RESOURCES

Massachusetts specific documents


Economic Impact of Casinos on Home Prices: Literature Survey and Issue Analysis
Outlines a number of important issues for consideration in evaluating the impact of a casino on housing and the community. Prepared by the National Association of Realtors in conjunction with the Realtor Association of Pioneer Valley.
July 2013

The Impacts of Gambling on Local Citizens
Funded by and prepard for the Town of Plainville, reveals that opening a 1,250 machine slot parlor at the Plainridge Racecourse is expected to increase the problem and pathological gambling rate, for those living within 10 miles of the facility and within the first three years of operations, by approximately 44%. Report also predicts that the proposed expanded gaming operations at the Plainridge Racecourse will have an impact on the Town’s youth.
May 27, 2013

Governor's Signed Filing Letter/Tribal Compact
March 27, 2013

Tribal-State Compact Between the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
March 19, 2013

Massachusetts Gambling Bill
Full text version of Chapter 194 of the Acts of 2011: An Act Establishing Expanded Gaming in the Commonwealth
November 22, 2011

Analysis of Impacts of Expanded Gambling on Local Aid and Economic Development
Citizens for a Stronger Massachusetts issue an economic impact analysis based on 2011 gambling bill. October 11, 2011.
Included:

'Situation Critical: The Urgent Need for Independent Analysis, Regulation, and Oversight Before Massachusetts Legalizes Casinos'
Former Attorney General Scott Harshbarger and Citizens for a Stronger Massachusetts issue a 19 page report calling into question whether proper regulatory, law enforcement and consumer protections are being considered by proponents of legalizing gambling and casinos, and lays out regulatory essentials before any casino action. Citizens For A Stronger Massachusetts, is a non-profit organization founded by Scott Harshbarger, former Attorney General of Massachusetts and national President of Common Cause, to educate the citizens of Massachusetts on issues of public policy in a sufficiently full and fair way so that they can form their own independent opinions or conclusions.
June 6, 2011

Letter from Western Mass Casino Task Force
Letter from the 14-town Westen Mass Casino Task Force to Senate President Murry urging support of bill (see below) to perform an independent analysis of expanded gambling in the Commonwealth
March 14, 2011

Bill S00150 relative to an independent analysis of expanding gaming in the Commonwealth
By Mr. Brewer, petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 150) of Finegold, Sciortino, Scaccia and other members of the General Court for legislation relative to an independent analysis of expanding gaming in the Commonwealth [Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies].
January 24, 2011

Letter Raising Regulatory Concerns with Gambling Legislation from Former Attorney General Scott Harshbarger
Former Attorney General urges Mass. legislature to prepare for the identifiable and quantifiable consequences of proposed gambling legislation, and offers seven principles for developing a reasonable, evidence-based template for evaluating the merits of any gambling proposal. Addressed to Senate President Therese Murray, Governor Deval Patrick, Speaker Robert DeLeo and all members of the Senate
June 21, 2010

Massachusetts Statewide Gaming Report
Benefit Analysis requisitioned by the Massachusetts Senate, and Prepared by Innovation Group
June 2010

Aquinnah Wampanoag Casino Press Release
Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe urges Senate to grant them a casino in Fall River
June 8, 2010

Spectrum Gaming Market Analysis, Gross Gaming Revenue Projections
An update to its 2008 Massachusetts gross gaming revenue estimates.
March 31, 2010

MetroWest Letter to Legislators
Issues and Impacts identified by a working group formed by the MetroWest Growth Management Committee, the 495/MetroWest Partnership, and the South West Advisory Planning Committee.
February 18, 2010

Casino Math Workbook for Beacon Hill
Prepared and presented by USS-Mass.org for legislators and the public at the Massachusetts State House
February 25, 2010

Governor Patrick's Letter to Senate President and Speaker of the House
Letter from Governor Patrick commending the USS-Mass proposal for a "fresh, independent and transparent analyis of the costs and benefits of expanded gambling."
December 9, 2009

