Mark Blakeslee, who teaches a course at Dodge City Community College on treating problem gambling has a refreshingly realistic, if pragmatic, view of the new Boot Hill Casino & Resort in Dodge City.

He accepts the casino as “a necessary thing for the revenue to keep the state going” but also notes the potential for problems among people who don’t practice moderation at the tables or slot machines.

“Gambling is entertainment,” Blakeslee told a Hutchinson newspaper recently. “If you’re going to the casino to win, you’re barking up the wrong tree.”

That’s probably not exactly what the 60,000 visitors who come to the Dodge City casino want to hear, but it’s reality. If you like to shove coins into a slot machine or try your hand at casino games, it may be worth the money you spend (lose), but visiting casinos is not a way to make money.

As far as state and local governments are concerned, the Boot Hill casino is a winner. Since the doors opened last December, Dodge City and Ford County each have received about $362,800 in casino revenue. State officials report that as of July, total revenue from the state-owned casino stood at more than $24 million, well on its way to the first-year goal of $39.7 million. Even state officials expressed surprise at the casino’s success, given the current economic slump.

Seventy percent of Boot Hill patrons are over 45 with the largest proportion being 65 and older. Going back to Blakeslee’s rationale, for older people who have some disposable income and find it entertaining to visit the casino, why not? They enjoy themselves while donating some of their entertainment dollars to the government. The problems arise when seniors — or young people, Blakeslee points out, including students at Dodge City Community College — go to casinos hoping to make money and end up losing more than they could afford to lose — especially in a struggling economy.

Fortunately, the Dodge City police chief notes there has been no increase in crime in the area since the casino opened. The 2 percent of casino revenue that goes into a fund for treatment and prevention of substance abuse and problem gambling is a tacit acknowledgment that such problems usually follow casinos. Hopefully those programs are meeting the need in the Dodge City area and minimizing the negative impact gambling has on some individuals.

Everyone who goes to a casino hopes to win, but over the long haul, it just doesn’t happen. The $24 million in revenue that came from the Boot Hill casino between December and July came from somewhere: the casino visitors.

It’s another way for government to get in the pockets of Kansas residents and visitors. As Blakeslee said, you shouldn’t go to a casino to win, but for those who enjoy gambling and losing, it can be a painless, even entertaining, way to be taxed.