Tag: gambling

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Tennessee Gambling Experts Debunk Viral Meme

Photo by Kaysha on Unsplash

Tennessee gambling experts are dispelling a myth that has been spread by a viral meme they say contains “potentially harmful information about gambling odds.”

Experts from the Tennessee Institute for Gambling Education and Research (TIGER) explain that the meme, which features the cast of The Sopranos around a poker table, states “fact: 90 percent of gambling addicts quit right before they’re about to hit it big.”

“The circulating meme and the study it references are entirely fabricated and lack any evidence to support their claims,” said Dr. James Whelan, professor and director of TIGER.

TIGER, which was founded in 1999, has treated “more than 1,200 Tennesseans with gambling disorders,” said a statement released by the clinic. There are currently two clinics for in-person treatment, with one at the University of Memphis and the other at East Tennessee State University. The clinic is funded by the Tennessee Department of Mental Health.

More than 250,000 Tennesseans experience gambling disorder symptoms according to information released by the clinic. They also said that nine out of 10 individuals with a gambling problem never seek treatment.

The clinic explains they are not “anti-gambling” and that they “maintain a neutral stance” toward those who do gamble. However, they said they do advocate for the truth. They explained that the study the meme referenced was meant to be satirical.

“While it may have been created with the intention of humor, the truth is that this ‘statistic’ is not only entirely false but also poses a potential risk to individuals affected by gambling addiction.” 

The clinic stated the meme is harmful for multiple reasons as it seems to not only negate the fact that gamblers who do not quit are more likely to develop an addiction, but it also perpetuates an “unfounded statement.”

“Various surveys and statistics show that the odds are stacked against gamblers, with only 13.5 percent of players leaving a casino with any profit at all,” the clinic said.

Whelan also said the chances of winning big are even slimmer. Information released by the clinic stated that commercial casino gaming revenue reached approximately $41.7 billion in 2018. They said profits “stem from the losses incurred by players.”

“The reality is that hitting the jackpot isn’t a likely outcome for most individuals who step foot inside a casino,” said the clinic. “The odds are deliberately stacked in favor of the house. The more you play, the more the mathematics work against you, increasing the likelihood of leaving the casino with less money than you initially brought.”

The American Gaming Association’s (AGA) Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker provides cumulative data on the United States’ commercial gaming industry by state. The most recent information is from April 2023. According to this data, Tennessee’s April gaming revenue was $34.3 billion.

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News News Blog

Gold Strike Casino Gets a New Play Area

(photo courtesy Gold Strike Casino Resort)

Bring on the stampede; in partnership with Aristocrat Gaming, MGM Resorts International’s Gold Strike Casino is set to open Mississippi’s first “Buffalo Zone.” The new play area will open today, May 28th, in celebration of Memorial Day weekend.

“Gold Strike is this region’s first casino to partner with Aristocrat Gaming to bring the ‘Buffalo Zone’ to Mississippi,” said Brandon Dardeau, Gold Strike’s senior vice president of marketing and operations. “Buffalo games are extremely popular among our players, and having the opportunity to create a special gaming section allows us to enhance our guests’ gaming experience.”

Located on Gold Strike’s second level, the 2,800-square-foot area will host 68 of Aristocrat’s player-favorite Buffalo games, including Buffalo Chief, Buffalo Diamond, Buffalo Gold, Buffalo Gold Revolution, and Buffalo Grand.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Gold Strike Casino Resort to launch Mississippi’s first ‘Buffalo Zone,’” said Aristocrat’s senior vice president of Commercial Strategy and Data Analytics Jon Hanlin. “Buffalo continues to be the strongest brand in gaming, and with Gold Strike’s new ‘Buffalo Zone,’ players will enjoy all their favorite Buffalo-themed games in one exciting place.”

The announcement comes on the heels of Gold Strike reopening its virtual Topgolf Swing Suite.

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Opinion

Mississippi Casinos and the Upside of Disaster

Harrahs_casino_tunica_mississippi.jpg

All those television ads about how BP is cleaning up the Mississippi and Alabama beaches after the 2010 oil spill have helped the Coast casinos overtake Tunica as Mississippi’s top gambling destination.

The 2013 American Gaming Association survey shows the Gulf Coast, with $1.095 billion gross gambling revenue, is now the 8th largest casino market in the United State. Tunica is 10th, at $822 million. The Coast overtook Tunica in 2011 and has grown nearly 20 percent since then, while Tunica has stayed flat. The 30 Mississippi casinos combined make the state the fourth largest market in the country, behind Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and Chicago.

The Tunica market, 20 years old this year, faces competition from Southland Greyhound Park in West Memphis, Arkansas, which isn’t in the AGA survey but is a casino for all intents and purposes and closer to Memphis. Also, some Tunica casinos were closed in 2011 due to flooding of the Mississippi River.