2009 Testimony presented to Economic Development and Emerging Technologies
Massachusetts State House
October 29, 2009

Western Mass. Casino Task Force List of Concerns and Issues
A list of high priority concerns and issues developed by the 15-town Western Massachusetts Casino Task Force
August 4, 2009

Supreme Court Ruling in Carcieri v. Salazar
Argued November 3, 2008
Decided February 24, 2009

COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS: Projecting and Preparing for Potential Impact of Expanded Gaming on Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Spectrum Gaming Final Report for the Commonweath of Massachusetts
Agust 1, 2008

Preliminary Cost / Benefit Analysis of Three Destination Resort Casinos in Massachusetts
Prepared by State Representative Thomas P. Conroy
Member, Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
March 2008

2008 Testimony presented to Economic Development and Emerging Technologies
Massachusetts State House
March 18, 2008
     1.) Diane Jeffery - President, League of Women Voters of Massachusetts
     2.) Louise Haldeman - LWVM specialist on casino gambling
     3.) Elaine Bono - Ledyard (CT) Planning Commission 1985 to 2001

Comments In Response to the Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Trust Acquisition of an Initial Reservation in Middleboro Mass
Prepared by the town of Plympton, a small and rural community less then 5 miles from the proposed site, regarding issues to be addressed in the initial EIS process.
March 31, 2008

Comments on the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe's Land-in-Trust Application to the United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs
The Commonwealth's concerns for the environment, transportation, labor and employment, public safety, public health, and consumer protection.
February 5, 2008

Testimony of Carole Pelchat - MA League of Women Voters Vice President of Program & Action presented to the Bonding, State Assets and Capital Expenditures Committee
December 27, 2007

An Analysis of Property Tax Credits and Transportation Funding Under the Governor's Casino Proposal
Massachusetts Taxpayers Association
October 2007

Casino Gambling in Worcester: The Case For and Against
Worcester Regional Research Bureau Report
October 18, 2007

Statement of Concern by the 17-Town Southeast Mass Regional Task Force on Casino Impacts
Statement of Specific Concerns of the abutting and surrounding communities of Middleboro Mass regarding the proposed Mashpee Wampanoag Casino
August 8, 2007

INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT By and Between the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and the Town of Middleborough, Massachusetts
June 28, 2007

Rolling the Dice: The Economic Reality of Expanded Gambling in the Commonwealth
James C. Kennedy
General Counsel and Research Director, House Committee on Economic Development
March 21, 2006



Non-Massachusetts specific documents with Summaries:



National Gambling Impact Study Commission Final Report

Gambling in the United States, Lotteries, Convenince Gambling and Stand-Alone Electronic Gambling Devices, Gambling Regulation, Problem and Pathological Gambling, Internet Gambling, Native American Tribal Gambling, Gambling's Impacts on People and Places.
Gambling Impact Study Commission, 1999.

Seniors in Casino Land: Tough Luck for Older Americans
by Amy Ziettlow
How the slot machine prescribes a false, one-note solution to the multifaceted physical, financial, emotional, recreational, and communal needs of the elderly demographic. Part of a series of investigations called "Casino Land: America in an Age of Inequality." The goal is to understand the meaning and role of casinos in American life—how they work and what they do, the values they embody and transmit, their impact on civil society, their connection to government, and their relationship to the rise of American inequality.
February 2014

Why Casinos Matter: Thirty-One Evidence-Based Propositions from the Health and Social Sciences
This report comes from the Council on Casinos, an independent, nonpartisan group of scholars and leaders who come together to examine the role of casinos in American life and to foster informed citizen debate on gambling as a public policy. Financial support for this initiative comes from the Bodman Foundation, the John Templeton Foundation, and other contributors to the Institute for American Values.
September 2013

New Hampshire Gaming Study Commission Final Report of Findings
A review of various models for expanded gaming and their potential to generate state revenues, as well as an assessment of the social, economic and public safety impacts of gaming options on the quality of life in New Hampshire.
May 18, 2010

Gambling: Australian Government Productivity Commission Draft Report
Productivity Commission 2009, Gambling, Draft Report, Canberra, October.

