Bahamas Legal Gambling
The Bahamian gambling saga
The Bahamas government provides maternity grant for each live birth, and a 13-week maternity benefit. Tourism makes about 40-45% of the nation’s economy. It has excellent beaches, flora, fauna and many recreational and resort facilities. Gambling is made legal for non-Bahamians visiting the Bahamas. Continue reading on the next page.
- Atlantis Casino links two huge hotel towers and spans a seven acre lagoon. It is running the Caribbean’s finest state-of-the-art player tracking system for its 75 gaming tables and over 750 of the latest slot machines. Atlantis Resort has gambling available in locations other than the main casino, a feature unique to the Caribbean.
- A referendum on legalising web shops and establishing a national lottery was held in the Bahamas on 28 January 2013. Both proposals were rejected by voters. Gambling is currently illegal for Bahamian citizens. However, illegal gambling establishments known as 'web shops' allow betting on American lottery numbers.
By Arinthia S. Komolafe
Legal Drinking/Gambling Age in the Bahamas. The legal age in The Bahamas for Drinking, Gambling (non-residents only allowed to gamble in The Bahamas), and Voting is 18. Poseidon's Throne. Legal Gambling and the Law. Welcome to the Legal Gambling and the Law website. In the ever changing online gaming environment it is always important for players and anyone involved in the gaming industry to be fully aware of any country specific laws and regulations that may apply to them when they are thinking of gambling online or setting up any type of online gambling related company.
Bahamas Legal Gambling Age
The election season is well in full force in The Bahamas. All of the major political parties have cranked up their machinery and politicians are making their presence felt on the talk show circuit. No one would argue that crime and the economy are two of the biggest concerns on the electorate’s mind as we move toward the 2012 general election. However, politicians should not make the mistake of campaigning on these issues alone. The Bahamian electorate want answers and proposed policies on a multitude of issues including immigration, exploration of natural resources for economic benefit and future plans to address our failing education system. One of the issues that the next government of The Bahamas must confront is the more than half a century topic of gambling by Bahamians in The Bahamas.
Gambling no doubt is one of the most controversial topics of discussion in The Bahamas. There are many proponents and critics. It remains uncertain, however, what percentage of the Bahamian population is for or against legalizing gambling by Bahamians. The reality is that we as a nation continue to go round and round in circles on this matter, while thousands of Bahamians patronize the multitude of what are commonly referred to as ‘number houses’ in The Bahamas.
The arguments
An argument against the legalization is that it will bring with it a myriad of social issues that are opposed to Christian values and will cause a decadence in Bahamian society. While it is accepted among some that gambling may not be an outright sin in the Bible, gambling done in excess is sinful.
Others opposed to the legalization of gambling have put forth an economic argument claiming that gambling is an open form of regressive taxation that will affect those of the lower income brackets more than those of the middle and upper class. As a result, those of the lower income class will fail to take care of their financial obligations at home such as paying necessary bills and caring for their families. A perception exists that individuals below the poverty line gamble more than persons who are not poor. However, studies in America suggest that the reverse is true as it was found that more persons of the middle class played the lottery as opposed to those of the lower income class.
Proponents of legalizing gambling assert that government cannot legislate morality. Further, proponents claim that there are many potential benefits including an increase in government revenue which can contribute toward charitable purposes, infrastructure and most notably education. Advocates of the legalization of gambling also argue that it is another legitimate source of income for a government that has limited ability to increase its revenue intake. Although this argument has been successful in persuading a lot of Americans to vote in favor of a national lottery, it was found that the eventual revenue was not utilized in the manner that many had hoped for. For instance, the additional revenue from the lottery did in fact go towards education; however, many states reduced or offset the allocation to the educational budget against revenue received from the lottery. Hence, the education budget was not increased overall but education was merely funded by another source of revenue. To remedy this effect, a few states in America have passed legislation to ensure that a certain percentage of revenue received from the lottery is allocated for the specific purpose of education. This ensures that the funds are used for the purpose intended on the one hand, and on the other hand it ensures that the states do not decrease their allocation to education.
