![]() ![]() After Hurricane Katrina hit Mississippi in 2005, state lawmakers waived a long-standing policy that limited casinos to water-based locations and allowed them to rebuild on dry land. ![]() It wouldn't be the first time a major storm caused a state to rethink its gambling policies. Some academics claim legalized gambling is a zero-sum game because its indirect costs equal or outstrip the money it brings in.īut lawmakers could be won over by the example of other Gulf Coast states, like Mississippi and Louisiana, where gaming revenues are a budgetary boon. Many residents worry casinos will bring traffic congestion, crime and social ills. Texas voters would have to approve any scheme that lawmakers eventually endorse. Several casino-related bills are before the Texas legislature and are opposed by social conservative groups and Gov. Gambling is banned in Texas, and the state legislature would have to act before Galveston casinos could be a reality. When Ike crashed ashore, it swamped much of the island under 10 feet (3 meters) of water and carried away the Balinese Room - a landmark beach-front nightclub where gangsters rubbed elbows with stars like Frank Sinatra at illegal gaming tables until Texas Rangers police shut them down in the late 1950s. ![]()
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