That casino idea is back. Just up the hill from Le Repaire

[JEK]

Need some translation help here.

 

[BBT]

It says it will be next to the Pizza Hut.

 

[JEK]

It does say it must have a restaurant.

 

[BBT]

Perhaps an Olive Garden for those who like Italian.

 

[cassidain]

Yes, it would have to have a restaurant. The casino operator SB Ventures has taken measures with the French Ministry of the Interior (similar to our FBI/Homeland Security) to initiate the consideration of a casino in Gustavia near Le Repaire. Nothing concrete has been proposed to the COM yet to consider. Mr Magras is generally in favor of a casino of a certain type...offering what he refers to as "jeux de circle". He means not the crass slot machines and roulette wheels but the games of skill and luck attracting a higher level of gambler: games like Baccara, Chemin de Fer, and the various iterations of poker. Benoît Chauvin is opposed, stating that such an enterprise will sully further the reputation of the island, which already suffers, he says, owing to its reputation as a fiscal paradise. He asks his fellow elected leaders to recall the recent casino scandal in Paris where Corsican mobsters were implicated for extortion and money-laundering. Mr Magras argues that a casino would be an important source of revenue for the island.

 

[BBT]

Wow, just imagine going to SBH so you could sit inside all day and play Texas holdem. What a great vacation.

 

[amyb]

Casinos have done "wonders" for Atlantic City. Me, I WONDER what in the world are they are thinking and why?

 

[Petri]

Perhaps they want to attract more chinese to the island. They don't care much about the sun so they need other activities..

 

[Goooner]

Sure, because what this island really needs is drugs, prostitution, and old people from Des Moines who sit and play slot machines and never see the light of day.

Casinos are great when a location needs a reason for people to come. Casinos make sense on flat ugly islands like Aruba.

But here? No way.

 

[cassidain]

Without offering an opinion as to its advisability one way or the other, and as per my translation above, M. Magras would envision more le Casino de Monte Carlo than the Gold Strike in Tunica.

 

[MIke R]

if anyone is surprised by this notion, you clearly have not been paying attention to the last ten years or so....

 

[amyb]

Not surprised, saddened.

 

[andynap]

It would change the whole complexion of the island. That's what started the popularity of St. Martin years back.

 

[MIke R]

its inevitable....even if it fails to materialize now....

 

[Islander]

St Barths to become another Monte Carlo. How sad. Mr Bruno, you're in the wrong for this one. Leave it to SXM-Dutch side. We do not need a casino or "cercle de jeux" or whatever you want to call it on this pretty little island paradise. What's next, the corsican mafia to run it all?

 

[JEK]

The last time this idea surfaced was 2008

 

[pascaleschmidt]

Seems the Jeux are already taking place on the island very hush hush and the collectivity wants its share! Funny I was wondering what would be done with this piece of land.....

 

[JEK]

That story about Andy Hall winning Hideaway in a poker game isn't just a story. I've heard of a couple of high-stakes games around that isle

 

[BND]

Sad, sad, sad. Creeping greed, IMHO. I'm not opposed to change per se, but this would be a huge change in the wrong direction.

 

[elgreaux]

That story about Andy Hall winning Hideaway in a poker game isn't just a story. I've heard of a couple of high-stakes games around that isle

who did he "win" it from..