2 Big Gambles - 1,700 miles, and many political ages apart

     Investors in brand-new gaming ventures in locations many miles apart will open their doors tomorrow...one in the Sin City of Las Vegas, Nevada...the other in the Bible Belt town of Dothan, Alabama.
     In Vegas, the $8.5 Billion,  67 acre "City Center" complex will open, complete with  hotels (5,900 room's worth!), restaurants and one solitary casino.
     In Dothan, the $70 Million, 500 acre Country music star fueled "Country Crossing" entertainment complex will open for business on the same day, with a bed & breakfast, restaurants, retail shops, a 10,000 seat amphitheater and a thousand or so electronic Bingo machines.

     Las Vegas's heart is in gambling, and a complex that hired more than 100,000 workers in the middle of The Great Recession has been welcomed with open arms, casino and all.

     Alabama's money may be in gaming (check the license tags at the Mississippi casinos), but Governor Bob Riley has been leading a charge against electronic Bingo, an effort that resulted in a State Supreme Court ruling that set up a six-part test to determine if a machine is legal bingo or illegal electronic gambling. The last of the six parts says the winner must literally have to shout out "Bingo" to win.

     There's an excellent story on Riley's fight against bingo (including the feud between him and Attorney General Troy King) in the Southern Political Report.

     In dueling editorials, The Birmingham News argues for the Governor to go shut down Country Crossing, while the Dothan Eagle invites him to come by and explain his rationale in trying to stifle development and the 500 immediate jobs the facility will create.
     Will Riley's gambling task force show up with court orders against Country Crossing tomorrow morning? Will the much bigger gamble in Las Vegas pay off?
     Remember: never bet against the house.