Cook County not hooked on video gambling

Cook County not hooked on video gambling

Cook County is one step closer to banning a form of gambling that several speakers at a hearing Thursday compared to crack cocaine.
.
Commissioner Tony Peraica said gambling could become addictive for not only gamblers but politicians.
.
“Considering the infrastructural and imbedded corruption in Cook County, the state of Illinois, the city of Chicago, to not ban video gaming and allow 45,000 machines to be installed (in the state), would be like bringing a bottle of scotch to the Betty Ford drug and alcohol clinic,” Peraica said.
.
Most of the speakers before the committee Thursday opposed video gaming. They talked about the especially addictive nature of video poker, the fact that it will disproportionately affect the poor, and its probable ties to organized crime.
.
Commissioner Bridget Gainer, a sponsor of the ordinance, noted that Cook County’s local share of the tax money would amount to only $300,000 or $400,000. At the same time, the county would be on the hook for added law enforcement and other costs relating to the increase in gambling.
.
Cmdr. Michael Anton, head of the vice unit for the Cook County Sheriff’s Police Department, said the department opposes legalized video gaming. He called it virtually impossible to regulate.