Premier Paula Cox has tabled legislation allowing for referendums on issues — such as whether gaming should be allowed in Bermuda.We asked our Readers’ Forum members whether they supported gaming in Bermuda. Here are their replies:Susan Wilson said: “The wording of the referendum will be key to whether or not I will support it. If it is open-ended for gaming, then I will vote against it. If the wording is such that the gaming will be tied to hotels (on the Atlantis pattern), then I will vote in favour of it. Our economy already suffers with a lack of hotel beds, we need to give encouragement to developers and existing hotel owners to build and/or upgrade their facilities and also to provide entertainment and other activities that the profits from gambling will support. We don’t need Front Street littered and cheapened with casinos thereby swallowing up what few dollars the tourist put into our retail economy.”Chris Buchanan said: “I am in full support of gaming. Although I’m not much of a gambler myself, I do appreciate what it can bring to an economy.“Many people are concerned with the problems gambling can bring; fair enough. Consider the problems of another five years of a serious recession can bring. Legal gambling will no more create gambling addicts as legalising drugs will create drug addicts; we already have them. By gaining some revenues at least government will have resources to deal with an existing problem.“IB has been a great boost to the lives of many Bermudians, however the low-hanging fruit on these trees is gone for good. There are precious few IB jobs that do not require a university degree, years of experience and a high level of skill. These are not entry level positions.“What Bermuda needs right now are skilled jobs that can be taught in a few weeks or months with proficiency to follow within a fairly short time span. Dealing Black-Jack, Poker or any other table game would be an excellent vocation for many Bermudians without the accounting degree.“Bar tenders, chefs, casino and hotel management; there would be no end of mid-level jobs available. This is the employment level Bermuda needs to focus on. Not an actuary, not construction apprentice; a good balance in between.“Gaming is not the magic bullet as has been previously stated; Bermudians are not that naive. It is however an addition to what we have and at a level that all can participate. Is it the wrong thing? Maybe, but we’ll never know until we try and right now we need to try something.”Another Forum member said this: “I used to live in Detroit in the early ‘90s and when I returned to visit in 2002 the city had turned into a ghost town, however Downtown Detroit was buzzing with activity especially during the weekend due to the three new casinos that were built. Previous buildings were repurposed and the economy was thriving with future capital works on bringing people and jobs back.“The trick is finding the correct balance of implementing gaming while maintaining that five star standard on the Tourism front. It makes no sense in turning Bermuda into a lower value Tourism State by the economic class of visitors we attract. If we can roll out gaming and still keep the upper middle/high class visitor — that will be a win win solution — especially if St George’s gets to build their marina and a casino. Notwithstanding that ‘higher class’ narcotics may come into play — but that’s where the judicial system needs to step up its fining procedures on the types of narcotics and their respective fines for having them on person as a visitor. No slap on the wrist because a person is in an established position — they know better — and should pay the hefty financial penalty — considering we as taxpayers pay for the magistrates’ and prosecutions’ time, buildings, electricity, etc.“If managed correctly gaming in Bermuda would be very lucrative as long as the money earned on the taxes of winnings as well as the additional money pumped into our economy from the rise of visitors is used correctly and the ‘green eyed monster’ does not get the best of folks as well as generate additional employment.”Allan Davidson had this to say: “Yes! I support the introduction of a casino, but subject to very strict controls. Managers should be subject to regulatory approval with no connection to organised crime. A casino could be the carrot to attract the building of a new hotel.”A Forum member said: “Having lived in Las Vegas and seen the potential destruction to people’s personal lives I support gambling in Bermuda if, and only if, there are serious restrictions placed on allowing locals to gamble. Based on the government’s numbers we can expect casinos to take $22 million out of locals’ pockets every year and the people most at risk for problem gambling are young men. Knowing that it would seem that unrestricted gambling would only be pouring fuel on the fire of Bermuda’s social problems.”And this member set it out like this:1. CON: Gamble clearly implies risk. To play a ‘game’ for money, bet, wager.2. CON: To have winners, the entire gaming game is that there be a huge number of ‘losers’. That is how they obtain their winnings plus still make their huge profit margin for themselves.3. CON: Gambling, like drugs, is addictive. Not all who take drugs become addicts, but far too many do, at the expense of career, family, future.4. CON: The only profiteer is the gambling establishment.5. PRO: We are meant to work to live. There is a guarantee of failure if you don’t work. Unfortunately it is in our DNA to seek an easy way of reaching an end result. Crime is evidence of this.6. PRO: The gaming establishments will eventually pay in ways we cannot comprehend for influencing such destruction on the lives of those they have destroyed. Call it “Mother Nature”, Karma or GOD, there is a law of cause and effect. In this regard, payday comes but not in the form of winnings.Bottom line: Can we exist without working? NO. Can we exist if we never gambled? YES.This member believes this: “Yes, I support the introduction of regulated gaming in Bermuda and welcome the opportunity to allow the populace to freely express their opinion on this matter via a referendum.“It is time to put the hypocrisy of Bermuda’s attitude toward gaming behind us and to leverage regulated gaming to enhance the Bermuda tourism product. For too many years I have had to listen to the scaremongering tactics of those seeking to misinform and, even worse, protect their own vested interests.