The greatest issue with gambling in The Bahamas is the fact that there is much hypocrisy surrounding the point. Several decades ago, the government of the day approved policy for hoteliers and casino operators to provide gambling services, however casino gambling and ‘playing numbers’ was outlawed for Bahamians. It is interesting to note that civic organizations, churches and schools still have the ability to distribute raffle tickets as a major fundraiser. However, provisions have been made for such activities under the Gaming and Lotteries Act. Over the years, law enforcers have conducted random raids of ‘number house’ establishments in an attempt to discourage the practice of gambling by Bahamians otherwise called ‘buying and selling numbers’. However, the truth of the matter is that neither the government nor the law enforcers have done an adequate job ‘shutting down’ the number houses.
There is widespread hypocrisy in that the government allows foreign investors to enter the country and provide amenities for casino gambling for their guests, but Bahamians though guests of these hotels quite often are unable to utilize these gambling facilities. It is unclear whether the operators of ‘number houses’ want gambling by Bahamians legalized. Any potential legalization will certainly decrease their profits, reduce market share and relinquish their current control to a government authority. Liberalization of the gambling market will foster competition and encourage the entrance of more competitors. Hoteliers and casino operators may not prefer any gambling policy that allows Bahamians to gamble not because of a threat to their market share, but because it will provide Bahamians with the licence to enter these establishments and patronize all the amenities just as the foreign tourists and non-residents do. Arguably, hoteliers and casino operators may not find such a policy good for their businesses.
It appears that there are arguably many special interests who prefer to keep the status quo. However, maintenance of the current state of affairs will increase hypocrisy and anarchy among Bahamians. It is advisable for the next government of The Bahamas to ascertain the gambling appetite of the Bahamian population and propose a referendum on the matter. We must take a “what is good for the goose is good for the gander approach”.
Legal gambling in The Bahamas should benefit both Bahamians and non-residents alike. The same is true for illegal gambling; neither Bahamians nor non-residents should benefit. If Bahamians agree to legalize gambling, it follows that the government must take the necessary steps to comply with the wishes of the people. However, if the overwhelming response is to keep gambling by Bahamians illegal, the government and relevant government agencies must enforce the law and uphold the provisions of the Gaming and Lotteries Act. This is the essence of democracy – a government of the people, for the people and by the people.
Arinthia S. Komolafe is an attorney-at-law. Comments can be directed at: arinthia.komolafe@komolafelaw.com
Mar 01, 2012
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TOUGH CALL
By LARRY SMITH
When I was young, people called me a gambler. As the scale of my operations increased I became known as a speculator. Now I am called a banker. But I have been doing the same thing all the time. - Sir Ernest Cassel (1852-1921)
Legal Gambling Age Bahamas
In gambling, the many must lose in order that the few may win. - George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
THE gambling debate in the Bahamas has always been surreal – part of a weird fantasy world that is difficult to navigate with logic.
There are two zones to this strange world – one in which three or four hotel casinos operate legally as a tourist amenity, and another populated by hundreds of illegal Numbers sellers catering to tens of thousands of Bahamian gamblers.
Bahamas Legal Gambling Age
The casino zone originated in the 1920s, when Prohibition in the US offered a chance to make huge profits from bootlegging. Money flowed freely, and millions were invested in real estate, with new resorts like the Colonial and Montagu Hotels coming on stream.
Although organised gambling was officially banned nationwide, a small casino called the Bahamian Club began operating seasonally in 1920 on New Providence, catering to a very restricted clientele. It was located on West Bay Street, east of Fort Charlotte.
The Numbers zone dates back to 16th century Europe and has been thriving here since the 1800s at least. This game of chance is associated with poor communities around the world because punters can bet small sums of money and get credit from their bookies.
Our first anti-gambling law was passed in 1901, and was gradually strengthened to create an absolute ban on the operation of lotteries and gaming houses for profit. But in 1939 the law was amended to allow exceptions to this rule.
According to the 1967 Commission of Inquiry on casino gambling, “This change...was prompted by the opening of a small casino on a seasonal basis at Cat Cay and the realisation by those in government at that time that this venture – and a casino which had been openly operated since 1920 at the Bahamian Club on the western outskirts of Nassau – were quite illegal.”
The amendment – piloted by a young lawyer named Stafford Sands – allowed the government to exempt any person, club or charity from the law’s provisions. The effect was to create a licensing procedure, and the two small foreign-owned casinos were immediately regularized.
These early certificates of exemption carried few conditions, but they always excluded minors, persons born here, employed residents, and civil servants from gambling. Only visitors and non-Bahamian retirees living here could legally gamble in the casinos.
