State troopers raid foiled!

[J.Will]

Surprised no one has brought this up.

Hundreds of state police were stymied Friday in attempts to raid two multimillion-dollar bingo operations in Alabama as lawyers scrambled to block the seizure of thousands of electronic bingo machines.

Both the VictoryLand complex at Shorter and the Country Crossing development in Dothan shut down before dawn as state troopers and other law officers converged with blue lights flashing.

However, a judge issued an order at 5:30 a.m. Friday blocking any raid at VictoryLand in Macon County until a hearing can be held next week. The bingo center, with more than 6,400 machines, reopened as the caravan of troopers drove off, along with nine moving vans brought to haul away machines.

Ala. troopers attempt raids on gambling operations - BusinessWeek

Guess Riley wants to go out with a bang.

 

[DiamondDust]

Riley's "Mississippi Friends" must have been withholding a check or two here recently.

 

[J.Will]

Riley's "Mississippi Friends" must have been withholding a check or two here recently.

No, actions like this are caused by the check arriving in a timely manner. This is what they pay him for. Keep gambling out of Alabama so I have to drive to Biloxi to get my gamble on.

Sometimes I just drive right by and go to Harrah's just for spite.

 

[CrimsonNan]

I don't understand the whole thing. Why is dog racing okay here in Alabama? Does Mississippi NOT have dog racing? Someone called a local talk show this morning and posed that question.

Have I hit the nail on the head is there another explanation?

 

[It's On A Slab]

No, actions like this are caused by the check arriving in a timely manner. This is what they pay him for. Keep gambling out of Alabama so I have to drive to Biloxi to get my gamble on.

Sometimes I just drive right by and go to Harrah's just for spite.

We've got the same types of folks here who think gambling will somehow destroy our families even though it's legal just across the state line and most of the locals gamble over there.

So the adjoining state gets to buy fire trucks and public works on our dime(gambling proceeds).

 

[J.Will]

I don't understand the whole thing. Why is dog racing okay here in Alabama? Does Mississippi NOT have dog racing? Someone called a local talk show this morning and posed that question.

Have I hit the nail on the head is there another explanation?

I don't understand what nail you are trying to hit. Yes, they have dog racing in Mississippi. Why is dog racing legal? I don't know because they passed an amendment?

I'm for legalizing gambling if for no other reason than it will save me gas. I love blackjack, poker, and tri-card. I see nothing wrong with gambling.

 

[DiamondDust]

We've got the same types of folks here who think gambling will somehow destroy our families even though it's legal just across the state line and most of the locals gamble over there.

So the adjoining state gets to buy fire trucks and public works on our dime(gambling proceeds).

It'd be great to get a count of how many Alabama license plates are in the parking lots of just the Philadelphia, MS. casinos in a given week.

 

[MasterShake]

I play an absurd amount of poker and I limit the places I look for jobs based upon how far it is to get to a casino. Mobile is the ONLY place in Alabama I'd ever consider living due to the proximity to Biloxi. I can't be the only person out there that considers this when relocating...

 

[formersoldier71]

First off, I don't care to gamble. I voted against it when Siegelman was Governor. I think it's my right to vote against something I don't believe in if it's up for a vote.

That said, if there is all this support for gambling, why wasn't it voted in? Why doesn't a large group of citizens get it on the ballot again?

 

[CrimsonNan]

I don't understand what nail you are trying to hit. Yes, they have dog racing in Mississippi. Why is dog racing legal? I don't know because they passed an amendment?

I'm for legalizing gambling if for no other reason than it will save me gas. I love blackjack, poker, and tri-card. I see nothing wrong with gambling.

I just don't understand why dog racing is legal here and other types of gambling aren't? "They" seem to pick and choose what kind is legal here. Makes no sense to me.

I'm not one who gambles, but if someone else wants to so what........

 

[DiamondDust]

First off, I don't care to gamble. I voted against it when Siegelman was Governor. I think it's my right to vote against something I don't believe in if it's up for a vote.

That said, if there is all this support for gambling, why wasn't it voted in? Why doesn't a large group of citizens get it on the ballot again?

Because thanks to our wonderful state constitution, citizens in Alabama can't bring ballot initiatives... it has to go through our legislature, who usually decides not to let the people vote on it one way or the other. The same goes for wet/dry referendums.

So, as you can see, people haven't had a chance to vote on it one way or the other... thus allowing for these loophole casinos to pop up. People against the vote will look towards the defeat of the lottery amendment as a blanket statement against gambling. Phil Poole, senator in Tuscaloosa, uses a wet/dry vote from over 10 years ago to kill any attempt to get another vote from happening.

 

[J.Will]

First off, I don't care to gamble. I voted against it when Siegelman was Governor. I think it's my right to vote against something I don't believe in if it's up for a vote.

That said, if there is all this support for gambling, why wasn't it voted in? Why doesn't a large group of citizens get it on the ballot again?

Well the one time the vote was put to the people (the lottery) during Siegelman's administration the polls were roughly 70% in favor of the lottery and 30% opposed.. However when it came time to vote the churches bussed everybody out there and managed to defeat it 51% to 49%. They got out the vote...the supporters didn't. Happens all the time.

