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Question of the day

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Illinois

Do you think the governor’s Keno plan will survive? Why or why not?

Remember, he says he doesn’t need legislative approval.

You can read a little more here (Tribune editorial), here (Roeper column) and here (Brown column).

Also, OneMan has a very good post at Illinoize with a lot of informative links, including this one.

Everyone knows the house has an advantage. But most casino patrons don’t realize just how heavily the odds are stacked against them. Take keno, in which you pick a string of numbers, hoping to match them to what the casino randomly generates. The house advantage is at least 25%, increasing with the more numbers you pick, says John Alcamo, author of Casino Gambling Behind the Tables. The odds of hitting, say, the 10 spot â€” a string of 10 numbers â€” are nine million to one. (Getting killed by fireworks is nine times more likely.) Despite those odds, a $2 bet usually pays off at only $50,000 to $200,000.

UPDATE: E-mail from a friend:

Soon you will be able to gamble in taverns but not smoke in them.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jan 12, 06 @ 8:47 am

Comments

What ever happened to the left’s argument that lotteries and legalized gambling was a regressive tax on the poor?

I don’t know if Keno will go through or not. I hope not. It corrupts everything starting with politics.

I note your post below about Wyman signing on as a lobbyist for these firms.

If Eisendrath doesn’t tash him in the primaries, I hope the Republican can voice the progressive case against gambling and wariness about the biotech’s industry efforts to engineer a brave new world (read Jill Stanek’s posts on Illinoize) and add that voice to some sensible efforts to promote Illinois’s economy to get rid of this guy who should be Springfield but won’t live there.

Comment by Bill Baar Thursday, Jan 12, 06 @ 9:05 am
If our embarassment of a Governor tries to ram through this cock-eyed scheme of his, you can be certain that it will be tied up in court for at least a year. At that point, God willing, he’ll be ex-Governor Blagojevich and this Keno plan will be tossed out with the rest of the trash.

After coming up with a stupid idea like this, any African-American clergyman who speaks up on Blagojevich’s behalf should be denounced. Putting keno into Illinois would only add to the misery of its low-income residents.

Comment by Randall Sherman Thursday, Jan 12, 06 @ 9:06 am
you also missed this one,
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/keno11.html

quite an accomplishment to get casinos, anti-gaming folks, media and your own rep. united against the same proposal. Plus alienating the GA by circumventing them like he did on stem cell, THEN toss in the culture of corruption card by virtue of the GTech lobbyist, not to mention throwing the flip-flop and desperation doors wide open. Odds of doing all that in one shot are higher then winning in keno.

Helllllo Edwin.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jan 12, 06 @ 9:11 am
why doesnt he put keno in Pilgrim Baptist and handle two problems at once?

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jan 12, 06 @ 9:12 am
If I were a betting man - I’d empty my bank accounts, loot the kids savings, take out two or three new mortagages, kite some checks, and put my life in the jackpot . . . but that’s just me.

I think it’s a bad bet.

Comment by Pat Hickey Thursday, Jan 12, 06 @ 9:20 am
The Tribune is trying to say that John Wyma used his influence with the governor to get a client to sign on? I’m shocked by that allegation. Shocked I say!

Comment by Goodbye Napoleon Thursday, Jan 12, 06 @ 9:46 am
I thought the Gov previously said there would be no expansion of gambling as a means to get more money. So this is bringing back a Keno that existed, so it is a reinstatement not an expansion? Give ‘em points for effort on that logic. If I am a bar owner how much do I get to keep? Can’t see this going far but it will make an effective TV ad for someone:
“I won’t use gambling..” followed by
“Keno is not expansion”.
Underscroll with “Consistent leadership for a change.”

Comment by zatoichi Thursday, Jan 12, 06 @ 9:47 am
Bad idea…Video poker and Keno have been termed as video crack in some states that I’ve visited. The access to it is too easy and it is too addictive to people who enjoy gambling. I’ve typically seen somebody sitting at a machine in a bar spending away their money, and it’s not the type of person who has the disposable income to be doing so..

Comment by Matt Varble Thursday, Jan 12, 06 @ 10:00 am
I think it is a good idea. The money will help our underfunded schools. To those of you that do not like this idea, I ask you “Why do you hate the children so much?”

Comment by Mr. Sarcastic Thursday, Jan 12, 06 @ 10:11 am
I thought the lottery was suppose to fund the schools and this will go into pork projects for the legislators and newly craeted offices for thr governors friends.

Comment by DOWNSTATE Thursday, Jan 12, 06 @ 10:50 am
“Everyone knows the house has an advantage. But most casino patrons donâ€™t realize just how heavily the odds are stacked against them. Take keno, in which you pick a string of numbers, hoping to match them to what the casino randomly generates. The house advantage is at least 25%, increasing with the more numbers you pick, says John Alcamo”
We are talking about the lottery here. The house, or in this case the state, has at least a 50% take out with lottery and people still bet over a billion dollars a year on it in Illinois.
I don’t think keno is a good idea for Illinois but from just a pure revenue stance for the state it’s a can’t lose.