For the First Time, a Smaller Jackpot - Trends in State Revenues from Gambling
Rockefeller Institute of Government
September 21, 2009

GAMBLING IN CONNECTICUT: Analyzing the Economic and Social Impacts
Spectrum Gaming Final Report for the State of Connecticut
June 2009

Economic Impacts of Casino Gambling: A Review
Saavy Incorporated Prepared for The Oxford County Commissioners
October 2008

The Social Costs of Gambling
details economic destabilization, crime, child abuse and domestic violence, suicide, bankruptcy, youth gambling, addiction and social injustice that result from expanded gambling.
Tom Larkin, licensed psychologist and SMART Recovery Facilitator.
September 2009

Economic Impacts of Casino Gambling at the State and Local Levels
examines the components of an economic impact analysis of casino gambling in State and Local economies. It shows both the positive and negative impacts, but an emphasis is given to the consequences of specific market structures that create losses in local economies.
Gazel, Ricardo.
ANNALS, APPSS. 1998, March. P. 66-84

Five Reasons to Vote NO on Casinos and Slots
Fred Berman, USS-Mass Director, June 18, 2010

Gambling by Underage College Students: Preferences and Pathology
Journal article exerpt by Laurie Platz, Terry J. Knapp, Edward W. Crossman; College Student Journal, Vol. 39, 2005

2007 National Compensation Levels
Places the median hourly wage for gaming service employees at $6.34 per hour with annual median earnings of $13,179.
US Dept of Labor's Division of Labor Statistics P. 13

Statement to the Metro Ethics Coalition Project
Examines casinos and tourism in Illinois. Those in favor of casino gambling often argue that casinos attract tourism and often cite Las Vegas as an example. However, this article debunks that theory and identifies Las Vegas as an isolated case. It states that most of the attendees at local casinos in Illinois live within a 50 mile radius in which they do not seek to spend their money on anything other than gambling.
J. Terrence Brunner,Executive Director.
Better Government Association. 1997 June 23.

Casinos, Crime and Community Costs
studies the connection between casinos and crime using county-level data for every U.S. county between 1977 and 1996, a period spanning the introduction of casinos to states other than Nevada.
Gringols, Earl PH.D., Mustard, David B., Dilley, Cynthia H. 2000 June.

Measuring Industry Externalities: The Curious Case of Casinos and Crime
The connection between casinos, an industry that did not exist outside Nevada prior to 1978, and crime using county-level data for the US between 1977 and 1996, a period spanning the introduction of casinos to states other than Nevada.
Gringols, Earl PH.D., Mustard, David B., 2001 March.

Gambling Economics: Summary Facts
Summary of gambling's effect on local economies
Gringols, Earl PH.D., 2004 Nov.

The economics and ethics of casino gambling
Review of Business
Oddo, Alfonso R. 1997 March.

Warren Buffet calls gambling a Tax on Ignorance
Examines the expansion of casino gambling in Nebraska as a negative method of counterbalancing a fiscal shortfall in the next economic quarter.
Margery Beck, Associated Press.

Preliminary Study shows link between gambling, bankruptcies
is a short synopsis of a study from the University of Iowa. The study shows that there is a steady increase of bankruptcy rates in the counties that have a casino.
Las Vegas Sun. 2005 March 30.

Outlook: Slots of Trouble?
Washington Post interview between gambling expert Professor William Thompson of the University of Nevada/Las Vegas and members of the Washington community. The community members were asking diverse questions on the possibility of the expansion of casino gambling in the District of Columbia.
2004 July 19.

The Impact of Casinos gambling on Individual Bankruptcy Rates
Examines the impact of casinos on individual bankruptcy rates from 1990 to 2002. The analysis indicates that although the rate remained constant the first years of a casinos operation, it significantly increased after nine years.
Goss, Ernie Professor of Economics. Morse, Edward Professor of Law.
Creighton University. 2005 April.

