New Casino Table Bill Sets Perfect Stage For You To Set Up A “Non-Profit” And Get Reallllll Cozy With Larry Farnese Or Mike O’Brien
Now that Sugarhouse is a done deal and the anti-casino movement has failed in Fishtown — God, they love it when we say that — can we just (pardon the pun) call a spade a spade say that, yo, it’s only a matter of time before we get some table games up in here. And frankly, as much as it pains us to say it, okay: A real-life casino with grown-up games like poker and blackjack has always seemed a lot more palatable to us than a slots parlor. That’s because — it’s kind of mind-blowing that no one has said this yet if that is indeed the case — the casino wars were also, in part, culture wars. And we never wanted slot parlors because we despise the thought of our riverfront clogged up with old, fat white people slotting their pensions away, one sad, frumpy Susan B. Anthony at a time, making traffic that nobody can penetrate and stinking up the whole place with their chicken fingers platters and Ben-Gay. (And they say that death panels aren’t real: Hell, Sugarhouse without table games is nothing but a giant death panel.) But if there were table games, well, that’s a (w)hor(s)e of a different color. Casinos with table games bring in top-notch entertainment, add hotel rooms, generally make more money and make the place feel a lot less like The World’s Most Retarded Dollar Store. Which, as it stands now, Sugarhouse basically is/will be. And yeah, yeah, gambling is bad and all that, but so is whining after you’ve lost.
But! The PA House is making googoo eyes at table gaming! And in this post on The Clog, Isaiah Thompson details the ways in which, even when the casino thing in Philly may start make more sense (or at least be more “adult” or realistic about casinos) vis-a-vis table games, the state of PA still wishes to fuck us (bad) by not “requir[ing] PA casinos to pay an additional 1% tax on gross table game revenues, which would be paid straight to the county hosting that casino.” Instead, because we are Philadelphia and we seriously need to secede this fuckhole state STAT, that money would be distributed here to local non-profits, wherein a (death) panel headed up by the likes of Representative Mike O’Brien or State Senator Larry Farnese would decide to which non-profits the dough would go. And nothing could ever possibly go wrong with that.
October 5th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
And Philebrity’s evidence that table games make a casino better (in any sense) is what, exactly?
October 5th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
Nobody ever had the mob ice them for trying to win a bucket of quarters.
October 5th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
Also, it makes me think of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ed82P9ZY8A
October 5th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
“distributed to local non-profits.” How fumo-eqsue!
And I agree that table games would be great. AC and Las Vegas have been trying for years to add the shops, restaurants, nightlife, etc., you know, culture and shit, that a city like Philadelphia already has. Add table games to Philadelphia, and you instantly become a more attractive tourist destination. Slots are just a tax on people who can’t do statistics and tend to attract the old and the poor who don’t spend money outside the casino.
October 5th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
Table games = yes please. We’ll book the bands for free if i can get a $100 credit at the roulette table
October 5th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
if i have to see people piss their money away it might as well be exciting.did you see the new 2 story pawn/jewelery shoppe being constructed across from Sugarhouse and next to the park and club?
October 5th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
Wow, Philebrity is flip flopping just as bad as Nutter on this issue. Looking for some of that “non-profit” money?
October 5th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
When folks imagine a casino with table games, I think they tend to conjure up images of casinos they have visited before, such as Atlantic City or Vegas or the islands (or worse, casinos shown in movies). Those are destination casinos, which we would never get here in Philly. We would get convenience casinos, which is totally different. Here’s one way to realize what’s going on: SugarHouse estimates that it will take 10 months to build their casino; and they estimate that it will take 14 months to build their parking garage. Get it now?
October 5th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
Wow, this is the first diplomatic, rational article I’ve ever read regarding Philadelphia’s casinos.
October 5th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
Full disclosure: New commenter “truth hurts” is Casino-Free Philadelphia’s Lily Cavanaugh. And no, silly, we are not flip-flopping. We’re being pragmatic. Sugarhouse is coming in, like it or not. Why aren’t you guys trying to renegotiate a better CBA or finding ways to make the state and casinos re-invest in affected neighborhoods rather than postpone the inevitable?
October 5th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
Philebrity gives people the ability to post under a nom-de-plume and then outs them and attacks them when Philebrity can’t stand the heat? Total bullshit.
October 5th, 2009 at 5:08 pm
Oh, Paul, please. Anonymous commenting is “activism”? Why can’t anybody just answer my fucking question?
October 5th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
re: Why aren’t you guys trying to renegotiate a better CBA or finding ways to make the state and casinos re-invest in affected neighborhoods rather than postpone the inevitable?
Because they’re against the casinos and believe it or not, the casinos are still not a done deal.
October 5th, 2009 at 5:20 pm
Look, I know you anti-casino peeps have your hearts in the right place. It would just seem to me that now would be the time to face facts and start trying to make the best possible deals for your local communities and community orgs that you can.
