Smith's Parish shows how empty Bermuda's anti-gambling laws are.

According to the operator, and to many of the other people The Royal Gazette talked to, the house appears to falls within the confines of the law. All that says is that the law, and the attempts the current Government has made to modify it, is a mockery.

Bermuda has to make a decision. Does it want year-round, above the board gambling, or not? The Island has several options.

It can ban gambling entirely, including off-track horse racing, the football pools, Crown and Anchor and bingo.

It can allow some gambling, like off-site sports gambling, Crown and Anchor at cricket matches and charity bingo, but ban all other forms.

It can allow some gambling, like Crown and Anchor at cricket matches and charity bingo, but allow a lottery, with the profits going to worthy causes, as is the case in the United Kingdom.

Or Bermuda can throw the floodgates open, and allow gambling of all forms at licensed premises, with Government having the say on which premises will get gambling licences and which will not, and taxing licences and proceeds from gambling.

There is no easy answer to the issue. What is clear is that the current law is based on a mish-mash of court decisions, some outdated laws which fail to take account of things like Internet gambling and some stop-gap policies which, clearly have loopholes you can drive a truck through.

There is some evidence to show that the casino gambling bubble may already have burst and there are many who will argue that, not matter how classy the place, it does not fit Bermuda's image.

And the social costs of gambling -- it is certain that more people will lose than win in the long run -- are high, because those who can least afford to lose are the same people who will be most prone to taking a chance are very high in a small community.

But it does seem that a lottery, closely regulated and controlled by the Government, could give people the chance to win big, while benefiting the community as a whole as well.

However, what form gambling does takes may not matter as much as actually making a decision, once and for all, on what the law will be on gambling.

PYRAMIDS EDT Pyramids Gambling comes in many forms, of course, and no matter what anyone says, pyramid schemes are no different from blackjack tables or betting on horse racing, except that the odds may be even worse.

It is good news that the Police will finally send a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions on the schemes, although it is a mystery why Government is awaiting the DPP's decision on prosecution before making its own position clear.

Government should make it clear that any "investment scheme'' which has a pyramid investment structure should be made illegal right now.