Clancy DuBos

Gov. Mike Foster’s decision to tether Harrah’s new contract to riverboat casinos’ bid for permanent dockside status merely confirms the obvious. Politically, the former won’t come without the latter, and in the state Senate, Foster is getting desperate.

  Much as some might like to throw all forms of gambling into one big political gumbo pot, the fact is Louisiana’s various gambling interests are not natural allies. They compete fiercely against one another for customers as well as political advantages, and each would gladly do whatever it takes to eliminate the competition if given half a chance.

  But casinos and video poker promoters are pragmatic if nothing else. When there’s a common enemy (or, in this case, a
common opportunity), they’ll put up a
united front and live to fight each other another day.

  Such pragmatism may explain why Foster has proved to be such a natural ally of the industry he professes not to cotton. He’d cut a deal with the devil if he believes it would lead to some greater good – particularly if Foster gets to define what that greater good looks like.

  Typically, the legislative process of defining and suppressing gambling (as our state constitution requires of lawmakers) becomes a game of "Me Too." Every time one form of gambling looks for a break, all others come a-calling and asking for the same or a similar break – and threatening to kill the whole deal if they don’t get what they want.

  So it happens that, as Foster began pushing a new deal for Harrah’s, the riverboats decided this would be a fine time for them to negotiate a new set of rules allowing them to remain dockside – officially and permanently. Interestingly, the riverboats are offering to pay higher taxes in exchange for dockside privileges, whereas Harrah’s is looking to cut its annual licensing fee
in half.

  Such a deal!

  What apparently is clear to everyone, including Foster, is that riverboats could sink (pardon the pun) Harrah’s new contract if they wanted. Deep down, there’s only one thing they’d love more: permission to go dockside.

  And there you have it.

  But, just to make sure there’s no double-crossing (one of the Legislature’s favorite pastimes), Foster has announced that this will be a shotgun wedding. Unless both measures pass, neither will take effect. The fact that Foster has to use such heavy-handed tactics shows not only how high the stakes are, but also how low the level of confidence is that a deal among lawmakers and casinos would stick. (Whatever happened to the old notion of honor among thieves? I guess it went the way of sportsmanship in the NBA.)

  As the clock ticks steadily toward the deadline for calling a special session to bless Harrah’s new deal, Foster is still short of votes in both houses, particularly the Senate. His hand-picked Senate president, John Hainkel, remains against it. By announcing his intention to tie the dockside bill to the Harrah’s deal, Foster no doubt hopes to pick up a few votes for the Harrah’s deal. Whether it will be enough is anybody’s guess.

  All this comes just as most of the state’s racetracks are set to get slot machines. Most, that is, but not all. The New Orleans Fair Grounds was not included among the tracks at which slots are allowed, but now that provision, too, may be subject to the "Me Too" doctrine if lawmakers gather to revisit all of Louisiana’s gambling laws. So far, there’s been no official word from Foster as to whether that’ll be on the table.

  It probably depends on whether he could pick up a vote or two for Harrah’s in the Senate.

  For now, all the players appear to be taking Mark Twain’s advice about gambling: "It is sound judgment to put on a bold face and ply your hand for a hundred times what it’s worth; forty-nine times out of fifty nobody dares to ‘call,’ and you roll in
the chips."