I recently visited Hot Springs, Arkansas, a former resort powerhouse that combined the natural wonders of the area (the natural hot springs) with the “sin” industries of gambling, alcohol and sex to attract tourists. But the one consistent element throughout all these efforts is that the locals don’t really benefit from the introduction of casinos, with the possible exception of the landowners who sell out to the large and largely uncaring casino companies. Several other jurisdictions have tried to use casinos to revive their tourism industries, with varying levels of success. Casinos in Atlantic City now pay a PILOT fee (payments in lieu of taxes), which is good for the casinos but bad for the city. Today, even the real estate taxes have recently been mitigated. Outside of increased real estate taxes, the city received no compensation for hosting these casinos, providing security for visitors or the negative impacts of gaming on the community. The hotels that backed the referendum were sold by their owners to large casino companies that cared little about the historic nature of the buildings or the community. Owners of the small businesses that were expected to benefit from these tourists were bitterly disappointed. Yes, millions of people visited Atlantic City, but they were largely contained to the big-box casinos that lined the Boardwalk and later populated the Marina district. Well, now we know that this effort was a dismal failure. It was the first time gaming had been legalized outside of Nevada, and it was the first time casino gaming was supposed to revive a fading resort economy. The message had been that there would be a job for everyone, more tourists and tax money to spruce up the frayed edges of the Boardwalk. On Election Day 1976, the people of Atlantic City poured out into the streets to celebrate the legalization of casino gaming, which was supposed to revive the fortunes of this declining resort town.