Comment by Anon Thursday, Jan 12, 06 @ 10:57 am
To Mr. Sarcastic.

I love kids unfortunately some of them grow up to be Mr. Sarcastics or Rod the Gov. Why not legalize drugs, prostitution as well so these “kids” that you and da Gov are so concerned about can have great schools.
How many more sound bits will this guy create without thinking of the impact of his proposed programs?

Comment by Can't imagine Thursday, Jan 12, 06 @ 11:17 am
I say we allow the corner craps games to be legal. 7,7,7 gimme 7-11!

Comment by Wumpus Thursday, Jan 12, 06 @ 11:21 am
It doesn’t matter how much money or where it comes from it will never be enough.

Comment by Jack Thursday, Jan 12, 06 @ 2:14 pm
Until a couple of weeks prior to the last veto session, the Department of Healthcare and Family Services worked on the AllKids initiative with the understanding that keno was going to be the funding source. However, the Governor’s office pulled the rug out from under HFS and forced them to replace keno with a ill-conceived managed care plan that is going to be very expensive to implement.

Can you imagine the uproar that an AllKids and keno combination would have caused during the veto session.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jan 12, 06 @ 2:37 pm
Looks like everyone will be keen on Keno. Funniest lines of the day came from the Tribune handwringers who have pimped for the racetracks for years, but now worry about gaming $ for new schools. And of course they also rant about Build Illinois and Illinois First because they found a handful of questionable projects.
Someone out there with a pile of old lobbo lists needs to tell the world who firt waltzed GTech into IL….I’ll think of a prize.

Comment by Reddbyrd Thursday, Jan 12, 06 @ 4:41 pm
Why do only bars & restraunts get the goodies? Why not grocery stores, pharmacies, laundromats etc? Does the Gov not trust all businesses to make more money for him?

Comment by BIG R.PH Thursday, Jan 12, 06 @ 4:43 pm
:Why do only bars & restraunts get the goodies? Why not grocery stores, pharmacies, laundromats etc? Does the Gov not trust all businesses to make more money for him?:

Sorry, but you are not going to get keno at the Chuck E Cheese. From the website of a state that now has keno:

Question: How will bars and restaurants stop the sale of these tickets to minors?
Answer: There is minimal danger of underage players purchasing these tickets, as they are being sold in an age-controlled environment. Patrons of these establishments must be 18 years of age (in some cases, 21 years of age) to enter.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jan 12, 06 @ 7:23 pm
:Everyone knows the house has an advantage. But most casino patrons donâ€™t realize just how heavily the odds are stacked against them. Take keno, in which you pick a string of numbers, hoping to match them to what the casino randomly generates.:

Even though keno is the biggest sucker game in a conventional casino, the pay table for keno played in a conventional casino is more favorable to the player than the pay table for keno operated by state lotteries. Remember the old saying: the lottery is a tax on people who are bad at math.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jan 12, 06 @ 7:27 pm
I don’t think this will happen, at least I hope this doesn’t happen. The Gov can say what he wants, Keno is an expansion on gambling, and it’s something he said he wasn’t going to do. Oh, wait, he can change his mind. Right, right. That’s it. Suddenly that’s okay.

I agree with the earlier post. There will never be enough money.

Comment by Tessa Thursday, Jan 12, 06 @ 8:01 pm
Yes Anon we know that there is no underage drinkers in the bars were they are aged controled drinking.

The Kino revenue will make it to the schools about the same time as the Lottery money does. NEVER

Comment by Jack Thursday, Jan 12, 06 @ 10:48 pm
Places where you don’t usually find people under age 18: Nursing homes and senior citizen centers.

Comment by Marie Carnes Friday, Jan 13, 06 @ 12:48 am
I see a futuristic movie idea here….a world of
millions of citizens who spend all their time zoned out at the local bar or restaurant playing
keno, while the world falls apart around them.

Each keno machine comes equipped with a picture of Blago….

Comment by Cassandra Friday, Jan 13, 06 @ 8:03 am
It seems to me logical that the Keno money should go to provide additional funds for welfare recipients, since they are the bulk of people playing the Lotto as well.

Say, installing them on CTA seatbacks and shelters as well as on the ‘L’ Stations and Trains will provide the CTA with some operating funds. And, how about putting them in taxis, so the trip through traffic won’t seem so long.

Comment by Truthful James Friday, Jan 13, 06 @ 11:31 am
Right on, Cassandra. I bet Rod the Dodger’s name will be on each machine, just like the 37 times it appears in the AllKids online application. What a piece of work he is. A pox on them all.

Comment by Ex-Newfie Friday, Jan 13, 06 @ 7:11 pm