Everyone's a winner!(Culture and Reviews)

• Author: Bagge, Peter

ONE STATE'S--AND ONE PERSON'S--LOVE/HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH LEGALIZED GAMBLING--

JUNE 2003: THE GRAND OPENING OF THE TULALIP INDIAN TRIBE'S BRAND NEW CASINO, 30 MILES OR 50 NORTH OF SEATTLE, WA ...

THE "OLD" CASINO WASN'T EVEN ALL THAT OLD, WHICH MAKES THIS PLACE KEEK EVEN MORE OF "WE'RE MAKING SO MUCH MONEY WE DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH IT!"

WOULD YA LOOK AT THAT ...

LOVELY ...

GIVEN ITS NEAR-VEGAS PROPORTIONS, ONE COULD ALMOST IMAGINE THE RAT PACK SASHYING THROUGH ITS DOORS ...

THAT IS, AS LONG AS YOU IGNORED THE BUSLOADS OF SCHLUBBY, LATE-MIDDLE-AGED COUPLES SHUFFLING IN AND OUT INSTEAD.

AS WAS THE CASE WITH PRE-BUGSY SIEGEL LAS VEGAS, WESTERN WASHINGTON'S INDIAN RESERVATIONS USED TO BE ECONOMIC BACKWATERS THAT "OUTSIDERS" USUALLY VISITED ONLY ONCE A YEAR TO LOAD UP ON 4TH OF JULY FIREWORKS.

BUT FOR ANY RESERVATION WITHIN DRVING THE DISTANCE OF A MAJOR CITY, THING WERE ABOUT TO CHANGE DRASTICALLY ...

FIFTEEN YEARS AFTER CONGRESS LIFTED RESTRICTIONS ON GAMBLING ON ALL INDIAN-OWNED LAND, YOU'D NEVER RECOGNIZED THESE PLACES (AT LEAST IN THE PARTS NEAR THE HIGHWAY EXITS)...

THE REMAINING FIREWORKS STANDS NOW SEEM LIKE GRIM MEMORIALS TO THE "BAD OLD DAYS" ...

LIKE ALL GOVERNMENTS EVERYWHERE SINCE THE DAWN OF TIME, WASHINGTON STATE HAS ALWAYS HAD A CONVULATED HISTORY WITH GAMBLING--STARTING RIGHT OFF THE BAT BY BANNING IT ENTIRELY IN ITS 1889 CONSTITUTION, WHICH MUST HAVE BEEN VIRTUALLY UNENFORCABLE BACK THEN!

ALL RIGHT, YOU WAGERIN' SCOFFLAWS! YOU'RE ALL UNDER AR--

I'LL RAISE YOU A HUNNERT' ...

A CENTURY'S WORTH OF RECESSIONS AND BUDGET DEFICITS FORCED THE STATE TO GRADUALLY EASE UP ON GAMBLING RESTRICTIONS. IN '82 IT STARTED ITS OWN STATE-RUN LOTTERY ...

... YA GOTTA BE IN IT TO WIN IT!

FIVE LOTTO TICKETS, PLEASE ... AND A PACK OF SALEMS ...

I'M FEELIN' LUCKY!

WHICH IT SOLD TO THE PUBLIC BY DEDICATING 100% OF THE PROCEEDS GO TO "EDUCATION"--A BALD-FACED LIE THAT LOCAL POLITICIANS CONTINUE TO GET AWAY WITH.

THEN CAME THE NATIONWIDE CASINO EXPLOSION OF 1988, WHEN FULL-FLEDGE GAMBLING OPERATIONS WERE SUDDENLY ALLOWED ON INDIAN RESERVATIONS ...

DIRE PREDICTIONS SOON FOLLOWED: OF "THE MOB" MUSCLING IN; OF NATIVE AMERICANS LOSING THEIR "SOUL"; AND OF THE REST OF US BECOMING HOPELESS GAMBLE-AHOLICS ...

SORRY, "CHIEF," BUT FILTHY INJUNS LIKE YOU ARE BAD FOR BUSINESS.

SIGH ... INJUNS ALWAYS LOSE OUT TO WHITE MAN ...

NONE OF WHICH HAS HAPPENED, THOUGH ANTI-GAMBLING GROUPS--LIKE ALL PROHIBITIONIST--STILL WILL ALWAYS CITE THE EXCEPTIONS THAT (TO THEM)...