November 10th, 2009 by admin

In a city known more for its struggling auto industry and skyrocketing violent crime rate, Detroit, Michigan, has found a bright spot in these dark economic times: casino gaming. Although the city currently has an unemployment rate near thirty percent, revenue from the three major casinos around the city is only down two percent, compared to double-digit declines in gambling meccas like Las Vegas and Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Casino operators in the area cite the numerous incentives they offer to new players, such as lower hotel rates, reduced buffet prices, and an influx of visitors from the Canadian side of the Detroit River. The Greektown Casino Hotel has charted a revenue increase of over six percent from this time last year, largely thanks to reducing hotel room costs and slashing their buffet prices in half.

Collectively, the Detroit-area casinos (Greektown, MGM Grand and Motor City) cashed in US$1.4 billion for all of 2008. In the first three quarters of 2009, they have already taken in US$1 billion and are looking to surpass last year’s total. According to a casino industry group, the three gaming centers employ more than eight thousand people, many of whom were laid off from auto plants at the start of the recession.

Gaming critics have cited that the miserable economic conditions in the city have forced people into casino gaming as a way to “get rich quick” instead of finding a job or creating a business. According to gambling opponents, many of the players that come in to casinos to play are the ones who can least afford to lose the money.

Other factors may also contribute to a slowdown in the casino industry’s growth spurt in the area. As the unemployment rate continues to spike and players continue to lose money, they may stop visiting casinos altogether. With most of their customers living within fifty miles of the sites, they also have severely reduced demand for hotel rooms. Also, with the recent passage of a casino referendum in neighboring Ohio, another source of potential customers may stay closer to home rather than drive to Detroit.