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Another part of the problems for Sam Houston Race Park is in the form of competing race tracks in neighboring states. There was a time when Sam Houston was able to bring the biggest races to the market. The company was the main one providing the big-dollar events with huge payouts. Since the recession, that has changed dramatically. Now it is the race tracks in neighboring states that are holding the huge events. They are able to bring big competing races with bigger horsemen and better known horses, along with bigger purses. This makes their race tracks direct competitors to a race track that is already suffering. Plus add to the mix various other options for wagering, and it is creating a disastrous market for the big name race track to deal with. Gambling companies are coming into the mix left and right—they are focused on bringing more races that attract even bigger numbers of gamers.

The owner of Sam Houston is Shawn Hurwitz. Hurwitz has voiced his concerns regarding growth and the future of the track over the past few months. He notes the growing competition and how it is pushing Sam Houston out of the mix. He also added that there is new hope on the horizon despite the bad news. Penn National Gaming is a huge gaming company that just purchased half of the race track. Hurwitz is hoping that going fifty-fifty in on the project, will help the two companies to put together a viable gaming plan that will allow for a new revival of the gaming market. Another goal of the changes is to bring more jobs to the state and reviving the race track will be a sure fire way to do this. In fact, if the two companies are able to spur on the market, they should be able to bring hundreds of new jobs to the locals and this alone would help the economy and the state’s financial condition. Only time will tell what is going to happen with the race track, but Penn National and Hurwitz have made it clear that they are not going down without a fight. They are hoping to make considerable changes that cause the race track to return to its older days of glory.

The racing industry in Texas has been suffering. Of course all race tracks have had diminished numbers since the recession. One thing that people don’t have to do is wager. Though they can cut back on other things, gambling is one thing in the world that they don’t have to do. It can be completely eliminated from anyone’s budget. That is part of the problem with gambling—no one needs to do it. Gambling companies have been suffering due to that and have few options other than pushing promotions and deals harder. This costs though. Just ask the operators in Atlantic City—they have been struggling to spur on the market for months now. More and more people have been laid off in an effort to save businesses, and that doesn’t seem to be bringing the results that the operators were hoping for. Now Texas is having the same lag in numbers that Atlantic City has had with overall gambling.

Texas is a state that had a lucrative race track market at one time. It used to be one of the favorite pastimes of the residents in the area. They believed that racing was a great gambling option and it benefited race tracks substantially. One large race track in the area is Sam Houston Race Park. It is one of the biggest locations for racing in the state and has a reputation for greatness. Since the recession though, people have been leaving the racing tracks alone. They have been too busy paying bills and getting through their daily finances to think of playing at a race track. Sam Houston’s owners are trying to come up with ways of moving back into the market and bring in the same numbers it did pre-recession. The biggest obstacle to overcome is changing people’s perceptions of wagering and getting them to once again return to race tracks for wagers. Remember too that the race track still has the competition of other casinos in the state and online gambling companies. Now that the online gambling market has increased so much and so quickly, it is making things for the racing industry even harder.

Part two coming next.

One of the tools many states are using to find out where they stand in terms of gambling is polls. It is a great way to gauge how residents feel and see where an official vote might likely decide. States all over the country are using polls as a way to get insight into how people feel and an overwhelming amount of people are swayed into the pro-gambling position. A huge part of their reasoning is because gambling would bring in so much revenue, they want to know what the public perception is and if they indeed would be gambling at the casinos. A lot of the decision of gambling depends in individual perception of personal funds and the market that operators are concerned. If the country isn’t as far out of the recession as people would like, it may hamper their return to gambling. This is a huge concern of state legislators and they are all trying to formulate gaming laws. In Texas, the same debates are raging. Historically Texas has always been a conservative state that has little use for gambling. Lawmakers have tried to bring gaming into the state, only to be shot down time and time again. That could be changing though.

A recent poll of Texans showed that a growing number of residents believe that some form of gambling may serve the state well. When it comes to supporting a full-service casino, polls showed that 29% of residents were in support of the idea. Though that isn’t a huge amount, it still is a considerable gain since the state in the past has been so anti-gambling. In addition, the poll showed that 21% would be in favor of bringing gambling to existing wager facilities like race tracks throughout the state. Those two numbers, though low, are indicative of a changing climate when it comes to gambling in the state. It could be that budget shortfalls are going to push the idea of gambling to the forefront and possibly be the deciding factor with legislators. They were hard hit by the recession just like other states and have few options when it comes to economic recovery.