Letter from Karen Richards, Prosecuting Attorney, 38th Judicial Circuit, State of Indiana to the Mayor of Fort Wayne
A collection of insights gathered from other state prosecutors with local experiences with gambling
March 24, 2009

The Impact of Casinos on Banks
Article providing a comparison on the rate of return on equity. It highlights the point that after a casino opens the local banks will see a significant decrease in the return on equity.
Midwest Conference of the National Coalition Against Gambling Expansion.
Creighton University. 2000 July 7.

The True Costs of Slots
Follows the story of the expansion of Maryland's slot machines and social costs of gambling. Specifically citing examples of neglectful parenting and the overall deterioration of community values.
The Baltimore Sun. March 8, 2005

Economics of Casinos vs. Manufacturing
Robert Kerr identifies that casinos tend to take money out of the economy and serves as taxation on the naïve and addicted.
The Providence Journal. 2004 June 1.

Editorial: A Bad bet
An editorial piece that explains the aftermath of a casino on local businesses. The article is centered on Lawrenceburg, Indiana and provides examples on how the local infrastructure is trying to cope with the help of local officials and local tax dollars.
The Indianapolis Star. 2003 August 19.

Five years after opening, Detroit casinos fulfill some expectations, but magic bullet they are not
examines the pros and cons of what was promised after a casino is opened. The article identifies many key expectations and then states that certain expectations surrounding revenue streams and employment benefits remain unfulfilled.
Sarah Karush. Associated Press.

Gambling in America: Costs and Benefits
Identifies that states pay higher taxes in part because they need to make up for the unmet revenue needs that were promised by casinos. The article argues that for every one dollar in gambling taxes its costs the state three.
Gringols, Earl PH.D. 2005

Casino gambling and crime: A panel Study of Wisconsin Counties
Identifies the link between casino gambling and crime. Results show that the existence of a casino within the boundaries of a county led to an increase in the county's crime rates.
Casino Gambling and crime: A Panel Study of Wisconsin Counties.
Gazel, Ricardo, Dan Rickman, William Thompson.
Managerial and Decision Economics, ed 22. 2001. p. 65-75.

The Menace of Competition and Gambling Deregulation
Examines information on the spread of gambling and the concerns that arise with such rapid growth. The article starts to conclude that the spread of gambling should be halted until more research can be presented.
Atkinson, Glen, Mark Nichols, Ted Oleson.
Journal of Economic Issues; 2000 Sept, vol. 34 is. 3. p. 621-634.

Perceptions of the extent of problem gambling within new casino communities
Takes a look at the perceptions of problem gambling by residents that have recently legalized casino gambling. The article shows that at least 16% of the community residents were problem gamblers, which is a rate considerably higher compared to other studies.
Giacopassi, David, Mark Nichols, Grant Stitt.
Journal of Gambling Studies, vol. 16, 2000. p. 433-451.

Would casinos help or hurt our economy?
Focuses on the discussion of the positive and negative impact of casinos on a local economy. After identifying a short list of questioned positive effects the negatives are outlined along with the long term price tag a community will be force to pay.
The Wichita Eagle. 17 May 2007.

Assessing Self-Reported Expenditures on Gambling?
Examines the estimates of the proportion of gaming revenues from problem gamblers. The article examines many factors and conclusions ultimately stating that a larger percentage of the gaming revenue comes from problem gamblers.
Baldridge, John, Eugene Christiansen, Dean Gerstein, Rachel Volberg.
Managerial and Decision Economics, Vol. 22, i. 1/3. p. 77-96.

Gambling: Casinos? Costs Far Outweigh Their Economic Benefits, Economist Says
An article centered on the discussion of casino gambling as an economic development tool for state and local economies. The discussion leads to the point that casino gambling will cost the community more than twice the actual incoming revenue.
Ascribe Newswire: Health. 28 Sept 2001. p.9-10.

