Kingston's Casino

The well-chronicled Christmas shopping rush is on as is the all too familiar logistical downside to this annual shopping frenzy as the crowds and traffic add stress to our daily lives. And nowhere is the impact greater than at the local mall and Independence Mall, located in bucolic Kingston, Mass. is no exception. But Lost in the shuffle, so to speak is a disruption wrought on the gambling venue at the east end of the mall's food court.

The dozen or so tables abutting the back of Dan's Hennessy News kiosk that are usually held down by serious-looking people carefully marking their Keno tickets are feeling the seasonal crush as hungry shoppers are forced to migrate there to find a place to wolf down their slice of Regina's Pizza. This is putting pressure on the regular denizens who find themselves boxed out. When I first saw an elderly couple sitting side-by-side at the four-place table, I thought it heart-warming until I realized that this was merely a way for both to view the big Keno monitor on Hennessy's back wall, where every three minutes a new game of Keno pops up amid animated flourish. It has lately become so crowded, that Hennessy’s regulars are forced to use the buddy system with one partner holding the table while the other fetches new betting slips or makes the occasional visit to the cashier. Ditto for bathroom breaks.

Given the hardships being faced by Keno aficionados during the shopping crunch and with an eye to the possibility of the gigantic casino planned for a few miles away in Middleborough, management might want to start thinking about a few upgrades.

First, they should consider separating the gamblers from the eaters by walling off the gambling area, which could then be made more casino-like with softer lighting and appropriate background music. With access constrained, a liquor license and smoking area could give it a real casino feel, but those changes are probably far off in the future.

One important change, and one that could be made immediately, would be to re-locate the lottery cashier operation to the back of the kiosk where it would face the “action.” This would also make the cashier more accessible to gamblers trekking up to place bets, or, as sometimes happens, collect their winnings, which are almost always taken in the form of lottery scratch cards. Hennessey's may sell a dozen or so different newspapers, but it has numbered slots for as many as forty eight different scratch cards. No wonder the sales are brisk for Lucky Fast Scratch Tools at only 99 cents. It’s probably a tribute to the cleaning staff that the area isn't ankle-deep in scratch card scrapings. Separating the gambling and merchandise traffic would also help to alleviate the cashier congestion that happens as non-gamblers line up with the punters to make a purchase from Hennessy's limited assortment of soda and chips. For now, these are the chips that you eat, not the ones you place on the table games, but who knows what the future might bring.

The Governor’s plan is to put a casino within easy commuting distance of every Massachusetts resident. Why not go one better and put one in each shopping mall. We already have a good start at Independence

Rush to Casinos

It is interesting to note that when Massachusetts State Reps, Michael Morrissey and Brian Wallace proposed that a question be added to the state’s presidential primary See Globe Article that would allow voters to express an opinion on the Governor’s proposal for establishing three state-sanctioned casinos in Massachusetts, Senate president, Therese Murray was quick to indicate her enthusiasm for bringing the proposal to debate in the senate. Since all of the above-mentioned are on record as being casino supporters, it is safe to say that they expect the answer to the question:

“Do you support the establishment of up to three resort casinos in Massachusetts?” will be strongly positive.

With the Governor touting nearly half a billion dollars of projected tax revenue and thousands of new jobs, this reaction is easy to predict. So, seeing the outcome of this proposed public response going her way, Murray is jumping on the bandwagon of soliciting public support. This is, of course, the opposite course she took when over 170,000 Massachusetts citizens petitioned to put the question of gay marriage on the ballot. In that case, she, and her colleagues, took the tack that the legislature knew better and that the question was too “sensitive” to be put before the people as they denied access to the ballot for this issue. On the other hand, the Morrissey-Wallace proposal is for a non-binding referendum, so its results can easily be ignored if necessary.

In the meantime, Rep, Tom Calter (D-Kingston) who represents the Middleborough precinct that would be home to the proposed Wampanoag casino has announced his opposition See Article to that planned facility, primarily on the basis of the impact of an estimated 50,000 additional cars on the already congested local roadways. While clearly not a blanket opposition to the larger issue of casino gambling for Massachusetts, it is at least a start at looking at all aspects of casinos and not just blindly chasing elusive revenue projections.

On the face of it, casino gambling may look like a perfect solution. Casino attendance is voluntary. If you don’t want to contribute, stay home. Gambling, or Gaming as it is called, is being promoted as just another entertainment option. And the litany of fuzzy rationalizations goes on and on. But it’s not a free ride. Casinos will bring its baggage that will change forever the environs in which it is situated. Since the Governor’s proposal calls for at least three casinos, established on a regional basis, this means the environs will include the whole state.

Check out the Casino Free Mass website, especially the “talking points” section. Make no mistake about it, this organization is against casinos, but their arguments make interesting reading, even for gambling supporters.