Lovely state, Utah.
Friendly people. Breath-taking natural wonders. High-performing schools.
Yeah, pal, you’re a real goody two-shoes.
Clean-living and conservative, the Beehive State is forever playing the Good Witch Glinda to Nevada’s Wicked Witch of the West. If states were people, Utah would be the milk-drinking guy with the clip-on tie leading the congregation in a prayer for Nevada’s hopelessly sullied soul. Nevada, meanwhile, sends its apologies for being unable to attend the service.
It’s in rehab.
For those still counting such things, Utah is among the last states in the Union to accept legalized casino gambling. Such activities are officially frowned upon by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The Church’s official website leaves no wiggle room: “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is opposed to gambling, including lotteries sponsored by governments. Church leaders have encouraged Church members to join with others in opposing the legalization and government sponsorship of any form of gambling.”
There’s a reason for that, the religion’s elders have determined:
“Gambling is motivated by a desire to get something for nothing. This desire is spiritually destructive. It leads participants away from the Savior’s teachings of love and service and toward the selfishness of the adversary. It undermines the virtues of work and thrift and the desire to give honest effort in all we do.”
The state passed legislation to opt out of any future federal legislation that authorizes online gambling. The Legislature is simply not allowed to authorize any “game of chance, lottery or gift enterprise under any pretense or for any purpose.”
With that kind of admonishment, Utah elected officials would rather be caught smoking cigars and drinking whiskey than allowing gambling to take root in the state’s fertile soil.
Besides, it would appear that’s what Nevada is for. Don’t take my word for it. Cruise through Wendover or Mesquite and you’re sure to see plenty of Utah plates in the parking lot. Casinos offer games of skill and chance, a wide array of dining options, and a river of liquor for sale. Not to mention golf and spa treatments.
The trouble with being a clean-living state in a country increasingly filled with many forms of legalized gambling is that it’s extremely difficult to keep up your high standards. That’s what some Utah officials discovered recently when they found approximately 500 gambling machines in convenience stores located throughout the state. Most were the carnival-style coin pusher machines. Others were slot machines that paid off in receipts that could be redeemed for cash.
It’s not exactly an epidemic. But it’s serious business in Utah, where the state Attorney General’s Office recently announced its investigators had seized the machines along with hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash (presumably most of it in quarters.) Search warrants were served at more than 130 mini-marts and other stores, according to the Associated Press.
Church admonishments aside, Utahns appear to be a lot like citizens of other states. Those with an urge to gamble manage to find their way illegal poker rooms and the local illegal bookmaker. Such activities are increasingly easyin the online age.
In 2013, the church-owned Deseret News published an article on the theme of so much gambling going in in a state that has worked so hard to keep its hands clean. Former Poker Players Alliance Utah director Chadler Cowles said, “There’s so much poker going on in this state. You’d be surprised at who you saw at a game — doctors, lawyers, dentists, sometimes bishops, active members of every church you could imagine.”
Actually, those of us in Nevada wouldn’t be surprised at all.
But we’d probably smile at the idea that Utah has what appears to be an extremely healthy card-playing culture that includes the Wasatch Poker Tour, which in 2013 has more than 1,200 participants participating in 15 Salt Lake Valley locations.
Winners took home prizes and competed to win a major award:
A seat at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.