October 5th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
Joey, Don’t you see the futility is asking the anti-casino people to act like politicians? Why don’t you ask the politicians to do their jobs? Yesterday and today, the Philadelphia House Delegation defeated an amendment to Act 71 that would have required the casinos to close between the hours of 2am to 6am. Much of the pro-casino efforts were spearheaded by none other that Representative Curtis Thomas, who happens to represent much of Fishtown and Northern Liberties. Easier than a CBA, Philebrity should just ask Rep. Thomas to represent his constituents. Soon the bill will move to the Senate, where Senator Farnese could easily accomplish many of the same things. Indeed, he could ask for a closing time for just the Philly casinos, since they are so close to residential neighborhoods — and the rest of the Senators would go along with his prerogative, if he truly puts up a strong enough fight. Will Philebrity use its resources to orchestrate an email campaign to Farnese? Or will Philebrity continue to bust on Casino-Free? Tune in tomorrow.
October 5th, 2009 at 6:10 pm
“Slots are just a tax on people who can’t do statistics” yes, but table games, on the other hand…
first, tips, let me say that my name is Andrew Purcell and i’m not affiliated with Casino-Free, so that should save you the trouble of trying to out me.
second, they’ve said that the anti-casino movement has been dead for over a year, but last time i checked, the end result of this isn’t going to look very much like what the casinos initially wanted. so to just say that the movement lost is kind of puerile and disingenuous. of course i’m not terribly surprised since your tone and style are generally smug, self-satisfied, and, you know, yuppiesque. meanwhile, others are out there actually trying to help their communities. if you actually think casinos *improve* communities, you’re deluded. the facts are plain: crime rises, poverty rises, local businesses suffer. the casinos even acknowledge this! that’s why they offer to pay special recompense to cities for the damage they do.
and lastly, the fact is that casinos are no longer special. you can’t drive an hour without running into one, so it just isn’t the draw it used to be. don’t be mistaken, the money that will be sucked into the casino’s coffers will be sucked directly from the local economy.
October 5th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
c’mon, lie back and enjoy it
October 5th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
I think it is unethical to out someone’s message board identity for the purposes of strengthening your argument. Just sayin’.
October 5th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
Yeah…with table games comes a younger crowd…with the younger crowd comes more drunk driving, drug dealing, assault, and property crime. Sweet. The CBA negotiated by FACT has tons of loopholes…one being that the full CBA will not be delivered until the the SugarHouse 10-story garage is built (which is at best 2-3 years away). With a massive surface parking lots planned for the ‘interim’ casino stage, and SugarHouse buying (not leasing) two nearby piers for parking – the stage is being set for a SugarHouse flim-flam. But thank goodness casinos operators are noble businessmen looking out for the good of the neighbors and the consumers…because they would NEVER find a way out of paying millions to a lower middle neighborhood with no resources for representation. I mean, that escape clause must be just a formality…
October 5th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
Of course, the positive of SugarHouse opening would the distinct possibility of watching a middle-aged hipster, backed by a bass player and drum machine, play covers by The Smiths, REM (pre-Fables lol), and Joy Division.
October 5th, 2009 at 9:36 pm
..,in the casino lounge…for post-hipsters in their 40’s…
October 7th, 2009 at 12:39 am
Philebrity: As an observer to the anti-casino movement rather than an active participant, I’d hope you’d recognize the limitations to your assumptions about a long and broad campaign. There are plenty of efforts people have made around improving the situation from good government poltics(supporting Common Cause PA for example) to addressing signage to the participatory process around the City Planning Commission. In addition, there’s the “No Blank Checks for Casinos” campaign which addresses the fact that as much as people like to tout jobs and revenues, casinos are cutting millions of dollars in deals on everything from tax abatements to utility caps that cost all of us Philadelphians (you can read more about the campaign on Asian Americans United’s website). Sign the petition to ask legislators to stop handing out freebies to casinos if you want to improve things in communities.
In addition, the Dept. of Health will be hosting a citywide forum on gambling addiction in November thanks to the work of Asian Americans United and other concerned groups to raise awareness and hopefully get some dialogue going, as well as reporting and services out to problem gamblers and their families.
You can thank Chinatown and CFP for redirecting the debate around casinos away from traffic and congestion and back to a broader and fundamentally important social, ecocnomic and progressive vision for our city – one that doesn’t rely preying on our most vulnerable citizens for revenue or corrupting our political process through unregulated gambling contributions and all-out lobbying efforts. CFP – not PennPraxis – has also been responsible for the development of a waterfront vision that was adopted by civic and city leaders.
So hold the contempt for someone else. And forgive us for not spending a lot of time dabbling in the BS around CBAs when stuff like what Isaiah highlights in his blog post raise questions about what such CBAs are really about.
And by the way, it is really classless to out someone just to take a potshot at CFP. For someone who knows how to dish it out, you could man up a lot better.