Gambling in American History

In Honduras the “action” is found in two casinos at night, and in the plaza of the Tegucigalpa Cathedral by day. The poor people visit the marketplace each day. There they buy and sell groceries and lottery tickets. As with many less developed as well as several forward-looking countries, the lottery operations are of the poor, by the poor, and for the poor. People with no other jobs – and maybe no job possibilities – can sell tickets on consignment. The profits from the lottery are also designated to go to programs for the poor.
Honduras is a very poor country, and Tegucigalpa certainly does not have the airs of a national capital. Its streets are narrow and dusty, and many people seem to wander them without a sense of their destination. Cows graze on garbage that is thrown into a dry riverbed. The most visible commercial sign in the city is the Coca Cola sign on the side of a mountain just above the central business and government district. It seems to be a reminder to all that their independent sovereign country may not be totally in control of its own affairs – maybe people in Atlanta have as much control over their lives as they do. Although many Third World countries have towns and cities that could be called “quaint”, the presence of machine guns on each corner and outside of each major store or office building keeps the word quaint from entering the mind.
U.S. commercial interests are in Honduras, selling Coca-Cola and also running large banana plantations. They and their employees, as well as military personnel, provide a marketing base for the casinos. Unfortunately, the poverty of the country as well as the devastation of Hurricane Mitch in 1998 has weakened prospects for strong casino revenues.
Two casinos operate in Honduras: one in Tegucigalpa at the Honduran Maya Hotel; the other in the country’s business capital, San Pedro Sula, near the Hotel Copantl Sula. Private entrepreneurs from the United States operate the two hotels. One of the management teams is also active in the casino industry in Curacao; the other operator has a history of old ties to Cuban and London casinos.
Both casinos have roulette games, blackjack, and slot machines, and the casino at San Pedro Sula also has poker games, punto banco, and bingo sessions. The casino tax represents 20 percent of the gaming win.
I visited Honduras in January 1989 and discovered that the Casino Copan in San Pedro Sula had a feature unique among Western Hemisphere casinos. In the past the casino had difficulties in granting credit to players. Most of the players were local residents. When they were approached to pay back their loans, they considered it an affront to have an American demanding repayment of a loan to them. Courts were also reluctant to order locals, many of whom may have been living on modest means, to pay money to the “rich” American casinos owners. The casino decided to cut off all credit play, but then discovered that their crowds decreased considerably. The operators came up with a solution.  They found local agents who would be happy to purchase chips from the casino cage at a discount, and then loan the chips to the players. They would have all responsibility for collection on the loans, and if they made the collection, they of course would realize a good profit—as they purchased chips at a discount and also charged the players a loan fee. The loan agents were local residents in good standing and usually with good connections to judges and other local officials. The patrons borrowing chips from them would be sure to pay them back, as their standing as honorable citizens was at stake with these loans. The casino operators assured me that the loan agents did not use any unacceptable methods to collect loans. <