Poker Confusion All Around
August 10, 2009
Have you ever fought so hard to get something and then fought just as
hard to not get it? Us neither – but this seems to be the case with
Rosemont, Illinois. They seem to be having a difficult time deciding what
they want – at least when it comes to poker. The town has decided that they
don’t want poker within their borders, but they are also the same town that
has been fighting to get it for years.
The town of Rosemont fought for years to get a casino in their town – a
riverboat casino. They said that it would be good for their town, they could
use the much needed revenue, and their residents were behind it 100%.
However, they were turned down for a casino license because the state said
that there was an “enduring reputation for mob influence” and therefore they
could basically not be trusted.
However, now the state turns around and says that they can have poker – so
obviously they aren’t worried that the mob likes poker – but it doesn’t
matter because Rosemont told them to keep it. Their village board has
enacted a ban on video poker within the boarder as they said that the
“potential social costs” are just too high. This of course leaves those very
same local governments that told them no, now on the other end of the stick.
They say that the amount of money that the poker would have brought them,
estimated at two or three hundred thousand dollars, was not worth the price.
The town already has other ways of making money – such as their Allstate
Arena and the Rosemont Theatre – and they are not interested in poker
machines as well.
