay. At least if you allow it more people would play.

Also, it's said that if it wasn't for gambling and fantasy football the NFL wouldn't be the juggernaut it is.

Edited September 25, 2014 by Boges

[Moonbox]

While I'm largely against organized gambling, I do participate enthusiastically in fantasy sports leagues. These are generally things, usually among friends, and a $100 entry into the league would be considered expensive.