Great Boston Globe article today on gambling (KY race included)

[grapabo]

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"Why do state governments treat casinos and their would-be owners this way? It can't be from any inherent objections to gambling -- 42 states have government-run lotteries, with annual revenues of more than $50 billion.

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It's entirely consistent for a state to allow lotteries and disallow other kinds of gambling, if the public policy is against people trying to make their livelihood from gambling, rather than against all types of gambling. The purpose of a state or charitable lottery isn't to reward the winner, but to entice people to contribute to raise funds.

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All or nothing. "Ok to gamble on this, but not that" doesn't and shouldn't fly

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This is not the kind of response that's going to persuade people to your point of view. It's very easy to make public policy distinctions between charitable or state-run lotteries, and professional gambling. People who contribute to a lottery don't expect to make their livelihood from winning ticket to winning ticket.

I'm not trying to be a jerk, but if poker proponents don't stop engaging in straw man arguments, they're never going to win.