Faro, 5 Monte, Roulette, Keno, Bingo, Fan Tan, Twenty-one, Blackjack, Seven and a Half, 6 Klondike, Craps, Poker, Chuck a Luck, Chinese Chuck a Luck (Dai Shu), Wheel of 7 Fortune, Chemin de Fer, Baccarat, Pai Gow, Beat the Banker, Panguingue, Slot 8 machine: These are the many ways you could lose — or if you beat the infinitesimal odds, possibly win — money if House Bill 149 becomes law.
For the first time, HB 149 would allow casinos in North Carolina, outside federally recognized tribal lands. The measure includes not just 37 1/2 pages of casino and gaming legislation, but ties its passage to 11 1/2 pages of language that would enact the long-awaited expansion of the state’s Medicaid program. In sum, for more low-income people to receive health care, North Carolina has to swallow what critics would say is a bitter pill of state-sanctioned gambling.
