{"id":27884,"date":"2012-11-12T08:49:33","date_gmt":"2012-11-12T13:49:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/?p=27884"},"modified":"2012-11-12T08:49:34","modified_gmt":"2012-11-12T13:49:34","slug":"mixed-views-on-gambling-referendum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/2012\/11\/mixed-views-on-gambling-referendum","title":{"rendered":"Mixed Views On Gambling Referendum"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>An industry insider is speaking out about the \u201cdevastating\u201d effects of gambling, having had years of first-hand experience observing countless tourists playing games of chance.<\/p>\n

Steven Serrette, a former casino pit boss and supervisor at both the Wyndham Nassau Resort & Crystal Palace Casino and Atlantis, who started out as a croupier, told The Nassau Guardian he understands the nature of gambling.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe house always wins \u2013 I\u2019ve seen people with millions of dollars \u2013 by the shot of the dice \u2013 come to nothing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has destroyed so many families and [in order] to know the truth…we must educate our Bahamian people on the [devastating effects] of gambling.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to gamble in poker houses. I\u2019m a street man. I know the streets and I understand [web shop gambling] and…The Bahamas needs to know the truth. \u201cWe must get the gospel out and get the truth out and I would encourage Bahamians to vote no.\u201d<\/p>\n

Serrette, who worked in the industry for over a decade, said he left the casino to establish his own businesses after becoming tired of seeing what the industry can do to people.<\/p>\n

He has joined members of the Bahamas Christian Council (BCC) and their \u2018Save Our Bahamas\u2019 anti-gambling campaign, in the hope of defeating the upcoming gambling referendum set for December 3.<\/p>\n

Voters will be asked whether they support the legalization and regularization of web shops.<\/p>\n

The BCC is fiercely against the legalization of any form of gambling for Bahamians.
\nThe Bahamas Conference of The Methodist Church (BCTMC) said yesterday that it fully supports the BCC and will meet in short order to determine what assistance it can provide to the \u2018Save Our Bahamas\u2019 campaign, including financial backing.<\/p>\n

BCTMC President Reverend Christopher Neely and General Secretary Deacon Elmena Bethel said the web shop owners are backing their cause and the church must come together and do the same if the referendum is to be defeated.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been attending their meetings and will support their stand whether it is with our voice, finances or time,\u201d Bethel said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always say we want to change things, but often when the challenge comes we step back. But how will it get done like that?<\/p>\n

\u201cOur membership and non-Methodists have been calling on us to speak on the topic, but we have been training and teaching our members about gambling, and other key issues so it is nothing new to the Methodist church.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bethel said it is the outside contributors who will continue to support sports, arts and culture on a broader scale and not the money generated from taxing web shops.<\/p>\n

Ariel Small, a graphic designer and a frequent web shop gambler, said although she enjoys gambling and will continue to do so, she will vote no on December 3.<\/p>\n

\u201cI prefer the government to leave it alone; leave it as it is and continue to raid the web shops so I can maintain my winnings without having them reduced because of taxes, and I don\u2019t have to worry about only a select few being able to operate in the industry,\u201d Small
\nsaid.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see it as a way of making ends meet. If I\u2019m left with $150 after paying all my bills and expenses \u2013 my light bill, my rent, my school fees are all paid and food is in my house \u2013 and you can turn that into $250, wouldn\u2019t you take that chance? I play every day, but I\u2019m not dependent on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Small, 30, said on average she spends $30 to $35 a month. She claimed she has won close to $2,900 for the year so far based on her playing history at a local web shop.<\/p>\n

She agreed that Bahamians need more time to be educated on the issue, but the presumption that all gamblers are addicts is far from the truth.<\/p>\n

The mother of two, a boy and a girl, said while some people prefer to take their left over money to the church, she and many others prefer to turn it into more through gambling.<\/p>\n

By Royston Jones Jr. <\/span><\/em>
\nGuardian Staff Reporter<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An industry insider is speaking out about the \u201cdevastating\u201d effects of gambling, having had years of first-hand experience observing countless tourists playing games of chance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10223285771444175_51037792744":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[636,502],"class_list":["post-27884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-gambling-referendum","tag-web-shops"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27884\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}