http://billingsgazette.co...03286.html

Sob.....while bars and taverns seem to be thriving, that nasty old smoking ban might cause some of our casinos to close!

Yawn. Remember 30 years ago, before we had all those second-rate casinos? Our Montana towns and cities were a lot more attractive.

I find it hard sympathzing with casino owners. They knowingly got involved in this disgusting business. To me, it is no more different than a meth dealer complaining that his sales are down due to a rotten economy.

It even gets better....

http://billingsgazette.co...03286.html

My favorite quote in the article.....

Reimers also worries about the costs that can't be measured. For several of her regulars, longtime smokers, the casino was the only social life they had, she said.

"Now that's taken away from them," she said.

If hanging out in the casino all day was their only social life, those losers are better off dead.

Keystroke-saving translation:

Whiny Casino Owners wrote:

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!

[This message has been edited by Brian A. Reed (11/22/2009)]

I saw that article and I thought the same thing. Lucky Lil can go to hell as far as I'm concerned.

Maybe they can open up a drive-through .. and for those who are more social, a carpool lane.

Won't someone PLEEEEASE think of the casinos!

Don't you think that some of those places had to put in casinos to keep their main business afloat? (I don't like them, either.)

wow, tough sh!t, the over-abundance of casinos in montana is so, so sad. don't people realize that they are zombies to the machine?!

Maureen, I don't think so. Read the articles. These casinos are all businesses started as casinos, not add-ons to existing businesses.

The second article makes a point of stating that bars and taverns that have other activities like watching sports saw a neutral or even an increase in business.....only the pure cigarette-smoke filled casino pits seem to be the ones losing business.

And I doubt the Town Pump ever had to install casinos to keep their gas stations afloat. Just an easy way to make a buck.

I'd like to see if someone could study the impact of banning video poker and keno in Montana. The Montana Tavern Association and the gaming machine operators like to point out how many jobs are held by people in the bars which feature the machines. But if there was no longer video gambling, many people would have more money to spend at other Main Street businesses.

There would likely be a loss of business for the pawn shops and payday loan operators. And collection agencies would have fewer bounced checks to collect. But I think there might be a positive effect on the economy without as much legalized gambling.

Dave

How many ARE in or around Miles City? This seems to be a frequent topic of contention here. I know where I live there's a ton of them:

Angel Of The Winds - Stillaguamish

Muckleshoot - Muckleshoot

Tulailup Casino - Tulailup

Just to name a few.

One of the more interesting aspects of Tribal casinos that I have heard is that all of them have their main doors facing East.

Yelp.com came up with this list. I have a feeling it's missing a few. And Montana casinos are probably nothing compared to your indian casinos. They are mostly little dives with a couple dozen machines and that's about it. Some of these are restaurants with a casino on the side.

1. Rib and Chop House
2. Club 519
3. Gold Dust Casino & Liquor Store
4. Lucky Lil's Casino
5. Blue Moon Casino
6. Magic Diamond Casino
7. Golden Spur Lounge
8. Olive Hotel
9. Silver Star Casino

10. Gallegher's
11. Old KFC Building
12. Tavern
13. Every Bar has keno/poker machines
14. Live poker on 500 block of Main St.
15. Sully's
16. Casino to be strip mall by walmart
17. Casino to be brewster's building

Kyle - The casino situation in the Seattle area is far different than in most Montana towns. We just moved to Helena. There's 4 or 5 casinos within a few blocks of where I now live - keeping in mind we live near a main drag. Montana is just lousy with these casinos.

Amber: Did Sully's re-open somewhere?

I agree with Dave. I bet the positive economic benefits of getting rid of the machines would outweigh the loss of gambling industry jobs. Heck, we proably wouldn't even need to socialize health care.

15ish casinos in a town that only has 5 fast food restaurants. That's pretty crazy.