Here's a hot one that got by me.
Brendtro: Video Lottery Bad.
Poker, "Good, clean fun"!

Daniel Brendtro with the Forward South Dakota group has been a great one for demonizing the video lottery, and going on about the social costs for families.

But, as one observant reader noticed, why did Daniel think video lottery is bad when back in December for Daniel the statewide expansion of poker was simply "good, clean fun!"
Erks registered his petition drive Friday with the Secretary of State’s Office. He got his first signatures over the weekend. He will need 16,728 signatures by May 2, but he hopes to collect more than 20,000. If he does, the new definition of gambling will be on the general-election ballot Nov. 6.

The initiative would change state law to stipulate that “the terms gambling, betting and wagering do not apply to any contest or competition in which the role of the entrants’ skill is equal to or greater than the role of chance in determining the outcome.”

The initiative lists fishing derbies, billiard and dart tournaments, golf shoot-outs and even chess tournaments as nongambling activities — along with, of course, Texas Hold’em tournaments.

Sioux Falls attorney Dan Brendtro, who helped Erks write the measure, said it would clarify the law. “I think there’s a hole in the existing statute about what is or isn’t gambling,” he said.

Brendtro said the initiated measure would have the effect of certifying as legal activities that already are happening all over the state. “This stuff is not some illicit form of gambling,” Brendtro said. “It’s good, clean fun, and it’s what’s been happening for decades.”
Read all of Bill Harlan's Story in the Rapid City Journal.

Holy crap! Video poker destroys families and is like electronic crack. But the live stuff is simply "good clean fun!"

Nothing like someone's moral authority going down the tubes.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Who flipped the no on 5 people 10K?
Probably find out Wednesday
Anonymous said…
I think the press would love to hear about this double standerd.
PP said…
11:11 - Amendment E is way off topic here.
Anonymous said…
I think Brendtro wants lotto to go away so he can have fun with his own form of entertainment. (poker of course)
Anonymous said…
Brentro is a slimy weasel!!!
Anonymous said…
Is this the same Brentro that lost the Turner County States Attorney races due to "marital problems"?
Anonymous said…
Here's the real double-standard (and it aint Brentro's)....

It's illegal for South Dakotans to play a $2 game of cribbage or gin rummy or texas hold 'em with their neighbor. Yet, it is perfectly legal for a gas station up the street to take a $2 bet every ten seconds from a gambling addict until their paycheck is gone?

It's illegal for a bar to host a $10 entry-fee card tournament for 40 people, who will also come to drink and eat at the bar for a couple of hours, but it's perfectly legal for that same bar to hope that a single person will stop by on Friday and dump their $400 paycheck into the machine in less than an hour, and drink free beer while they're doing it?

Ask any addict, and ask any researcher.....table games are nowhere near as addictive as video lottery because they involve real people in social settings. And because those games were designed by the players for recreation, the odds are nowhere near as mercenary.

Video lottery was not invented by players...it was invented by the casinos. It's played much much faster than table games, it's completely anti-social, and the nature of the game is highly addictive. (Even compared to slot machines, video lottery is 3 times more addictive.)

AND it's available in 250 towns in South Dakota, within minutes of home, work, or play.

So, yes, card games are 'fun' that's been happening for a long, long time. Video lottery is a predatory tax that we invented 17 years ago. I see the difference.

It's a sad, sad situation when your state government endorses this kind of a mistake....and our highest elected official comes on the record strong to protect "our most vulnerable citizens", the unborn, but has nothing to say about those vulnerable citizens walking our streets with a gambling addiction that can be fixed simply by unplugging video lottery.

So, there is a double-standard, but it starts at the top.

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