Years ago I worked with an English guy who used to hate everything about casinos. He had just turned sixty and as one of the dying breed of old-fashioned operators whose job was to boss around everyone at the property, his management skills were as good as those of the 'thieves' he thought surrounded him at the casinos he used to manage.

"They're all thieves!" he used to say glowering at the innocent lowly dealers in whose country he was working, at immensely inflated pay compared to any of the Latin American labour force. Teflon-coated by the impervious claim of his Anglo-Saxon origins, his Paul Newman blue eyes and the golden tan acquired at the local Hilton, the guy used to tell me that in his neighbourhood no one knew he worked in such a lowly trade.

"My daughter boards at a good school, and there I am known just a businessman travelling overseas." When I countered that this was obviously not the truth, he replied that owning up to working in a casino would be tantamount to admitting that he was some sort of criminal.

Having started to work in a London casino in the sixties, when the local criminal gangs controlled gambling and the entertainment business, this man's apprenticeship was further enhanced with the arrival of the US operators who opened The Colony casino in chic Berkeley Square, Mayfair, guided by front man George Raft of Hollywood tough guy movie fame and reputed mafia connections. As the British decided not to tolerate unregulated casino gambling of that type, the Gaming Act of 1968 put an end to such practices, but not to operators in the mould of my ex colleague.

The question is not whether operators like him, who were definitely anachronisms in the industry, should have been tolerated or not, but how it is that society at large can tolerate that type of operator and gaming in general. It is not enough to claim the high moral and religious ground to impose unrealistic bans on casino gambling while accepting lottery, bingo or horse race betting. No one is never a little bit pregnant.

Gambling in schools and church
It is the same with gambling. What is good for school socials and church fetes with its bingo and lottery cent and dime gambling should be good for casinos with thousands of dollars riding on the turn of a card, the roll of the dice or the drop of the ball in a wheel. Countries like Great Britain understand this, as do new gaming jurisdictions like Chile, which is nearing the end of an exemplary tender process to grant 18 casino licences.

With the exception of Brazil, all the Latin American countries allow gambling halls, bingos or casinos in one way or another. However, new Brazilian legislation is set to allow slots gambling in bingos by 2010 in the region's largest economy, after they were shut down on a presidential order following the embarrassment of close aides and relatives caught taking bribes from lottery operators.

Elsewhere, casino gambling is mostly regulated, apart from countries such as Russia, the Muslim countries, and China - Special Region of Macau excluded. As Russian casinos closed on June 30, other forms of gambling and foreign gambling destinations have been opened up for the players who enjoyed some of the best gaming on offer during more than 16 years in the ex communist country.

The reason given by ex President Putin for closing the casinos in Russia has the hallmark of megalomania stamped across its proclaimed moral high ground, as morals cannot play a part in a country whose administration sold off the country's assets for a song to the chosen few, creating vast divides in the social and economic order.

Such social and economic divides do exist in the world at large, as market economic forces, hereditary wealth and other means of economic advantage enable a small percentage of the population, called the few, to keep and handle the largest part of each country's wealth. For the main sector of the population in professional, trade and labouring jobs, a reasonable livelihood is the norm, while the disadvantaged young, unemployed, infirm or socially unstable pose a burden to each country's economy, if the country has made provisions for them that is.

But what if provisions have not been made? What if the provisions were squandered by irresponsible administrations, acts of God, or combatants hell bent on changing the social order? Well, one thing is for sure, the rich gamblers of such countries will be immune to such tragedies of maladministration and will be flown to The Bahamas, Las Vegas, Macau or Cartagena casinos to gamble thousand of dollars per weekend.

With a little help from casinos
Back in 1992 when gaming opened in Peru, after the government brought about a promotional gaming law to entice investors, the country was devastated as much by maladministration as by terrorist acts. It was sad to see the beautiful city of Miraflores with police and road blocks in every other street, a curfew at 11 pm, and empty hotels, restaurants and shops. Beirut in the midst of religious warfare, one thought, would be like that.

With a black economy close to 50% and pitiful income from tax contributions, those who knew how got richer while most of the population just limped along. Irrespective of one's political colour, the debt owed by modern Peru to the administration of ex president Alberto Fujimori is immense. In less than 8 years Peru changed for the better, and the opening of casinos played a significant role.

Maybe not in the economic sense, because the investments were small in comparison to other mainstream industries and the development of mineral and gas exploration, but vast in the confidence stakes - in the knowledge that the country may be on its knees but knowing that there would be a bit of glamour and ambiance in a local casino or slots parlour down the road. Also in the expectation stakes - with the promise of new jobs and professions for the guys with a winning attitude to life.

In the presentation I made to the 60 hopeful trainees way back in November 1992, I made a forecast that many of them were potential casino managers, not just in Lima, but wherever they wished to go, whether Las Vegas, Costa Rica or beyond. It wasn't necessary to have a crystal ball, all one needed was to see the determination in the eyes of the candidates.

Gambling levels the economic odds
Like the operator of old, some people not well informed on the scope of our industry revile casinos any which way they can. Most of them would claim the high moral ground but most of them would cheat on their tax return. As an operator one befriends one's best players and is not immune to their anguish when they lose. What we know for sure is that we will not endanger a person's social or economic well-being, because it is not right and because it is counter-productive. Responsible gamblers know this also.

Responsible operators and gamblers know that if someone wants to gamble, they will do - in Lima, Atlantic City, Monte Carlo or online now that it is available. The fact is that a significant portion of the world's economy and cash resources goes unrecorded in what is called the 'black economy' or the informal economy, because that is the way of the world since time immemorial.

What regulated gambling does is to house all monies that are gambled and pay special tax on the gross gaming win, plus all the other corporate and business taxes from the net profit, depending on each jurisdiction. Great Britain and Chile know this unspoken truth, as does Peru, Colombia and the rest. Casinos, someone said once to me, are great economic levellers because they effect a sort of minor redistribution of wealth from those who have to those who have less or none at all.

If someone asks about the investors, well, the risk is always there for them, whether in gaming, banking, insurance or real estate. (S-08.07.09)