Nevada Gaming

When I use to first think of Nevada Gaming; the first thing that would come to mind would be the movie Bugsy. I know now that it is much more than that and the gangsters that brought gaming here to the desert to hide their illegal laundering of money and other activities. Nevada gaming has always been a target for special investigations going far back as 1950 through

the most recent Commission findings in 1999. During the most recent inquire into special federal taxes on gaming.

How did we get here? Casino gaming had its inception in the middle Europe almost 300 hundred years ago. The problems that stagnated the casino industry were, but not limited to: language barriers, differences in currency, wars, several factors kept the industry from its full potential. Certain forms of European casino gambling were imported to east coast. The mining industry turned Nevada into a prospering place to live. The mining industry also brought with it thousands of people and with that a quick opportunity for some of them to become rich.

The state legislature in 1867 legalized casino gaming. Anybody could obtain a gambling license for a fee of $1000 or $1,600 paid directly to the county sheriff. By 1911 certain card games are now legalized only to be illegal again in 1913. Gaming laws were not enforced and in lieu of fees, operators now paid bribes to local officials (Leyh Publishing, 2003).

During the early 1930's a move to legalize was revived, although there was opposition from religious groups. In 1945 the legislature realized state control was necessary as planning for casinos grew larger and larger. And, in 1949 a requirement to own a license was to be of good character was written into the law as well. During the 50's a negative cast was upon the casino industry due to the national hearings on organized crime. The Tax Commission was eliminated and a five member Nevada Gaming Commission was created. The five members served as the final voice for state gaming matters. Due varying changes over the years a Gaming Control Board was formed to act as the enforcer and collect taxes.

The Gaming Board investigates applicants past and conducts closed and open door licenses hearings with applicants. After the hearings the Gaming Board members recommends their opinion to the Gaming Commission. The Commission holds hearings and vote by majority. If the Board declines a license the Commission may overrule by a 5-0 vote (Leyh Publishing, 2003).

Between the years of 1967 and 1969 state laws were passed that allowed major corporations to become owners of casinos. Now only major stock holders have gaming licenses due to the amount of capitol required to build a casino, hotel, or resort. The state now collects about $2,000 per yearly fee for each machine and in addition to that each machine pays a $250.00 fee that goes to the federal government.

Prior to recent years gaming mainly consisted of a few casinos and gambling halls in Nevada only. In 1988 South Dakota authorized limited stakes or ($5 bets). Shortly there after Iowa authorized high stakes limited riverboat gambling. There were efforts by Tom Grey in 90s to stop legalized gambling. He couldn't believe the social problems his community was having after the opening of the riverboat casinos. He enlisted the help of a representative from Virginia (Frank Wolfe) to assist him in his quest to study the effects of gaming.

A national study is authorized against the Silver State. Nevada interests were able to defeat President Bill Clinton's 4% tax plan and the same group went after Frank Wolfe's plans on a national commission. Wolfe's plan was to investigate files and data on players. Instead the commission was set up to study the effects of all gaming. Although there were many meetings being held and reports suggested anti-gaming, but on most substantive matters Nevada came out on top.

Compulsive gambling has always been a necessary evil that has stigmatized legalized gaming. The Commission devoted time and money to study the effects of the gambling. The study concluded that .8% of the adult population were serious pathological gamblers while another slightly higher percentage were problem gamblers. This combined activity resulted in a social cost of $5 billion. Casinos were now being tasked with the choir of monitoring their players; it was believed that if you could say: "no" to drugs" and "no" to sex etc... Why not have the casinos say "no to gambling.

Children and gambling had to be addressed as well. Several incidents in the 90s were the direct result of tighter controls of children in casinos. The Commission set the minimum age for gambling at 21 in all jurisdictions. In 1993 MGM Grand opened a movie land theme park. Adults who come to Las Vegas with children often times do not gamble children on the hand require