I LOVE THE GOVERNOR OF MARYLAND...

THE SHRINK · May 17, 2004

Did anyone else hear how much support this guy gave to gambling when he was interviewed on National television right before the Preakness?

He stated that in order for Maryland Horce Racing to be able to compete in today's market with other states such as Deleware and West Virginia, they NEEDED to have SLOT MACHINES!!!

I LOVE this guy as he represents a breath of fresh air amongst many otherwise hypocritical politicans!

TheMDKid · May 17, 2004

Shrink,

I've talked about him before, here. Problem is, he has absolutely ZERO support in this policy from any other politicians in the state, so its highly unlikely anything will happen. What I like about him, though, is that he continues to stick to his guns pushing this agenda. Very unpolitician-like.

TheGeneral+ · May 17, 2004

Kudos to him for is open mind.

Fishhead · May 17, 2004

Just talked to a couple buddies back in Iowa yesterday.

If things keep progressing in regards to casino expansion, I may find myself moving back to my homeland.

Good luck in Maryland Shrink, hopefully craps tables will follow the slot endorsements.

Chris@OlympicSports · May 17, 2004

If Maryland doesn't get slots, u watch Magna move Preakness to another of their tracks

Maryland racing is dead without it

JudgeWapner · May 17, 2004

Actually grew up with Bob Erlich.Hell of a basketball and football player.He is trying hard to help Maryland racing,but running into alot of opposition just because he is a Repiblican.

jaypaw · May 17, 2004

I think there is support among other ledislators and the people definitely support it - but Speaker Busch is playing politics and has spent a lot of time trying to change the minds of his own democrat constituents so that Erlich fails.

THE SHRINK · May 17, 2004

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Judge Wapner:
Actually grew up with Bob Erlich.Hell of a basketball and football player.He is trying hard to help Maryland racing,but running into alot of opposition just because he is a Repiblican.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Judge,

U have NEVER grown up!

Talk to someone who doesn't know u, lol...

JudgeWapner · May 17, 2004

Point well taken, Shrink.Hopefully never will.

jaypaw · May 17, 2004

Fish I believe there may be a lot of casinos who end up losers in Iowa if they allow this expansion. I think we've talked about it before somewhere but Iowa is the most saturated gaming market in the country - (and very possibly the least traveled to). If they add thousands more slot machines then it is at the point where something has to give...

also I believe such an expansion would further motivate nebraskans to develop their own resources for gaming... less than 10% of the council bluffs market (the largest gaming market in iowa) population is from the Iowa side of the border - I would be very scared if I was a council bluffs casino owner at the potential for nebraska to get into this.

jaypaw · May 17, 2004

fish - where in iowa did you live?

I take it you were from there right?

Fishhead · May 17, 2004

I grew up in Northcentral Iowa..........and at this very moment, I can assure you that the Iowa casino market is not oversaturated yet.

jaypaw · May 17, 2004

where are they getting the money to spend

they spend more per person on casino gambling in iowa than in any other state

they may not be oversaturated but they are the closest to it that they can be...

I dont know what kind of facilities they are proposing but they'll have to be really attractive (and expensive) to succeed given the competition they will ahve to face

Its hard to see how its worth it to the operators to spend the money on a state that already has so much spending on gambling and so few people.

I dont think you can deny that the council bluffs market is almost completely supplied by nebraska residents ? At least that is what the numbers show right? 90% of the population on the other side of the border is not really debateable...

Where are the new casinos proposed to be? have you heard?

Fishhead · May 17, 2004

jaypaw- Iowa farmers are doing better than they have in years.

Land prices are soaring and soybeans prices were at an all-time high recently.

They are looking at putting a boat on the Des Moines River in Fort Dodge.

If so, this casino would be packed with locals.

I know this area very well having grown up only 28 miles north of there.

jaypaw · May 17, 2004

you may be right

I was just looking at the lakeside market and it is amazing how well this place does under the circumstances...

Lakeside
Market adult population within 30 miles: 62,900
Market PCPI within 30 miles: 18,421
2003 win (FY): $55M
Spending per market adult: $879.00

Ft. Dodge
Market adult population within 30 miles: 81,527
Market PCPI within 30 miles: 20,248
200x win: $__M
Spending per market adult: $___.00

Doing the math that ft dodge facility would earn $72M under a spending scenario similar to Lakeside.

Interestingly these towns are both 30-40 miles outside of Des Moines - a place with a population of 400k adults yet only $150M in spending on slots at the dog track there (working out to spending per market adult of only 369).

A worst case scenario for a facility in Ft Dodge might be the $369.00 per adult that is spent in Des Moines (an undersupplied market to my suprise) which would still result in a win amount of over $30M dollars.

Do you know how many machines are proposed at ft dodge?

What do you know about that area? The one disadvantage I see as compared to lakeside is that the location is about 30 miles from hwy 35 as compared to lakeside which is right on the highway...

Fishhead · May 17, 2004

I was born in FORT DODGE, so yes I know the area VERY WELL.

There is no other casino in the immediate area, and everybody would flock to it if it were halfway decent.

There is also a casino planned for the Emmetsburg area.

WildBill · May 17, 2004

Jaypaw,

Nice data points, Iowa always does amaze me how much they like to gamble there in per capita numbers. Iowa if they added maybe one or two boats would probably not saturate the market, but the easy money is clearly already being made.

I tried to contact your employer CCC and haven't gotten a single response from an email or phone message. We would like to discuss your data and possibly be subscribers, but your customer service leaves a lot to be desired, hehe. Can you get me in touch with someone? Write me at...fadethedog@hotmail. Thanks.

jaypaw · May 17, 2004

Sorry to hear that I'll get right on it

I wasn't aware of any messages from you - when did you leave them?

The emails should go to my address if you did them off the website (jaypaw@maine.rr.com or jaypaw@grossannualwager.com) let me know where you got the contact info so I can update it if its wrong...

we are normally excellent in customer service.

jaypaw · May 17, 2004

Fish - does that highway play a major role?

I am from New England so its difficult for me to comprehend what it must be like to drive around those roads out there...

Is it just the way I am reading the map - or are there no curves on any of the roads?

WildBill · May 17, 2004

Months ago. We reviewed the website for the gross annual wager and saw just one phone number listed so I called it. It went to an answering machine for some law firm. It also said to leave messages to the webmaster. I did both and got nothing back, this was maybe in February or March and we were thinking soon maybe the 2003 report would be done.