Since then gambling issues have not been put to the people. I believe when voted on in the individual counties where these "casinos" are the support is overwhelming. I'm for full casino gambling with the restriction being they can only be built on state property. That will allow the state to regulate where casinos can be placed, plus they get the money from the 30 year ground lease. I would place a few outside HUntsville, Birmingham, MObile, and perhaps around the Orange Beach Gulfshores area back in the swamp. But that's just me.

The majority of people in Alabama that I know enjoy gambling. I don't know why we can't do it closer to home.

 

[DiamondDust]

The majority of people in Alabama that I know enjoy gambling. I don't know why we can't do it closer to home.

Because they ignorantly have the perception that gambling is Mississippi's problem.

 

[J.Will]

Because they ignorantly have the perception that gambling is Mississippi's problem.

Or Lousiana's or FLorida's or Georgia's....

I want TABLE GAMES! I could care less about slots, but I want to play craps and blackjack!!!

 

[Bama323]

The real question here is, why did Riley order these raids today without a court issued warrant?

 

[J.Will]

The real question here is, why did Riley order these raids today without a court issued warrant?

Well, he realized he wasn't going to get it. This was a way to run an end around the law. They were going to go in there and see someone on a machine that they perceived as illegal and that would give them cause to sieze EVERY machine without a warrant.

That's why Country Crossings shut down. They weren't going to let the troopers in the casino.

Riley is butt hurt because McGregor owned him and made his gambling czar quit. This was just him trying to get back at Milton.

 

[rizolltizide]

Sheesh people. First y'all want the blue laws changed, then you want craft beers, now you want gambling. I'll say a prayer for your souls.

Heathens. The whole lot of ya.

 

[formersoldier71]

Because thanks to our wonderful state constitution, citizens in Alabama can't bring ballot initiatives... it has to go through our legislature, who usually decides not to let the people vote on it one way or the other. The same goes for wet/dry referendums.

Count me among the folks for a Constitutional Convention in Alabama.

So, as you can see, people haven't had a chance to vote on it one way or the other... thus allowing for these loophole casinos to pop up. People against the vote will look towards the defeat of the lottery amendment as a blanket statement against gambling. Phil Poole, senator in Tuscaloosa, uses a wet/dry vote from over 10 years ago to kill any attempt to get another vote from happening.

I look at the defeat of the lottery amendment as a statement against gambling.... until the next vote. And I may be wrong, but I thought Carbon Hill (a small town in Walker County west of Jasper) recently voted to go wet.

Well the one time the vote was put to the people (the lottery) during Siegelman's administration the polls were roughly 70% in favor of the lottery and 30% opposed.. However when it came time to vote the churches bussed everybody out there and managed to defeat it 51% to 49%. They got out the vote...the supporters didn't. Happens all the time.

Exactly. If folks truly want something, they should get out and vote for it. If they don't, don't be surprised at the result.

Since then gambling issues have not been put to the people. I believe when voted on in the individual counties where these "casinos" are the support is overwhelming. I'm for full casino gambling with the restriction being they can only be built on state property. That will allow the state to regulate where casinos can be placed, plus they get the money from the 30 year ground lease. I would place a few outside HUntsville, Birmingham, MObile, and perhaps around the Orange Beach Gulfshores area back in the swamp. But that's just me.

The majority of people in Alabama that I know enjoy gambling. I don't know why we can't do it closer to home.

I guess I hang with a different kind of crowd. But if we do get it, so be it. I don't have any plans to set foot inside a casino or bingo hall.

 

[DiamondDust]

I don't doubt the Carbon Hill wet/dry issue, but the point I was raising is that Phil Poole usually takes it upon himself to kill any attempt to bring a Sunday sale vote (My bad on the initial post in stating a wet/dry vote) in Tuscaloosa county. Because of local delegation courtesy, he can take it upon himself to prevent the measure from being brought to a ballot. The city of Tuscaloosa has tried other measures, but they always come up short.

 

[RIVATIDE86]

I'm pretty torn about the issue. I wholeheartedly support legalized gambling in Alabama. Sitting at a blackjack table in Biloxi last weekend, the dealer asked where everyone was from, and 5 people out of 5 answered somewhere in Alabama. The state is losing a lot of money over this, obviously. If you want people to start going to Gulf Shores during winter, just put a Harrah's next to the Wharf. The state needs Casinos that have a proven business plan elsewhere....not Victoryland or Country Crossings pretending that their products are anything less than churched-up slot machines.

I want to support legalized gambling in the State of Alabama, but at the moment that puts me in the same camp as Milton McGregor. The only problem is that he and the others that are creating all of this "public outrage" really just want to protect their current market share in the state. They just want to run their shady bingo operations with no government interference. If you ask them whether or not they want full casinos with table games in Alabama, and they will all tell you no. They want the legislature to protect them, allowing the current situation to continue.

If it ever reaches referendum, it's really going to depend on what question is on the ballot. If it says "allow electronic bingo"- I would vote no in a heartbeat. If it says "allow slot machines and table games with some restrictions about location," I would vote yes.