FRANKFORT — What makes writing about the effort to legalize gambling in Kentucky so much fun is using that cool casino jargon.

        One can talk about lawmakers “rolling the dice” and “playing their hands” as they push legislation that would allow the construction of multimillion-dollar gambling facilities adjacent to eight thoroughbred race tracks.

        There will be “big winners” if the legislation passes, but there is also the possibility of “going bust” if it fails.

        And it is now perfectly appropriate to use the word “craps” without referring to legislation, party caucus meetings or the special in the Capitol Annex Cafeteria.

        But what really makes the debate over expanded gaming so interesting is that it's all about money. Or as they say in casinos, “cash,” “bread,” “scratch,” “stew,” “cabbage” and “dough.”

        Will legislators really be able to resist the kind of money — $245 million a year by one estimate — that electronic slot machines could generate?

        With the state facing a budget deficit of about half a billion bucks, isn't it prudent for lawmakers to at least look at legalizing gambling in Kentucky?

        The state bends over backward to throw economic incentives at other businesses. Shouldn't lawmakers approve the gambling bill as a way to assist Kentucky's thoroughbred industry, which says it needs electronic slots to compete against riverboat casinos moored in Indiana?

        But isn't it wrong for the state to depend on money lost at casinos to balance the state's books, a situation akin to a bookie hoping his customers lose so he can win?

        And isn't the Lord against gambling, a point the church-going opposition to slots loves to make?

        Good questions. But right now, nobody has the answers.

        With no other exciting bills on the table and the usual boorish partisan Frankfort bickering already tiresome, it looks as if gambling is going to dominate the final 25 days or so of this year's General Assembly.

        A House Democrat told me last week that the votes for passage are there. A Senate Republican whispered the bill is already dead. A race-track official said there is plenty of time to round up votes for the bill. A well-connected lobbyist predicted the clock will run out on this year's session before a vote can be taken.

        My head hurts. Where is this thing going? Nobody knows.

        It does seem as if proponents may have waited a bit too long to drop the bill, that maybe they should have been rounding up votes quietly last fall, long before the session started.

        But the other argument is that with the state hurting financially, lawmakers will be looking for a quick fix to pay for some of the programs and projects being gutted from the budget. What better way than voting for a $245 million payday that would total $1.7 billion just six years after the “mini-casinos” open?

        Don't let anybody tell you this isn't about money. One of the major reasons the bill took so long to file was a closed-door battle between the tracks, the horsemen and lawmakers over divvying up the potential booty.

        As House Majority Caucus Chairman Jim Callahan, D-Wilder, the bill's primary sponsor, put it, “who could use $1.7 billion?”

        Using it, sure. Voting on it, that's another matter.

       Patrick Crowley covers Kentucky politics. He can be reached at (859) 578-5581, or by e-mail at pcrowley@enquirer.com.

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