Online Casinos Directory

Gambling today cannot take a hit of any kind. The market has been struggling all over the world and gambling casinos aren’t bringing in the same numbers they once did. It is imperative that they make the most of every moment of gambling and bring in the best numbers possible. Casino operators are pushing for the best games and promotions, hoping that may be enough to bring in the gaming numbers needed to sustain themselves. Part of the biggest issue though is that the unemployment rate is still high. There are still millions of Americans who are on the unemployment lines and this is stifling the growth. If people don’t have the funds needed to fuel into the market, then the market is going to continue to wither. The main thing that the government is focused on is building new jobs to employ the market. Though some companies are offering new positions and jobs, a lot more aren’t. People are still filing bi-weekly to the Department of Employment Security for a small percentage of their former paychecks. As long as people are on unemployment to pay bills, they aren’t going to have the funds to start gambling again.

The unemployment issue is stifling the market of gambling and putting a serious consideration into the world of casino operators. They have to take a wait-and-see attitude in a lot of ways. They can only hope that governments continue to create programs that will push businesses to open the doors for new positions and hiring. Businesses are responding slowly and that possibly could be the real reason why gaming companies are moving just as slowly. Operators are cutting back on their jobs too, but also pushing the bounds of promotions and bonuses. They want to turn things around but can’t without some serious changes in the market. Remember that casinos are solely dependent on people’s discretionary funds and if they don’t have that, then the market won’t have anything to help spur it on to a better situation. Casino operators are left to wait for things to turn around and hopefully that will happen sooner than later.

It’s no secret that every state and county throughout the US is in the midst of financial changes. The recession was difficult for economies all over the world and now, recovery is the primary goal for legislators. So how do they propose this change is going to come? Most are looking for various money generating activities that are going to bring in millions of revenue dollars. It sounds nice—to find ways of bringing in millions effortlessly, but what are the state’s real tangible options? In reality, the only option that is offering the money needed for this hefty task is gambling. Experts are projecting that if managed correctly, gambling could bring in billions of dollars over the next ten years to whatever economies are wise enough to implement it. That’s no small amount of money and it is no wonder why states are rushing to get their own laws of gambling passed and regulated.

Ohio and New York are two states that have been in the midst of casino debates for some time now. Each one has expansion projects on the horizon and legislators are hoping that these will be the solutions to their problems. They want to bring in billions because not only will that allow them to overcome their deficits and financial issues left by the recession, but it also will allow them to bring new jobs to the market. That is one of the focuses of legislators too- how to bring new jobs to the market and shift downwards the unemployment rates that are weighing heavily on economies. Ohio is scheduled to bring four new casinos to its state and hoping that these four casinos will turn it around financially. New York is in the midst of expansion for itself building a casino location at Aqueduct. Aqueduct, of course is already an up and running location for racing. Now the location wants to incorporate gambling to bring in more customers and create more revenue. Only time will tell how long it will take for these two states to implement a gambling law that works. It will take a few months for sure to properly watch what happens and then make the necessary changes. One thing is for sure though—gambling is here to stay and it is a viable option for legislators to bring in millions!

Alabama has been debating gambling laws for a while now. Governor Robert Riley formed a Task Force on Illegal Gambling a few months ago and the purpose of the team was to control illegal gambling. They have swiftly taken action over the past few months to uncover, investigate and close down illegal operations. The problem is that shutting down various locations is also eliminating much-needed jobs. This is an offshoot of the problem that has yet to be addressed until now. Alabama residents are having issues and will continue with them throughout the future until this is sorted out completely.

Residents of the US have suffered a great loss in jobs in the past few years. The recession caused many businesses to shut down or to go through major cut backs. The unemployment rate soared and millions of Americans were left out of jobs. Now, that unemployment issue is still rearing its ugly head via new changes in the market. For example, in Alabama Greenetrack is one of the biggest companies and employs the highest number of workers in the state. Unfortunately it was hit hard by the Governor’s Task Force. The facility was raided and hundreds of bingo machines were seized. Once the machines were gone, the facility was shut down.

Although the Greenetrack is appealing the decision, that does little good for the hundreds of residents who are employed at the facility. They are at a loss for finding new jobs. Many have been with the facility for years and now are left in teh same unemployment line as the other millions of Americans are. So far, Attorney General King has tried to step into the actions of the Task Force. He believes that it needs to be regulated to not put hundreds of
residents in unemployment danger. It will take some time for the issue to sort itself out. Residents are left reeling while the legalities are sorted out. The governor will continue his directions to the Task Force, wanting them to continue finding illegal operations and shutting them down swiftly and completely.

Because gambling is one of the most popular projected up-and-coming industries for 2010, many states are rushing to make moves to find their own laws. US News and World Report has named the gaming manager job as one of the fifty best careers in 2010. That is because with the increasing number of casinos comes an increasing number of jobs. For example, Missouri, Florida, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and California all have gone through expansions regarding gambling and casinos. Each one noted its growth in job possibilities and how the moves are working to turn around the unemployment issue that all states are facing.