Gambling as a Community Development Quick Fix
Examines four cases in which communities use casinos as a method of spurring local development. The study reveals that communities saw little if any positive impact in social and economic development.
Belvins, Audie, Katherine Jensen.
ANNALS, AAPSS. 1998 March.

Raw Deal: Measuring the Toll of Connecticut's Casino
Centers around the issues Connecticut has faced since the legalization of casino gambling. The article specifically addresses the social costs suffered by the citizens and communities when addressing the backlash of casino gambling in comparison to crime and treatment of addiction. It is identified that Connecticut spends twice the revenue from casino gambling to treat the social backlash.
Benedict, Jeff
The Connecticut Alliance Against Casino Expansion 1 May 2005.

The Failure to Regulate the Gambling Industry Effectively: Incentives for Perpetual Non-Compliance
Examines the enormous social costs in legalized gambling. The article also identifies that gambling in the United States remains incredibly difficult, if not impossible to regulate effectively.
The Failure to Regulate the Gambling Industry effectively: Incentives for Perpetual Non-Complaince
Kindt, John Warren.
Southern University Law Journal. Vol. 27. 2003

Gambling's Effects on Local Businesses
Outlines the impact expanded gambling has had on local businesses on various communities across the nation.
CasinoFreePhiladelphia January 2007.

Tide of Gambling yields backwash of addiction
Examines gambling as an activity which can and does become addictive for a significant number of people. It states that gambling changes the chemistry of the brain, and is one of the most difficult addictions to alleviate. In communities with casinos and other gambling available, there are far more pathological gamblers than people afflicted with cancer.
National Coalition against Legalized Gambling. 21 August 2004.

Rapid onsets of Pathological Gambling in Machine Gamblers
Takes a look at the length of time it takes the average compulsive gambler to become addicted and found machines are truly the most addictive of all gambling. They are also the biggest moneymakers in the gambling industry today.
Breen, Robert; Mark Zimmerman.
Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University School of Medicine.

Exploring the Limits of Responsible Gambling: Harm Minimization or Consumer Protection?
Examines casino gambling in Australia and Canada and what the United States can learn. The article also states that gambling is designed, marketed and packaged to carry customers beyond the point of reason and control. Direct examples come from Australia where gambling matured much faster than the United States.
Mark Dickerson.
School of University of Western Sydney. 2002.

Cutting the Cards and Craps: Right Thinking about Gambling Economics
A landmark study that was published in December 2001, corrects common misconceptions about the meaning of economic development and applying logic to the valid cost-benefit evaluation of casino gambling. The study states that the costs will always outweigh the benefits.
Grinols, Earl.
Gambling in America, Costs and Benefits.
Cambridge University Press. 2004




Appearing in Newspapers, Magazines & Online


Gambling with America’s Health?
The public health costs of legal gambling

by Elaine Meyer
Sep 10, 2014

The harmful – even deadly – effects of casino gambling
by Amy Ziettlow
The Tampa Tribune
Feb 23, 2014

Bishop Confronts Casinos
by J. Scott Jackson
The Living Church
Jan. 23, 2014

A Desperate Gamble: More older Americans are problem gamblers & many have lost their retirement nest eggs
by Peter Jaret
AARP Bulletin
Jan/Feb 2014

Pay No Attention to Money-Losing Casinos. Let’s Build More Casinos
by Brad Tuttle
TIME
Jan. 31, 2014

Why Casinos are like Landfills
by Jon Marcus
TIME
Dec. 23, 2013

Realtors: Western Massachusetts casino would hurt home values in host community
by Jim Kinney
The Republican
Jul 2, 2013

Study: More casinos, more gambling addicts
by Eric Peterson
Daily Herald
Aug 7, 2011

States Face Drop in Gambling Revenues
by Ian Urbina
New York Times
Sep 9, 2009

Glitzy video slots seen as particular addiction risk
by Carey Goldberg
The Boston Globe
March 7, 2009