Bobby Leatherman, whose family owned the land where some of the first casinos in Tunica were built, thinks the Gulf Coast gains can also be traced, somewhat paradoxically, to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the BP oil spill. The hurricane forced the beach casinos to rebuild and state legislation allowed them to move on shore. The Coast was flooded with construction workers, federal aid, and insurance money. The oil spill did little damage to the manmade beach on the Mississippi Sound, but Mississippi got a bonanza of BP-sponsored ads urging visitors to come to the Gulf Coast.

With its 30 casinos, Mississippi ranks third among states in the number of jobs, 23,377, which is down from 36,000 in 1999. Mississippi has 36,032 gambling machines (Arkansas has 1,900) and got $273 million in casino tax revenue in 2012, down .6 percent from 2011. The states combined state and local gambling tax of 12 percent is one of the lowest in the country.

The rest pf the casino Top Ten, in order: Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Chicago, Detroit, Connecticut, Philadelphia, St. Louis, The Poconos. New York City is 15th, based on first full year of operations for a casino in Queens.

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News The Fly-By

High Stakes

I know. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. But I’m sorry, that’s one mantra I can’t keep.

Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect when I traveled to Las Vegas earlier this month. I thought I’d soak up some sun, drop a few dollars in the slots, and basically relax.

But two things occurred to me. The first is that other cities could learn a lot from Vegas, the country’s premier convention city. While I was there, I heard that the city had three conventions in town, and every single one of their 150,000-plus hotel rooms was booked.

To be fair, other cities don’t have the luxury of living off gamblers and casinos, but there are other things the city has done that could be in the cards.

If Vegas did anything successfully, it was taking a patch of desert and creating a place that people want to experience, even if that means experiencing 3,000-degree heat, dust from ongoing construction sites in their eyes and mouths, and strange men flicking pictures of nude women at them.

Last week, during a nationwide heat wave, the mercury in Vegas hit 116, just a degree below its record. But people were still on the Strip in droves.

What is it? Despite the nudie-picture people, tourists feel safe. Maybe not in New York, New York, where a recent shooting gave the casino’s theme a bit more realism, but I digress.

And even though most things in Vegas costs an arm and a leg, the Strip is a free show.

We found ourselves walking down it one night and, although we missed seeing the ship sink at Treasure Island, we chanced upon a volcano erupting at the Mirage, fountains dancing at the Bellagio, and nightly fireworks exploding above Caesars Palace that put Memphis’ July 4th celebrations to shame.

Yes, erupting volcanoes, dancing fountains, and exploding fireworks take money, and the gaming industry — with its $85 billion in annual revenue — has it in spades. But think about what they’ve gotten in return.

I will say, I thought the volcano was a bit ridiculous. But when a fountain set to music can make people crowd together in record-breaking heat, maybe it’s something to consider when looking at local public spaces.

A lot of people have cited Vegas’ successful marketing campaign, but having something so marketable raises the odds. They’ve mined their image very successfully, not just the Rat Pack image from the past but the idea that everyone can find a little bit of excitement in Vegas.

And that happens — literally — even at street level.

The second thing that occurred to me has a lot more riding on it locally. Tunica might be dismissed in Ocean’s Thirteen as the place old games go to die, but Memphis can’t overlook Tunica.

Las Vegas is going through a major building boom, one said to be fed by smaller gambling venues across the United States whetting Americans’ appetites. I don’t see the trend stopping any time soon.

According to Hoover’s online industry profiles, 50 to 60 percent of a hotel casino’s revenue comes from gaming. The other roughly 50 percent comes from food and beverages, guest rooms, shows, and other entertainment.

I don’t know how much of Vegas’ profits ride on high rollers, but I saw a lot of people in cargo shorts, T-shirts, and fanny packs … people who would not be out of place in Tunica.

We don’t need to worry just about DeSoto County becoming the place to live, we need to think about DeSoto County becoming the area’s leading tourist destination. What would it take? A Cirque du Soleil? A water park? More golf courses?

Ideally, Graceland and Stax could benefit from Tunica the same way the Grand Canyon benefits from Vegas — as a place for visiting gamblers to go on day trips.

How can you compete with a place that comps buffets and is designed to attract people … and keep them there?

If I were a betting woman, I’d say we need to find a way to get in on the action.

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Film Features Film/TV

Looking for a Spidey alternative? Lucky you.

Here’s counterprogramming at its finest: Opening the same weekend as Spider-Man 3, the Las Vegas gambling drama Lucky You pumps pure oxygen into a multiplex sucked dry by the CGI-first/ask-questions-later superhero sequel. So what if my Lucky You theater was a third full and Spider-Man 3 was sold out all weekend, all over the world? When it comes to movies worth camping out for, make mine Curtis Hanson’s.

