Opponents of gambling into the U.S. are becoming critical of the way in which that some state that is new are employing consultants whom they say have hidden agendas and are often employed by pro-gambling lobbies.

Too Close for Convenience

Cash-strapped states are turning to industry consultants to advise them about whether to legalize gambling in an effort to bolster their coffers. These companies will often draft legislation, set up commissions making decisions about which operators might be licensees that are suitable.

But many of these specialists’ industry connections are only a little too close towards the casino company for the comfort of the anti-gambling brigade, which has announced that personal organizations that are hired to vet operators should not have a ‘cozy relationship’ with the casinos they are supposed to be scrutinizing, nor should they be acting as gambling industry regulators.

This week, the issue had been brought to light in the event of law consulting firm Shefsky & Froelich (which recently became section of Taft) hired by Massachusetts to help the state decide who should build its first casino in Springfield. Shefsky & Froelich recommended MGM Resorts International, for which it had been already being employed as a lobbyist that is registered Illinois.

It’s believed that at least 16 states across the U.S. depend on private companies as consultants. So, could it be that these states, buying a fix that is quick and desperate getting their new casinos ready to go as soon as possible, are going towards a questionnaire of semi-privatization of gambling? It is certainly not the real way things are done in states in which gambling is more established, such as Nevada, nj and Delaware, where regulation is famously stringent.

That being said, Massachusetts regulators still relatively new to the land casino game have been, if anything, roundly criticized by industry professionals as being way too nitpicky and stringent, rather than the opposite; taking away some credence from anti-gaming experts’ arguments.

Whom’s Watching Who?

Illinois Gaming Board spokesman Gene O’Shea recently measured into the debate, saying: ‘How do you vet your consultants? In case a great deal of these consultants, at once or another, have worked for individuals that you are in charge of regulating, at some time, you will have issues using the purity of the investigation.’

Meanwhile, spokesman for the Florida non-profit company No Casinos, John Sowinski, attacked the practice within the state of Florida, which will be currently wanting to expand its casino offerings beyond tribal gaming and race, saying: ‘The gambling industry could be the one industry that appears to break free using this conflict of great interest carte blanche.’

Handling director of Spectrum Gaming Michael Pollock who represents one of the biggest gambling consultant firms in the U.S., which recently completed a report for Florida negated the claims, but, saying, ‘You can’t be in this business if you should be willing to entertain conflicts of interest or also a look of the conflict.

‘We make it clear from the outset you what you want to hear, we’re going to tell you what you need to know that we are not necessarily going to tell. And we’ll not entertain an engagement when a customer seeks a particular result,’ Pollock added.

MGM CEO Jim Murren says the allegations are based on an outsider’s misconception of the gambling industry, which he states is close-knit:

‘This is not an industry that is huge and gaming law is very specialized,’ he said. ‘ There are merely maybe 4 or 5 firms that are experts in gaming law, so we understand them all, and we’ve most likely utilized them all.’

It seems that the casino consulting business is somewhat incestuous, but whether that’s simply the nature of the something or industry more sinister, is up for debate according to your views. What’s clear, nonetheless, is so it’s big company. Spectrum Gaming started life in a brand new Jersey cellar back in 1996 and has since been called one of many fastest-growing companies that are private the U.S. Its website declares that: ‘Governments, gaming operators, designers and investors in five continents have retained Spectrum, and now we stay prepared to serve clients through our offices in Atlantic City, Bangkok, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Las Vegas, Macau, Manila and Tokyo.’