What guarantees the MyOhioNow casino will be better than all the rest - including Vegas?

Any serious analysis of customer patterns in non-resort climate casinos, such as Iowa, Illinois, or even Atlantic City reveals the same pattern: the majority of gamblers are day-trippers. They do not spend the night. They come on the bus to gamble for the day and are heading home.  Take a look at Mountaineer Casino in West Virginia. People go to Mountaineer to play the slots and they go home.

Regional casinos don’t make much money when gamblers are eating, sleeping, swimming in luxury spas or playing golf. Restaurants are loss-leaders for casinos. Regional casinos exist to take money from customers as fast as possible and that means keeping them at the slots and tables as long as possible.

The MyOhioNow promise of a $600 million dollar resort casino magnet is just that – a promise easily broken.

The MyOhioNow proposed amendment requires a $600 million initial investment by the unnamed “operator” but does not define the word “initial”.  The amendment does not place a time line on payment of the investment, a deadline on the project or any penalty if the “operator” fails to deliver on the initial investment. There is no legal guarantee that the project will match the promise and plenty of “wiggle” room in the language of the amendment.