Since the recession states throughout the US have been scrambling to shore up their gambling laws and regulations. Texas is in the midst of the same changes most of the country is. A new report done on the state is showing that about 75% of residents are in favor of legalizing and regulating gambling. That’s a huge victory for legislators who have been pining for the change. There has always been a 50-50 divide over the issue. On one hand you have legislators and residents who believe that gambling will do nothing more than bring crime, corruption, money laundering and more traffic congestion. They believe that the necessary laws and regulations are not in place to handle a full-out move to total legalization of gaming. On the other hand you have legislators who believe that the money afforded by legalizing and regulating gambling is a huge incentive to make the changes in laws. They believe that with the proper regulation, legalizing gambling should not be a problem. They are pushing hard for those changes and revamping of the regulations.

Texas, just like other states, is still debating the changes out. The legislators are hoping to walk the fine line between accepting gambling as a legal activity, while still protecting all parties involved. The Rasmussen Survey done on residents of the state showing that three-fourths of the communities are in favor of gambling prove that possibly the communities are ready for the change. Most people surveyed stated that their reason for supporting the changes is the creation of jobs for local communities and the amount of potential revenue via tourism it would bring in. Since the recession, it has been hard on families who want to get by financially. Many are still out of work and seeing the creation of gambling locations is a positive move that would help hundreds, even thousands, of workers who are unemployed to find manageable and reachable employment. Only time will tell where Texas will go with this new information stating that people want the change, but most likely it will prove a positive change for all parties involved.

Las Vegas, Nevada is famous for its anything goes attitude, but last week things got out of line for the city. One of the main concerns of opponents of gambing is that since soon it may be legalized, that will inevitably bring more crime and corruption to cities that promote it. Though there is no concrete evidence to prove that, it is a reasonable argument that if more casinos are allowed, then more crime will be coming to the areas. In Las Vegas, there was a criminal act.  Entertainment and gambling is one thing but such draws can often attract the wrong kind of attention. Like every major city crime is just as much an issue in Las Vegas as anywhere and this past week the police have been put through their paces by gun wielding thugs. Police are now searching for a group of assailants who were seen driving away from the scene at high speed in a dark colored Chrysler 300 Sedan. The vehicle had a distinct set of chrome wheels as well as tinted windows. The victim of the shooting was a 58 year old woman who was taken to the local hospital for treatment on a gunshot wound to the leg.

Since the incident occurred so quickly the witness’s recollections of the attack are scant but it is believed the shooters were a male and female partnership. Police are carrying out thorough investigations of the crime scene as well as checking CCTV and other leads. The Texas Station casino and hotel has been remained open despite the incident and are doing everything in their power to help with the police enquiries. This is bad news for the casino because now all casinos in Las Vegas are suffering greatly. they were casualties of the recession and have not yet had the ability to recover since the economic downturn. If crime starts bringing bad press to the city, it could slow down recovery and make it even more difficult for the city to bring much-needed money back into its coffers. The biggest problem is how to keep the crime rate down and avoid negative press and revive the market.

Hurricane Ike caused a lot of problems for the city of Galveston, Texas. For the past few months the city, like others in the area, has worked hard to regroup and rebuild. Life after a hurricane is horrible and efforts to change things back to normal are often times difficult at best.  In order to help restore the town after the recent devastation caused by hurricane Ike, local merchants have petitioned the mayor and city council of Galveston to legalize gambling and perhaps even build a casino. City planners agree that casinos may be just the remedy required to speed up economic recovery.  

Numerous states are looking to gambling to help bring in tax-revenue dollars to help handle their overinflated budgets and deficits. The recession is another issue that is still weighing heavily on the economy. Though it is considered over, it left many cities damaged financially. Now they are looking to gambling to bring in money they need to sustain themselves. Galveston’s historic downtown area known as the Strand, has buildings that date back over a hundred years. Shops and businesses were flooded by the storm surge from Ike and the area is in desperate need of restoration. Allen Flores, president of the Strand Merchants Association says that a casino could provide much needed jobs, housing, increased tax base and fund beach restoration. He further said the state of Texas has laws against gambling but allow video slots to operate in game rooms throughout the state.

Of course there are those who say that Tilman Fertitta, CEO of Landry’s Restaurants is purchasing ravaged properties cheap so that he can build a casino, he denies it emphatically. Then there is also a rumor that his San Luis Hotel on the seawall is ready to operate as a casino if Texas legalizes casinos. Local politicians are not in favor of a casino, repeating the argument about the protection of the youth and unproven social costs. It looks as if Galveston may have to wait a while to hear of a better idea to put the town back on its feet. Casinos as a means of funding the town’s recovery is a long shot as two-thirds of the Legislature is required to make casino gambling legal in Texas.