“I concede I do not relish the introduction of the tackier ‘Vegas’ type casinos, however, there is a place for the old style private gaming clubs which can bring a classier, more elegant style of gaming to enhance the entertainment options for our visitors and residents. It may also encourage hotel developers to finally break ground in Bermuda if they thought they would be able to include a casino/club in their plans. Aside from the employment opportunities this could bring we should not underestimate the possible tax revenues that could, with a prudent government, be used for a myriad of social programmes. The key is in establishing the right balance of enforced regulation for the introduction of gaming.“Bermuda already has the statistics to show that criminality can thrive without gaming being a significant factor and I seriously doubt that its introduction will add to our problems in that regard. Probably the only adverse consequence I can envision for the introduction of regulated gaming into Bermuda will be that fewer people will participate in the lotteries and bingo nights currently being run by the various clubs and churches on the Island!”One Christian member of the Forum offered this: “I have mixed feelings about this issue. From a Christian standpoint my first reaction is I’m against it as we tend not to support gambling. I am concerned also for those who aren’t able to control their passion for gambling, in the hopes of getting that big win and in the meantime losing what they have.“On the other hand looking at it from the angle of tourism, it may be a draw for someone to come here if it’s offered in a hotel as something to do when the weather is bad or in the evenings. Unfortunately, Bermuda is lacking when it comes to entertainment and things to do when coming here for a holiday. It could be monitored by only allowing guests who are staying in a hotel to use the gambling facilities. And if it is available on cruise ships while outside of port why not allow those who have come on the ships to take advantage of the gaming areas after a certain hour in the evening, again, because there is so little offered on Island, especially at night.”And this member had this to say: “Yes, I do fully support gaming in Bermuda. Bermuda must recognise that we are in desperate need of amendments to our product. As it stands today, it is worn and very tired. We must recognise that the world has changed. Our demographic has changed. We work more and play less. We are unmarried/divorced and need some place to take the children too. We have nothing to offer the four- to 21-year-old demographic travelling with family (dad on business, or whatever) vacation. I am aware that very often there are social problems associated with gaming. But some of this will be offset by the jobs that will be created by a gaming industry. People are less inclined to rob, fight, steal, sell drugs, assault etc, when they are productive and gainfully employed.“It will invite conference and business travellers / groups, who would be happy go come given our proximity if we had a nightlife to keep people entertained. This is where we sorely lack and gaming, while not the be all to end all, will add significant value in my view to the tourism product.”Pat Ferguson replied with this: “Since Government has now tabled legislation to allow a referendum on gaming, I feel this referendum should be a stand-alone referendum and not tagged on to a general election. My reason for this is because I think this would only be baiting some people to polling stations.“I can see a casino in one or two hotels due to Bermuda’s small size, but gambling is not going to solve our problems — I can see it adding more social problems. If we introduce gambling, it should be restricted to hotel guests and foreign visitors only. And by all means, don’t let this be a Government-run affair as they can’t handle what’s on their plate now.“I don’t think it would be a good thing to open gambling to locals as I could see this creating many problems in some families as gambling can be very addictive. What they could possibly do is have some sort of very expensive, exclusive casino membership for locals which would cover all gaming facilities. Regarding guest workers, I think they should be able to gamble as they are not Bermudian. I know some will shout discrimination, but it would be a safeguard.“One thing I would like to know is why all of this talk about gambling when Bermuda and her hotels need a good face lift? The whole Island looks shoddy and worn out. Just take a look around you. The streets are a mess ... the roadsides are a mess, the whole Island seems to be falling apart and yet we are talking about gambling. I think we should do some housework first and then talk about the gambling. I was watching the Travel Channel the other day and they featured properties south of us. Well, we look sick compared to what I saw. Frankly, I am afraid it is too late for us or at least, I will not see a turnaround in my lifetime, and I know that introducing gambling at this point is not going to help this Island one iota as too much is lacking in other areas.”Robert Davies said: “I think that serious thought needs to be put into allowing gaming here in Bermuda. Bermuda’s tourism industry once boomed but has been declining for sometime now. I believe this is partly due to the change in dynamics of society. People mainly come to Bermuda to relax and enjoy the gorgeous scenery and this can certainly still be done today. However, most people also want to have some fun and Bermuda really has nothing to offer as far as entertainment and nightlife is concerned. Other places, just as close if not closer to the USA where a big portion of our tourists come from offer both relaxation, beauty, shopping as well as entertainment/nightlife. I understand people’s concerns of gambling addictions. Gaming can be regimented here much like it is in the Bahamas. Perhaps we can only allow locals in during off season months, require credit checks on locals etc to assure that we are not getting people into such addictions. We cannot just assume the worst will happen. We need to try this. We need to compete with other jurisdictions.”And lastly: “It is in the best interests of Bermuda to maintain a stable source(s) of outside income, either by soliciting and maintaining the IB community or by attracting tourists that spend money on the Island. Cruise ship visitors do little more than pad the numbers of visitors ... you need to attract visitors who will fly in and stay in a hotel, and a casino offers an incentive to do this. I would award three licences to the three largest hotels and restrict it to hotel guests only. This would include Bermudians who stay on the property. Your Island needs foreign dollars and if you can’t keep the IB from leaving, you have to provide a means to offset the losses from that sector or your economy will continue to slip away from you.”l If you want to join the Readers’ Forum and give your views on issues e-mail jdeacon@royalgazette.bm