Gambler's Perspective: Big Casino Firms Trump Seminoles

Submitted by Nancy Smith on August 4, 2015 - 5:05am

A letter writer published in the Palm Beach Post Monday, said it was time the state got the point of view of a real gambler.

Joseph W. Berlinger of Lake Worth admitted he frequents casinos in Atlantic City and Las Vegas and he knows first hand the impact gambling regulators have on people.

In non-Indian casinos "I know I'm protected in a variety of ways," Berlinger says.

"The slot paybacks are regulated, both as to minimum paybacks and to the outlawing of changing chips without a gambling authority present. In the Seminole casinos in Florida, they can 'change the chips'; that is, alter the payback whenever they feel like it."

Not only that, he says, but in a Seminole casino there's no one to appeal to in a dispute. "They have the first, last and only say."

Smokers run amok in Florida casinos, he says.

"Want a fair deal?" asks Berlinger the gambler. "Let's allow big casinos here that are not governed by the Seminoles. It would be a big money-maker for Florida."

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