In past years, Las Vegas and Atlantic City were considered gambling hubs of the US. People from far and wide went through travel complexities to visit the gambling meccas and as a result, both cities were fueled by gambling activities. Now that deficits are so hefty in all states, they are all looking to gambling as a way of bringing in money.

On the down side, states still realize that they can’t rely solely on casinos to help them turn around their economic crises. Some states are making the mistake of already counting on gambling money that they don’t have and portioning it out for various programs. They are trying to project what their potential revenues could be and then earmark the money for development, planning, expansion, public works programs, jobs and education. This is a bold move and most economists and analysts believe it may come back and haunt lawmakers.

Legislators however, are pushing hard to make the gambling initiatives work. Those looking to bring gambling to their state are citing not only money, but also the increase in jobs as a positive aspect of the move. While unemployment rates continue to rise in other industries, casino owners are hiring employees for their new casinos on an almost daily basis. Casino totals are expected to grow exponentially throughout the coming 2010 year. US News projected that employment will grow by 12% by the year 2018. The best part of the gaming projections is that it is a low-education job creation possibility. Training is on-the-job and not more than a high school diploma is needed to get a job in the industry.  That is good news for the huge amount of unemployed Americans who find themselves in need of jobs and without a lot of formal training. It could be a solution to the problems the recession created for America.

Casino gambling is one of the hottest new industries around. Despite the recession, it is one of the few that hasn’t seen a notable drop in patronage. While the lending, car manufacturing and housing crashes happened, gambling stuck strong.  One gaming analyst, Martin Beamon said, “The face of gambling changed throughout the recession in that people started flocking towards the penny-slots and smaller-limit machines, rather than the high-roller tables…however, gambling itself had a relatively unchanging amount of customers. It surprised everyone.”

The performance of gambling startled everyone. Although huge industries fell, gambling didn’t. Las Vegas noted a decline in tourism and that caused a fall in revenues, but in terms of local casinos, they did well. Beamon added, “States released their numbers and they were stable…although the Las Vegas market is down by 60% and tribal-owned casinos were also down, local casinos and internet gambling both stayed stable and popular among patrons.” One of the biggest drivers of performance for gambling came from the general increase in legalizing and regulating gambling that most states are currently going through. They see how lucrative gambling is and the recession left them with huge deficits. Gambling is seen as a viable option to bring in revenues. One expert said, “For every month the US does not legalize gambling, they are losing millions of dollars.”

So far the US is still wrestling with the UIGEA of 2006. It was a law that banned financial institutions from allowing gambling money to be withdrawn or deposited. Banks were tasked with watching their transactions and flagging any that came directly from online gambling activities. Banks were not happy with the move and most made a fowl sweep of any activity that came even close to gambling. Legal activities that were affiliated with lotteries and sports betting were in danger of being flagged by banks, and many were. The funds were confiscated or at minimum, held from winners. What the UIGEA actually showed was its limitations and lack of proper rhetoric in terms of defining what gambling actually is. Many lawmakers are currently working to revamp the UIGEA and write amendments that will make it more relevant and poignant to the US market.  

Part two coming next.

The St. Louis market is hopeful. South County Casino just opened their employment center doors for the local economy that has 130,000 unemployed people.  Although there are only 1,000 jobs available, much of the unemployed local public was waiting for their shot at the new job market created by the casino.

Despite the hopeful throngs of people who lined up for the chance at an interview, industry analysts are saying the 1,000 jobs won’t really have that big an impact on the market as a whole.  Jack Strauss, director of the Simon Center for Economic Forecasting, said, “It will make a rather small difference. Because there is a multiplier effect, it will probably create another 1,000 to 1,500 jobs.”  The St. Louis market, however is experiencing a hefty 10.3% unemployment rate and overall that small amount of jobs won’t put much of a dent in it. Strauss does agree though that the jobs are “coming at the right time.”

Despite the hopefuls, the reality is that there are 1,000 jobs to spread out to 130,000 people. Pinnacle Entertainment, the casino’s parent company, expects to receive upward of 50,000 online applications before hiring is completed, said its director of recruitment, Cyrus Sherafat. Every applicant has a detailed questionnaire they must get through and a background check into their qualifications. The preliminary application is set to cut the list of unemployed in half. The half that remain candidates will then  have to go through several bouts with HR and management to further narrow down the pool.  Once that’s done, the job offers officially will go out.

This past week the second phase of the hiring process happened. In July the casino announced its open positions and received over 12,000 online applications. Of those, 100 people were hired. The job openings currently being solicited for include hourly housekeeping, parking, and food service positions. Thursday marked the second hiring call for Pinnacle’s newest area casino.The firm also operates Lumière Place — which says it employs 1,500 to 1,700 — and the President Casino in downtown St. Louis.

Assistant professor of Economics William Rogers said, “Casinos do have an impact on the area in the sense that they absorb resources and provide services. The riverfronts look different because of them, but I don’t think they have a substantial impact on the region as a whole. There is no evidence within the urban literature that casinos independently make urban areas more vibrant or dynamic. Casinos may not be answer, but at a time when (businesses and governments) don’t have the money to create jobs themselves, I don’t think we can question this.”