What’s that Gambling Addiction hotline number again, Bottom Line???

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In the past decade, [McCain] has played on Mississippi riverboats, on Indian land, in Caribbean craps pits and along the length of the Las Vegas Strip. Back in 2005 he joined a group of journalists at a magazine-industry conference in Puerto Rico, offering betting strategy on request. “Enjoying craps opens up a window on a central thread constant in John’s life,” says John Weaver, McCain’s former chief strategist, who followed him to many a casino. “Taking a chance, playing against the odds.” Aides say McCain tends to play for a few thousand dollars at a time and avoids taking markers, or loans, from the casinos, which he has helped regulate in Congress. “He never, ever plays on the house,” says Mark Salter, a McCain adviser. The goal, say several people familiar with his habit, is never financial. He loves the thrill of winning and the camaraderie at the table.

Only recently have McCain’s aides urged him to pull back from the pastime. In the heat of the G.O.P. primary fight last spring, he announced on a visit to the Vegas Strip that he was going to the casino floor. When his aides stopped him, fearing a public relations disaster, McCain suggested that they ask the casino to take a craps table to a private room, a high-roller privilege McCain had indulged in before. His aides, with alarm bells ringing, refused again, according to two accounts of the discussion.

“He clearly knows that this is on the borderline of what is acceptable for him to be doing,” says a Republican who has watched McCain play. “And he just sort of revels in it.”

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1819898,00.html

He’s a maverick....what can I say ??

I see you failed to paste the part of the article about Obama’s obsession with late night poker and his “self-absorption”....

As usual...you do selective editing....

I. B. Freeman - 04 July 2008 03:48 PM

It is simply protectionism of existing gaming.

Louisiana should do like Mississippi on gambling and quit these hypocritical acts of limiting gambling on moral grounds. There should be no limit on the licenses and individual cities and parishes should be allowed to decide if they want it or not. It works in Mississippi.

It is like the dry counties in parts of the South where the bootleggers and preachers are reluctant allies to keep lawful alcohol out of the county.

My uncle was once head of the riverboat gaming commission. His idea was to set requirements for a license and allow as many riverboats as the market would support. Then let the municipalities negotiate with the gaming companies capital improvements, revenue sharing, etc…

Until they allow that I’m not for the expansion of gaming.

fred - 02 July 2008 06:49 PM

Mr. Reality - 02 July 2008 06:47 PM

BuyUpolitics - 02 July 2008 06:12 PM

No he vetoed the right of the people to decide if they wanted to have a racetrack/gambling.

Iberville can still have its racetrack.  They don’t need the approval of the legislature for that.  But of course the Iberville group was only using the track as a vehicle to get slots.  But hey, if we are going to be so liberal with handing out slots licenses, why not give every bar, restaurant, and truck stop in this state the option of trading video crack for slots, and then give the people in each parish the right to decide.

I agree. Male it no harder than getting a business license for a convenience store..  Edwards made millions limiting the number of licenses.

Riverboat Gaming (and the limitation on licenses) passed under Roemer’s watch, as did video poker & the Lottery.

fred - 05 July 2008 05:53 PM

The gambling industry is a parasite on society. It does more harm than good.

Yes it is. It harms quality of life and prays on the needy and the desperate. It is also a major source of political corruption and crime.