According to KATV, the Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma has begun installing 300 gambling machines in its Pine Bluff “casino annex” located across the street from its main casino building that is currently under construction.
The main casino will open next year, but the “casino annex” — a mini casino across the street — will open in a few weeks.
I’m not sure voters imagined that casinos would be able to operate gambling machines in different buildings in town when the casino amendment passed last year, but apparently that’s what is happening.
It’s worth pointing out that by some estimates state and local government spend up to $10 in social services for every $1 received in tax revenue from casino gambling.
Gambling is linked to divorce, bankruptcy, homelessness, domestic violence, and a host of other problems that hurt families. Casino tax money simply cannot compensate for the toll gambling take on a community.
