David Lindsay isn't asking state officials to repeal the state's lottery system. He just thinks the arrival of a Keno operation in a Bolton restaurant this fall amounts to a regressive tax on low-income people.
"There's nothing really legally wrong with what they are doing," said Lindsay, who is chairman of the town's Advisory Committee. "I think it's unfortunate because some people get addicted. It seems ironic that you sort of hook lower-income people, and you use the lottery proceeds for upper-income people."
Lindsay aired his concerns recently to the Board of Selectmen, which was debating whether to allow Keno in a local family-style restaurant, the Bolton Road house Bar & Grill. Late last month, the board voted not to oppose the restaurant in its bid to bring the first Keno operation to town. Keno is a form of gambling that allows players to randomly select numbers and win money if their numbers match a remote casino's drawing, which is televised at the location.
Panny Gerken, chairwoman of the selectmen, said she has respect for Lindsay's concerns, but she said Keno is scarcely different than selling lottery tickets, which is already being done in the Country Cupboard convenience store in town.
"I do think gambling and lotteries can affect those who can afford it the least," Gerken said. "But, at the same time, you can't stop people from doing what they are going to do anyways."
David Rosenfeld, director of communications at the state Lottery Commission, said research demonstrates that Keno and lottery players cut across all socioeconomic groups. Restaurants like the Bolton Roadhouse are the most typical places for a Keno machine, he said.
"Family-style restaurants are our best agents," he said. "They are places where people like to sit down and relax for a while."
Charles White, the owner of Bolton Roadhouse, said a number of customers requested Keno and he felt impelled to seek the game for his business. The Lottery Commission has installed the closed-circuit TV monitor for Keno in the restaurant's bar area, but the game was not online as of early this week.
White said he will receive 1 percent of the revenue derived from Keno. He is having it installed mainly to keep his clientele happy, he said.
"It's a neighborhood-type place," he said. "Ninety-nine percent of restaurants today have Keno."
Lindsay said his concerns are based on experience. Now retired, he remembers when he worked in the Financial District in Boston as a portfolio manager and saw the same people, day after day, go to a local convenience store to buy lottery scratch tickets.
"Clearly, if you play that much, you are bound to lose," he said. "I just found that a bad thing."
Keno, scratch tickets, and casino slot machines can be the most addictive to play, said Margot Cahoon, a spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling, a quasi-public agency that provides support to gambling addicts. Games where a person sees instant results can lead to compulsive betting and can cause a person to "chase losses," as he or she tries to continually make up a deficit by betting more, she said.
Despite these facts, Cahoon said, the organization takes a neutral stance on various forms of gambling.
"We don't take a side on the issue," she said. "We're looking to help people with problems."
Rosenfeld said the Lottery Commission takes compulsive gambling "very seriously" and is the largest source of funds for the council.
Though he might like to see gambling outlawed in the state, Lindsay said, he believes that's an unrealistic expectation, given the number of communities that rely heavily on state lottery receipts as a revenue stream.
"I don't want to necessarily roll back the lottery, but I don't want it to expand," he said.
Other than the decision to allow Keno, the Bolton Roadhouse is a "fine restaurant," said Lindsay, who said his intent is not to disparage the establishment.
"I've eaten there a couple of times," he said.
Ross said the amount of revenue the town will receive from the Keno operation will depend on how many people use it on a regular basis.
White said the bottom line is that Keno will help the town cover its bills. "It helps pay for firefighters and police."
Gambling is just one of any number of legally allowable activities that can be abused, White said. "People can get addicted to anything. They get addicted to cigarettes. They get addicted to painkillers. What are you going to do?"