Lucky You: Huck (Eric Bana) is a Vegas poker marvel who can quadruple $1,000 in a jolt by uncannily reading other people but who can’t get his act together when the stakes are personal. Billie Offer (Drew Barrymore) is a Vegas neophyte who sings country songs much lonelier than she is to drunks staring at computer poker at a bar. Huck meets Billie, and they strike up a relationship that in any other movie would be the focal point. Instead, that honor goes to L.C. (Robert Duvall), Huck’s estranged, two-timing, two-time-poker-champion dad. Every time Huck and Billie seem to find a groove, in walks L.C., and Huck’s eyes go distracted. What Huck makes L.C. out to be and what Billie is act as the devil and angel on Huck’s shoulders.

The whole ménage à trois plays out over the backdrop of the 2003 World Series of Poker tournament, famous for its winner (Tennessee amateur Chris Moneymaker) and its consequence (the game’s boom in popularity). The setting gives Lucky You a bittersweet end-of-an-age feel perfectly in-tune with its characters’ dramas.

Lucky You is not perfect: Bana and Barrymore’s chemistry only gurgles even when it’s supposed to be roaring, and there’s a surfeit of gambling puns, beginning with the title, middling with the name Huck (sounds like “hock,” which he does at pawn shops to raise funds), and ending with groaner lines like Billie’s “making a good fold” when she breaks up with Huck.

And then, instant redemption, with another casino pun, no less: “Everyone over 21 gets what they deserve.” And Bana and Duvall’s chemistry flows like the loosest slots in town. (The acting duel during a one-on-one gambling jag between Huck and L.C. in a coffee shop is worth the price of admission.)

Director Hanson (L.A. Confidential, Wonder Boys) wastes no movement in Lucky You. He makes the poker games personal and intimate with directing that’s all business. Like the new Casino Royale, the poker in Lucky You is credible: Instead of a series of swapped haymakers, it’s a measured process that builds toward resolution in calculated turns. (Gambling great Doyle Brunson is the film’s poker consultant.)

Lucky You is littered with character actors and ESPN-poker familiars to the point where it sometimes feels more like Celebrity Poker Showdown than a movie. But even this works in the Lucky You‘s favor. One is reminded that all successful poker players are good actors. In a film set in the most contrived, false, overacted town on earth, Lucky You says, don’t let the poker face fool you. The real show here is human, and it is substantial, and it won’t let you go. What happens in Vegas stays with you. What happens in Lucky You is another Curtis Hanson winning hand.

Lucky You

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News The Fly-By

The Cheat Sheet

CREDIT: Greg Cravens

Trying to make fellow Memphians understand that he is suffering as much as they are, Mayor Willie Herenton complains on a local radio station that his utility bills tripled in recent months. Turns out they increased by only 20 percent. Wasn’t this guy head of the city schools at one time?

Our good neighbors across the river — for lack of anything better to do — get into a heated political debate about whether the possessive of their state should be spelled Arkansas’ or Arkansas’s. And all this time, we’ve been saying Arkansawyer’s.

A Texas woman who has never been to Memphis has donated $1 million to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The money was part of a settlement, reached after her parents’ death at a refinery explosion in Texas, which stipulated that $23 million go to various charities. All we can say is thank you for the very generous gift — one of the largest individual donations in St. Jude history.

Police step into a Greg Cravens

barbecue joint on Chelsea and leave with a bunch of illegal “gambling machines.” We don’t know what they mean by that, exactly, unless they are talking about those rib cookers. Our cardiologist keeps warning us that we’re risking our lives by eating all that barbecue.

Despite protests from neighbors, teachers, and students who want their school kept open, Memphis City Schools closes Douglass High School. For more than 20 years, activists urge the Board of Education to reopen the sealed building. Last year, bulldozers finally tear the school down. And guess what? Now the school system has decided to build a brand-new Douglass High School right where the old one once stood. This is how we do things in Memphis, you see.

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News News Feature

Bet on Arkansas

The new slot-happy Southland Park Gaming and Racing in West Memphis is the most serious threat to Tunica’s casinos in their short history.

Yes, it’s West Memphis, which is more truck stop than tourist trap, and, yes, Arkansas’ state symbol should be an orange-and-white highway cone in a construction zone. No, it’s not going to happen in a year and, no, it won’t be nearly as dramatic as Katrina was to the Gulf Coast. But Southland will transform itself and make its mark.

Because it’s not about dogs, it’s about slots and that old adage that says if you let the camel get its nose inside the tent, pretty soon you have the whole camel. Arkansas let the camel get in this fall when Oaklawn horseracing track in Hot Springs and Southland commenced operating as casinos with restrictions.

For now, Southland is pretty much a dump. Ceiling tiles are missing on the second floor, and the off-track-betting rooms reek of stale smoke. The neighboring motels are strictly of the budget variety, and there’s not a golf course in sight. In my unofficial license-plate survey in the parking lot, 91 of 100 cars were from Arkansas or Tennessee.