Between 1939 and 1963, there were several applications for casino licenses from reputable groups. But all were denied on the basis that the exemption law was not designed to provide for the introduction of casino gambling on a large scale or on a permanent basis.
“It was regarded primarily as a means of permitting lotteries for charitable purposes or to provide for the sort of small lottery or gaming activity which is a feature of specific social functions,” the inquiry report said. “The discreet seasonal operations of the two existing casinos do not appear to have been regarded as offending the spirit of the 1939 legislation.”
In 1964, Shirley Oakes Butler (a daughter of Sir Harry Oakes) tried to acquire the Bahamian Club to operate as a year-round casino, with half the profits earmarked for charity. But plans were already in place to transfer the club’s exemption to a new casino in Freeport.
The following year, a group of top hoteliers met with Sir Stafford Sands (who was then Tourism Minister) to propose a government-controlled casino and convention centre, from which the entire industry could benefit. But planning was already in hand for a private hotel casino on Paradise Island.
This dramatic expansion of casino gambling (in Freeport and on Paradise Island) was a direct result of the Cuban Revolution, which had forced American casino operators to look for new territory. The Bahamas was right next door, and the developers of Freeport were desperate to build a resort industry on the island of Grand Bahama.
The United Bahamian Party government saw this demand as a chance to earn payoffs from foreign gambling syndicates while boosting the country’s attraction as a tourist destination. But the pro-casino policy promoted by Sands and others was hugely controversial due to intense opposition from the powerful religious community.
When the Progressive Liberal Party took office in 1967 it continued the exemptions for casinos on Grand Bahama and Paradise Island, but passed a new law in 1969 to set up a regulatory agency (the Gaming Board) and provide for the taxation of casinos. Restrictions on Bahamians and residents gambling in casinos were left unchanged.
Some commentators have claimed that these restrictions were racially motivated, but the record is clear that they were the result of opposition from the churches – an attempt to insulate the issue from public concern in the belief that casinos were important for the economy. Bahamians of any race have always been able to be entertained in our hotel casinos – they just can’t gamble.
No efforts to challenge this bizarre status quo have gone anywhere over the past 50 years. Casinos remain legal but Bahamians cannot use them legally, while the Numbers racket is illegal but patronized by most Bahamians without any consequence whatsoever.
The last FNM administration floated the idea of a referendum to change this by legalising lotteries and ending the ban on Bahamians gambling in casinos. But former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham eventually backed off in deference to the views of the Bahamas Christian Council. He promised a referendum in his next term, should he be re-elected.
The PLP promised the same thing. And Prime Minister Perry Christie has confirmed that a referendum on the matter will be held before the end of this year. This move is widely seen as a payback to Numbers operators for their funding of the PLP’s recent election campaign, but it will hopefully bring some clarity to a long-running and very peculiar debate.
Aside from a few Islamic countries, the Bahamas is almost alone in not permitting its citizens to gamble in one form or another. According to the Economist magazine, the legal gambling market totalled $335 billion globally in 2009. Nearly two-thirds of that came from lotteries and casinos – which operate in at least 100 countries these days.
Meanwhile, online gaming is valued at about $30 billion, and growing fast. Just as the internet disrupted other business models, it is also changing the gambling industry. Over the last decade, anyone who had an internet connection and wanted to gamble was able to do so.
This is why web shops are able to operate openly here. The Lotteries & Gaming Act makes no reference to internet gambling because there wasn’t any internet when it was passed in 1969. So these businesses are licensed and legal. The law does refer to the printing and selling of tickets or chances in a lottery or drawing, and this is what makes the Numbers draw illegal.
Retired assistant police commissioner Paul Thompson told me recently that one of his first postings as a young officer in 1952 was to a special squad of detectives that raided the Numbers houses. “We did it from time to time, but it never stopped anything, and after a while CID left it to the uniform branch. We considered it more important to focus on serious crime.”
And it has been that way ever since – occasional raids, followed by long spells of non-interference. In fact, at one time, the biggest Numbers boss on the island was the treasurer of the PLP. And it is common knowledge that you can go almost anywhere today and buy numbers easily and painlessly. As one letter writer recently put it, “the Numbers has become intricately woven into the fabric of Bahamian society.”
