Cripple Creek, Central City and Blackhawk were transformed when Colorado voters approved casino gambling, but ever since 1990, the voters have resisted the urge to allow gaming to spread to other venues. Manitou Springs and Trinidad were the subject of expansion efforts. There was an attempt to put slots and poker machines in airports. For years, the gaming industry has wanted to increase the $5 bet limit -- even though part of the rationale for the initial casino initiative was that by keeping the stakes low, Colorado's casino environment would not evolve into the sort of thing one sees in Las Vegas.

Now, the gaming industry wants a bet limit that is 20 times larger than the existing one. This idea will soon appear on a ballot near you. No holds barred. The sky is the limit. And governing this brave new world would be a town hall that allows the casinos to do anything they want? That's why the city reversed itself this week and fined the three casinos that were in violation of the smoking ban. The whole situation created the wrong public image heading into November.

Walk the streets of Cripple Creek during the day and you see and hear the evidence of casino construction activity. It is evidence that the casinos, despite what they might say in the upcoming ballot inititiative campaign, are not struggling. At the current $5 bet limit new casinos like their chances of making money and they keep springing up.

At http://www.myfoxcolorado.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=6722266&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=1.1.1 you can read about the latest trend for casinos in Colorado, where revenues declined substantially in the first quarter of the year. Some blame the smoking ban, but revenues also fell in Las Vegas, where smoking is allowed, so the economy is certainly playing a role.

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