Rick Perry Hates Gambling But Bets World Series

Written by:
Thomas Somach
Published on:
Oct/26/2011
Rick Perry

Texas Governor and Republican Presidential candidate Rick Perry, who has repeatedly said he is against all forms of gambling, has been telling what's known in Texas as a tall tale.

A tall tale--a polite way to say a lie--about gambling, no less.

Gambling911.com, as part of its continuing series on how the Presidential candidates stand on gambling issues, last month reported how Perry, during his tenure as governor of Texas, has opposed the expansion of gambling at every turn in the Lone Star State.

Among other things, when the state legislature proposed a bill to legalize poker in Texas, Perry opposed it; when the state legislature proposed a bill to legalize slot machines at racetracks in Texas, Perry opposed it; and when the state legislature proposed a bill to legalize casinos in Texas, Perry opposed it.

"I have consistently been an opponent to expanding the gambling footprint," Perry told a Fort Worth newspaper earlier this year.

But is he?

Not when one of your state's baseball teams is in the World Series, it turns out.

Last week, after the Texas Rangers and the St. Louis Cardinals made it to the World Series, Perry and the governor of Missouri, Jay Nixon, made a wager on the outcome of the Series.

Perry put up a quantitiy of Texas-barbecued beef and Dr. Pepper soda, which was invented in Waco, Texas.

Nixon put up a quantity of St. Louis delicacies that included toasted ravioli, gourmet prosciutto, gourmet salami, frozen custard and Budweiser beer, which is brewed in St. Louis.

And even though he's busy running for President, Perry found time to issue an official press release about his big bet with Nixon.

"With all due respect to the Cardinals and their legendary fan base, it's really their bad luck that they're running up against the Texas Rangers, a team of destiny poised to win the World Series," Perry said in the release. "The Cardinals have had a great run, but this is about the here and now, and as Governor Nixon and his fellow Missourians are about to discover, you simply can't mess with Texas."

So what's the big deal?

It's not like the governors of two U.S. states are illegally betting money on the outcome of a sporting event.

They're betting food, which they don't even pay for, and the bottom line is that it's a publicity stunt to get media coverage to promote products made by their respective states.

And it's been done forever, and not just by governors at World Series time--it's also done for the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals and the Stanley Cup and also by mayors, congressmen and U.S. senators.

There was even one year not long ago when the Stanley Cup final was between an American team and a Canadian team and the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of Canada made a wager of respective national products.

The difference, however, is that unlike those other wagering pols, Perry constantly and consistently bashes gambling, in all forms, at all times.

You can't be unequivocally against all gambling--"expanding the gambling footprint" as Perry calls it--and then make a bet on the World Series.

Regardless of how innocent it is, or how much it promotes your state's beef and soda industries, gambling is gambling and you've said you're against it.

So be against it.

Or better yet, be for it--and say it.

Just stop saying your against it--a tall tale of Jolly Green Giant proportions--but then embracing it when it puts a p.r. buck in your state's pocket.

By Tom Somach

Gambling911.com Staff Writer

tomsomach@yahoo.com

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