In 2006, Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe reported that there were at least 45 illegal gambling houses on New Providence and 12 in Grand Bahama. He said 60 per cent of the population was spending as much as $2 million locally and abroad on games of chance every week. We don’t know how much of this revenue is retained as profit in the Bahamas.
According to the Ministry of Tourism, hotel casinos in the Bahamas netted just over 14 per cent on revenues of more than $1 billion in 2011. While there is no way to know what the Numbers operators earn, it is clearly a hugely profitable business with no regulatory oversight other than the occasional fine or political contribution.
Our “official” attitude towards gambling parallels the American experience up to a point. Restrictions were gradually strengthened in the US during the 19th century in response to abuses, so that by 1910 virtually all forms of gambling were prohibited – even bingo.
But attitudes began to change during the Depression, when legalised gambling was seen as a way to stimulate the economy. Growing opposition to tax increases helped to establish state-run lotteries in the second half of the 20th century. Today, 43 states have lotteries, mostly marketed as voluntary taxes for education, and 12 allow commercial casinos.
So what are the key issues in the Bahamian gambling debate?
Let’s start with the economic argument. Many politicians see legalisation as an easy way to extract more revenue from the private sector. It has been said that the government could gain an extra $40 million a year in revenue from a legal lottery.
But this would not be a matter of “pumping more money into the economy” as some have suggested. It would instead amount to a simple transfer of money via a voluntary tax on gamblers, many of whom would gamble anyway – whether the lottery is legal or illegal.
Those opposed to prohibition point to concerns about enforcement costs, not to mention the huge incentives to lobby and bribe public officials to allow illegal gambling to continue unmolested. These arguments are similar to those made about the prohibition of drugs and alcohol, which are also subject to abuse.
Clearly, any widespread demand for an illicit activity will create an illicit market. Prohibition of alcohol made smugglers rich but did nothing to curb drinking. Outlawing drugs has been a similarly spectacular failure, draining billions of public funds for enforcement costs.
Those in favour of legalisation and regulation also point to the economic benefits that would accrue to the state through the elimination of enforcement measures. But it is more likely that the enforcement burden would simply shift from prohibiting gaming to ensuring that the operations are free from corruption and rigging – a much more complicated task.
Religious fundamentalists argue that gaming is a sin based on greed, although there is no biblical injunction against it. As Pastor Rex Major once put it, “Gambling encourages a reckless parasitic approach to life in which one human fleeces another with no personal regard for his neighbour’s welfare.”
But some denominations are less bothered than others, and it could be said that this high-flown moral argument amounts to arch hypocrisy in the face of widespread illegal gambling on a daily basis by Baptist congregants and others.
The social argument against gambling is that it exploits the poor, who waste their limited resources on rigged games. In this view, gambling corrupts and hurts people, causing absenteeism, financial hardships, family tensions and increased crime to support the habit.
In Russia, for example, the government shut down the gambling industry overnight in 2009 to control spiraling addiction and organised crime. Only a handful of Las Vegas-style casino zones are now allowed in isolated areas. Prior to the ban, Moscow alone had 550 gaming halls, including 30 casinos.
The gambling industry argues that its product is simply a form of entertainment, like going to the movies. And locally, our web shop owners (and presumably the Numbers chiefs) are running ads extolling the virtues of gaming in terms of employment and contributions to charity.
There is also the question of discrimination. Some people are upset over the fact that Bahamians are not allowed to gamble in Bahamian casinos. But the Christie administration has said that its proposed referendum will not address this issue, allowing this ban to continue.
If a majority votes against the legalisation of lotteries in the upcoming referendum, the question of what to do with the existing illegal Numbers industry will remain. If legalisation is approved by voters, the government will have to enact legislation to regulate the industry.
Some commentators have suggested that a “no” vote in the referendum will place the Christie administration in an awkward position in terms of what to do with the Numbers business. But why should that be the case? We would simply revert to the original surreal status quo.
A “yes” vote would force the government to develop and implement a comprehensive gambling infrastructure with a transparent regulatory regime. Exactly how this would impact or incorporate the existing Numbers operators is difficult to say because the government has not given any clues to its thinking.
The bottom line is which approach – prohibition or regulation – will provide the most benefits to the most Bahamians at the least cost. Either way, gambling will surely continue.
• What do you think? Send comments to larry@tribunemedia.net or visit www.bahamapundit.com