In the casino part of the place, hundreds of slots were mostly idle on a recent weekday afternoon. Employees rolled carts around with pitchers of soft drinks on them. The buffet, however, was a definite improvement over the former dog-track fare.

Arkansas law only permits games of skill. So to play a slot you spin the reels twice, locking in your cherries, bars, and double diamonds on the first spin and hoping to improve them on the second spin. Progressive slots upstairs are linked to machines at Oaklawn for bigger payoffs. If you win you get a ticket redeemable at the cashier’s window instead of a bucket of coins. Video poker machines are the same as the ones in Tunica. Blackjack is played on 12 tables without cards, using digital computer screens instead. The “dealer” simply pushes a button and pays or collects the chips.

In other words, once you get down to the bare business of player and machine, it’s not much different from Tunica. But don’t take my word for it.

Anthony Sanfilippo is head of Harrah’s Central Division. He was involved in the expansion of casino gambling to Indiana, Louisiana, and Mississippi. He is leaving Harrah’s this month, when his employment contract expires.

“I would say Arkansas is opening up over at Southland a casino without table games at the dog track,” he said.

Slot machines account for 80 percent of casino revenues. Southland’s “skill” slots have all the bells and whistles of Tunica’s, and customers feel like they’re getting two spins for the price of one even if the payout percentage is similar.

Southland is 10 minutes from downtown Memphis, while Tunica is 30 to 45 minutes away. In Tunica’s early years, casino operators used to downplay the importance of distance from Memphis, which Sanfilippo says is the gateway for 60 percent of the Tunica business. Not any more. Harrah’s original casino in Tunica closed, and the company bought other properties closer to Memphis.

“From Grand Casino to the location of the first facility in Tunica was about 13 miles,” said Sanfilippo. “That’s a big difference.”

While Tunica casinos have added golf courses, glitzy hotels, and big-name entertainment, it’s been a race to the bottom for slot addicts. Backwaters such as Greenville were first to put in nickel and penny slots. Now, all the casinos have them.

Like Mississippi, Arkansas gambling will evolve. Let the state Racing Commission and the legislature get a taste of the gambling tax revenues for a year or so and see if the politicians loosen up the restrictions.

The camel, remember, has his nose in the tent.

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News The Fly-By

Congress Cashes Out

Lakeland resident and Emory University student Tim Kopcial won almost $50,000 playing online poker his freshman year of college. But with a new bill passed by the United States Senate, Kopcial’s luck may have run out.

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act was added onto the Security and Accountability for Every Port Act, expected to be signed into law by President Bush on October 13th. Though the bill doesn’t explicitly outlaw most major forms of online gambling, it prohibits credit card companies and other payment providers from processing online gambling transactions.

The bill’s passage was sparked in part by horror stories about the prevalence of online gambling, especially among college students. The country was shocked late last year when Greg Hogan, a class president at his university and the son of a minister, robbed a bank to pay gambling debts he accrued during his freshman year. An estimated 1.6 million of the nation’s 17 million college students have gambled on the Internet at least once.

Andrew Meyers, director of the University of Memphis Gambling Clinic, attests that gambling addiction is a very real issue.

“When you look at the numbers, it’s pretty startling,” he says. “One to 2 percent of all Americans have a serious gambling problem, and another 3 to 5 percent have some degree of damage in their lives due to gambling.”

Those gambling addicts who use the Internet can be especially difficult to treat.

“It’s very fast-paced, especially sports betting. You can lose a lot of money very, very quickly, and there’s no human element present to help spot an addiction,” says Meyers. Still, he says, the Senate measure may be an overreaction. “In other countries, [online gambling] doesn’t seem to present the threat that it does to the United States. I suspect that the legislation has more to do with economic concerns than it does a moral attitude.”

Congressman Bob Goodlatte, a Virginia Republican who pushed through an anti-online-gambling bill in the House earlier this year, says the Senate measure should prevent some of the $6 billion from “getting sucked out of the economy.”

Gamers themselves are receiving the news with mixed reactions, though many are looking to fight the legislation. The Poker Players’ Alliance argues that poker — the most popular form of online gaming — is a skill-based game that should be exempted from the provisions of the bill.

Others say that the issue isn’t worth fighting because it is so difficult to enforce. Many avid gamers stopped using credit cards years ago, opting to route their funds through payment services such as BillPay.

“There are so many alternate means of payment that it is not going to stop what is happening here,” says Frank Catania, former director of gaming enforcement in New Jersey and president of Catania Consulting Group. “We are going to be spending a lot of money for enforcement, and it is going to be worthless.”

As for Lakeland’s Kopcial, he doesn’t see it affecting him. “I’m over it,” he says.