Dear Senator,
I am writing you to encourage you to take a stand against expanded gambling and vote “NO” to any initiatives that come across your desk. I am not going to give you statistics or sob stories. I am a chaplain and a counselor, but I am not going use their stories…I am sure you have plenty of stats and testimonies. I have been in the “behavior modification” business for over 10 years and I have a professionally trained eye to pick up behaviors and facial affects rather quickly. Let me tell you about THAT.

I walked through a casino in Iowa a few months ago and I was very saddened by what I saw. I expected to see the place packed out with people who were having the time of their lives and really living it up – for that is what all the commercials on TV show us. But what I found was the total opposite and terrible.

I saw middle aged and elderly folks wasting tons of money. None of them had smiles on their faces. No joy in their eyes or energy in their steps. They were not “whooping it up and partying.” They all looked worn-out and stressed. All of them had lots of alcohol and cigarettes around them and they cradled both like a life support buoy as they drowned watching all their money go down the drain. As I walked through there I remembered being in Las Vegas in 1993 for a weekend and seeing the same thing.

I was visiting some friends who lived in Vegas and I was excited to go to a casino and try to hit it big. I was there for the “gaming” aspect of gambling – you know, have some fun and excited that I had a chance of going home with a truckload of cash. I designated some money to “game” with, so I wouldn’t blow my life savings…I was instantly disappointed. When I walked into the casino and all I saw was people buzzed on alcohol, swarmed in smoke, and consumed with getting rich quick, I saw the REAL TRUTH behind gambling and I lost my appetite for casinos and gambling at that very moment. It is not a good place for anyone, except those who make millions of dollars on the backs of these folks who carry in their paychecks and walk out depressed, drunk, disappointed.

Sure, the gambling industry will show the public the one or two extremely “lucky” winners, in order to entice more folks in. They have to. Because anyone who sees THE TRUTH about the “gaming industry” would never approach a place like that again. The real “game” of the gaming industry, however, is YOU. THEY NEED YOU to make the laws in order for them to make millions. It is not about “people’s rights”…it is all about luring “the desperate” in and nibbling their cash away. Go look for yourself – the poor get poorer with expanded gambling and casinos. The gambling lobbyist NEED YOU. They may give you a few “kick backs” for the favor – but nonetheless, with or without your knowledge, YOU GET PLAYED by them. Say “NO!” to them!

Our wonderful State is extremely fine WITHOUT THEM. It always has been and it always will. We do not need them here. Don’t let them open up their depressing “gaming sweat shops” in our Great State! And do not let them PLAY YOU! I recommend that you walk through a casino, maybe with a professional therapist, and study the looks on the faces of the people there. Don’t engage them or do anything to manipulate what they are doing – just study them. Any competent professional, or lay person, would make the same conclusion I did.

Sincerely,
Robert A. Betzold