Meet Your New Neighbor: How slot machines are secretly designed to seduce and destroy you, and how the government is in on it.
By Isaiah Thompson
Philadelphia City Paper
January 7, 2009

Gambling with Nature: The environmental effects of mega-casinos
Audubon Society Sanctuary Magazine
Winter 2008-2009

Beware: 'Machine Zone' Ahead
by Natasha Dow Schüll
Washington Post
July 6, 2008

Rural Casinos Leave a Huge Carbon Footprint
by George Bachrach,president of the Environmental League of Massachusetts
and Philip Warburg, president of the Conservation Law Foundation
Boston Globe
February 11, 2008

The Big Blind: Why the argument for casinos in Massachusetts ain't nothing but a mathquerade
By Julia Reischel & Paul McMorrow
The Weekly Dig
September 2007

Betting the Farm
by Sean Murphy
Commonwealth Magazine
Fall 2007

Your brain on gambling: Science shows how slot machines take over your mind
By Jonah Lehrer
The Boston Globe
August 19, 2007

Expert testimony submitted to the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies, Casino Hearing 10/29/09

Dr. Hans Breiter - MD, Director of the Laboratory for Neuroimaging and Genetics at Mass. General Hospital

Oct 2009 Hearings on Expanded Gambling in Massachusetts - Dr. Hans Breiter of Mass. General Hospital



Prof. Natasha Schüll - Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Oct 2009 Hearings on Expanded Gambling in Massachusetts - MIT Professor Natasha Schull



Q & A session with Prof. Schüll and Dr. Hans Breiter

Oct 2009 Hearings on Expanded Gambling in Massachusetts - Dr. Hans Breiter and Natasha Schull



Tom Larkin - licensed psychologist and SMART Recovery Facilitator

Oct 2009 Hearings on Expanded Gambling in Massachusetts - Tom Larkin



Books and Publications



Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas
by Natasha Dow Schüll
Princeton University Press September 9, 2012
Addiction by Design takes readers into the intriguing world of machine gambling, an increasingly popular and absorbing form of play that blurs the line between human and machine, compulsion and control, risk and reward. Drawing on fifteen years of field research in Las Vegas, MIT anthropologist Natasha Dow Schüll shows how the mechanical rhythm of electronic gambling pulls players into a trancelike state they call the "machine zone," in which daily worries, social demands, and even bodily awareness fade away. Once in the zone, gambling addicts play not to win but simply to keep playing, for as long as possible--even at the cost of physical and economic exhaustion. In continuous machine play, gamblers seek to lose themselves while the gambling industry seeks profit. Schüll describes the strategic calculations behind game algorithms and machine ergonomics, casino architecture and "ambience management," player tracking and cash access systems--all designed to meet the market's desire for maximum "time on device." Her account moves from casino floors into gamblers' everyday lives, from gambling industry conventions and Gamblers Anonymous meetings to regulatory debates over whether addiction to gambling machines stems from the consumer, the product, or the interplay between the two.

Confessions of a Slot Machine Queen
by Sandra Adell
EugeniaBooks February 11, 2010
A Wisconsin Professor takes an intimate look into problem and compulsive casino gambling and the impact the casino industry is having on vulnerable communities, especially poor and working class people, the disabled, communities of color, and women - the fastest growing population of problem gamblers in the United States. Adell' s narrative of gambling and loss unfolds against her history as an unwed and uneducated teen mother from Detroit who beat the odds stacked against her and went on to earn a Ph.D. and a coveted position as a literature professor in a major Midwestern university. In a clear and unaffected prose style, Adell describes how she went from having no interest in gambling to risking everything she had worked for after playing the slots and winning a small jackpot. We watch as she struggles against the lure of the slots only to get seduced time and again until she finally spirals out of control and is forced to confront the demons that lay beneath the surface of her professional persona. Confessions of a Slot Machine Queen is as much a story of redemption as it is a critical examination of the casino gambling industry and the potential dangers of this new and high-tech form of entertainment.

UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL GAMBLING REPORT SERIES
Kindt, J.
William S. Hein & Co. 2002 - 2009
Three Volume Set: Titles in the series contain reprints of many important government documents and academic source materials relevant to gambling issues, divided topically. These books preserve documents in danger of being lost, particularly in their historical context; therefore, each document is preceded by a historical commentary. The reprinted documents are primarily substantive reference materials, especially those contributing to determinations of congressional intent as well as the motivations of federal/state decision makers. The front matter contains a preface, introduction, note on censorship by big gambling, and erudite executive summaries of both U.S. and American Indian gambling which list strategic determinations, problems, goals, background, trends and conditioning factors, and recommendations.

The Luck Business
Robert Goodman
Touchstone November 6, 1996
Goodman documents how this business, which generates more than $40 billion dollars a year in revenues, is also the cause of myriad economic and social problems for the very communities that have looked to it as a panacea. From Publishers Weekly: Americans legally gambled almost $400 billion in 1993, according to Goodman, who headed the United States Gambling Study of 1992-94. He asserts that the gambling industry produces no product and siphons off money not only from retail businesses but also from manufacturing. He claims that gambling interests have enlisted the support of governments by holding out false hopes to legislators and other officials eager to find new sources of income without raising taxes. These hopes convince voters that gambling is a major contributor to funds for the "four E's" - education, environment, the elderly and economic development - which, Goodman asserts, it is not. As governments seek to increase revenues, they have turned to "convenience gambling," installing slot machines in retail businesses, bars and restaurants. Believing it would be impractical to outlaw gambling altogether, Goodman (After the Planners) offers suggestions for a "rational gambling policy." But in answer to the question, does gambling as a strategy for economic development really work, he warns: don't bet on it.

Without Reservation: How a Controversial Indian Tribe Rose to Power and Built the World's Largest Casino
Jeff Benedict
Perennial Books by Harper Books July 3, 2001
With compelling detail, Without Reservation tells the stunning story of the rise of the richest Indian tribe in history. In 1973, an old American Indian woman dies with nothing left of her tribe but a 214-acre tract of abandoned forest. It seems to be the end of the Mashantucket Pequot tribe. But it is just the beginning. Over the next three decades, the reservation grows to nearly 2,000 acres, home to more than 600 people claiming to be tribal members. It has also become home to Foxwoods, the largest casino in the world, grossing more than $1 billion a year. Without Reservation reveals the mysterious roots of today's Pequot tribe, the racial tension that divides its members, and the Machiavellian internal power struggle over who will control the tribe's funds. Author Jeff Benedict brings to us the deal makers, the courtroom machinations, the trusts and betrayals. Now, with remarkable new information, the paperback brings us up-to-date on these revelations, which lead to state and federal investigations and calls for congressional hearings.

The Curse: Big-Time Gambling's Seduction of a Small New England Town - A Novel
Robert H. Steele
Levellers Press (2012)
During the 1990s, two Connecticut Indian tribes built the world's two biggest casinos in the southeastern corner of the state, resulting in what has been called a "gambling Chernobyl." The Curse is a novel set against those events. It begins in 1637 with the massacre of the Pequot Indians and a curse delivered by a Pequot sachem to the young English soldier who is about to kill him. The story then jumps 350 years as the soldier's thirteenth-generation descendant, Josh Williams, becomes embroiled in a battle to stop a new-minted Indian tribe from building a third casino that threatens his town and ancestral home. The lure of easy money drives everyone from the tribe's chief to a shadowy Miami billionaire, venal politicians, and Providence mobsters, while a small, quintessential New England town must choose between preserving its character or accepting an extraordinary proposal that will change it forever. Robert H. Steele is vice chairman of an international retail marketing agency and has been a director of numerous companies. A graduate of Amherst College and Columbia University, he served in the CIA and Congress, and was a candidate for governor of Connecticut. Recently, he has traveled throughout Massachusetts speaking at public forums about the Connecticut casino experience.



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