Poker Chip Has Two Sides March 3, 2003
Depending on whom you talk to, the $120 million expansion of a casino could be a boon to the community or it could mean more compulsive gamblers, bankruptcies and crime. While some residents are opposed to gambling, others say the addition of craps, roulette, more card games and pari-mutuel betting at Potawatomi will attract more players.
"Right now, it's a really nice facility. However, they really don't offer a lot unless you're into slot machines," said Kenneth Grabske of Delavan, who goes to casinos twice a year. The Forest County Potawatomi tribe announced plans this week to build a $120 million addition to its casino in Milwaukee after signing a new gaming compact that allows the tribe to offer additional games, stay open 24 hours and install more than the previous limit of 1,000 slot machines.
The expected annual net revenue would be $500 million after renovation. In return, the tribe will pay the state an additional $78 million over the next two years and will dramatically increase its payments after that. Gov. Jim Doyle is counting on more money from the tribal compacts as part of his plan to erase a $3.2 billion deficit in the 2003-'05 budget.
What the Potawatomi expansion will mean to the community is anyone's guess. The tribe says it'll mean more jobs - an additional 950 employees. But others wonder whether an expansion of gaming is a good thing. Jim Edgar of Shorewood has never gambled at a casino and opposes gambling because, he said, it attracts those who can least afford to bet their paychecks.
"I don't buy into the argument that as long as it's here, we might as well expand it to the highest limit we can," he said. Edgar said that whatever revenue the state gets from the Potawatomi and other Indian tribes now negotiating new gaming compacts won't make up for the costs of bankruptcies, crime and compulsive gamblers.
"I know we have a fairly substantial needy population in Milwaukee. (The expanded casino) would just pull more of them in because it's more convenient," Edgar said. Bill Detweiler of West Bend said the Potawatomi have been "given the keys to the vault." "I just feel like we're not far from Las Vegas.
I don't think we need more, but once the ball started rolling with the lottery, they threw in a couple of slots, and the next thing you knew, they had a liquor license and they were building bigger casinos," Detweiler said. "Where's it going to stop?"
Robert Peck of Milwaukee said it's possible the Wisconsin tourists who crowd planes flying to Las Vegas will stay close to home if the Potawatomi casino expands. Though Vegas offers a different experience with shows, attractions and fine restaurants, some people who go there three times a year might go only twice and spend the rest of their money at Wisconsin casinos, Peck said.
Craps is a popular game in Vegas, and it could attract different players to Potawatomi who wouldn't play blackjack or slot machines. "Slot machines and blackjack will remain popular, but craps and roulette will get their share," said James Hardin, a University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee student who enjoys gambling.
"I don't have the airfare to go to Vegas or even drive down to Dubuque (where games such as craps and roulette are offered). Now more people will spend their money here instead of going out of state," Hardin said. National statistics show that as the accessibility of gambling increases, the number of people who begin gambling goes up, said Rose Gruber, executive director of the Wisconsin Council on Problem Gambling.
She said statistics also show that 5% to 7% of the state's population has a gambling problem. Expanding casinos and offering more ways to gamble makes it easier to bet, Gruber said. "So the question is, will it increase problem gamblers? There's always that possibility, always the risk involved in that," she said.
A compulsive gambler who attends Gamblers Anonymous meetings in southeastern Wisconsin said increasing the casino's hours and getting rid of betting limits will attract problem gamblers. There are 10 Gamblers Anonymous groups in the area, six more than there were five years ago.
When "you set no limits . . . on tables, all they're doing is trying to draw people there for longer hours," said Mark, who declined to give his last name. "Is that going to help? No. If I was addicted to gambling, I would be there even more, especially if there were no limits. People are just going to be spending money faster."
