Walking the Tightrope: Gamble
Sally Codman deplores the idea of more Las Vegas-style casinos in Britain.
Middle age is well documented as a dangerous time of life. Though life may well begin at forty for some people so does many a mid-life crisis.
I'm already well aware that, as I move relentlessly towards another milestone birthday, I become more susceptible to heart attacks, brittle bones, hormonal turmoil and fighting a losing battle to try to look younger than I am.
Whilst browsing through some online newspapers recently I found another pitfall that I, along with middle-class teenagers, should beware of! Now you're all wondering what on earth I could have in common with middle-class teenagers?
Could it be a predilection for some strange band with a cult following? A secret addiction to Alco pops? A determination to bare a bulging midriff despite the danger of catching double pneumonia?
Fear not gentle reader, no mid-life crisis will drive me to any of the above, although it seems I am in danger - along with those middle-class teenagers - of becoming addicted to internet gambling, at least according to a study by the internet tracking agency, Nielsen. Their research has discovered that the 'typical net gambler' is a middle-aged housewife, closely followed by those middle-class teens.
I found those fascinating facts in the Times Online whilst reading up on the Government's long-awaited, so-called Gambling Bill, which will allow the opening of up to 40, regional super casinos with up to 1,250 slot machines, if it gets the green light from Parliament
Already around 100 planning applications for casinos have been lodged all over the country, including one by Britain's biggest casino operator, Stanley Leisure, which has unveiled plans to build a £125m gambling and leisure complex next to Leeds United's Elland Road ground
The company claim their plan will create over 1,000 jobs, provide debt-laden United with a £5m windfall from the sale of the seven-acre site and provide a leisure complex with a casino, hotel, restaurants, bars and designer shops, if it gets the go-ahead.
All over the country big gaming companies, many backed by American dollars, are making similar applications and similar 'benefit to the community' claims. And local Councils and the Government are rubbing their hands in glee in anticipation of the extra taxes these super-casinos will generate.
Lord McIntosh, the minister responsible for the gambling bill, speaking on Radio 4, said gambling, especially internet gambling which was attracting children, needed modern legislation to regulate it more effectively.
He said casino operators would be forced to provide 'benefits for local people' including 'social housing, new roads and entertainment facilities' and promised 'There is no question of Las Vegas being opened in Leicester or anywhere else in this country.'
Hhhrrummp! I can't help thinking that's what they probably promised the Mormons of Southern Nevada when they built the first saloon bar. On second thoughts we would probably be better building a Vegas-Style gambling resort in just one place instead of infecting the whole of the country.
I tried Las Vegas for a few days in 1998 after a well-travelled friend assured me it was now family-friendly and a sort of Disneyland for grown-ups. We'd planned to linger for a few days and use it as a stopping-off point for a trip to the Grand Canyon.
Sadly we never made the Canyon. Travellers Tummy, which I suspect we contracted from one of those eat-all-you can buffets, put paid to that plan. Grounded, those of us still standing, gawped at the Circus Circus shows and funfair, enjoyed the Excalibur spectacular, walked around the amazing hotels and tried to make the best of it.
The casinos were lavishly decorated, spectacularly themed and as garish and glittery as Disneyland in appearance but there was still an undertow atmosphere that was tawdry, tacky and definitely not family-friendly.
My theory is that's because for every big-winner on the roulette tables, card games or slot-machines there were hundreds of little-losers, who were quickly discovering that gambling is one very quick way to get rid of your hard-earned cash and have nothing to show for it.
All those James Bond films have a lot to answer for, portraying casinos as exotic, glamorous places. In reality most casinos have all the allure of run-down clubs, motorway service stations or Blackpool's Golden-Mile on a cold, wet, Saturday night and we need more places like that in every region of the U.K. like we need a hole in the head.
