Siena poll: Almost a third of Capital Region residents intend to visit Schenectady casino to gamble
The casino opens Wednesday, as you've no doubt heard.
Almost a third of all Capital Region respondents in a new Siena poll say they intend to go to the new Rivers Casino and Resort in Schenectady at some point to gamble. And about 40 percent said they intend to go there for entertainment of some sort such as dining or the spa.
The Siena Research Institute poll of residents in the following counties: Albany, Fulton, Montgomery, Rensselaer, Saratoga, and Schenectady. It was sponsored by New York Council on Problem Gambling.
A few other bits from the poll, which asked people about the casino and other forms of gambling:
Support for casinos
+ Did the state make the right or wrong decision to allow to legalize Non-Native-American casino-style gambling? Right: 53% | Wrong: 35%
+ How did people vote on the state constitutional amendment allowing the casinos? For: 17% | Against 14% | Did not vote: 60%
+ Approve or disapprove of the opening of the Rivers Casino in Schenectady? Strongly or somewhat approve: 47% | Neither approve or disapprove: 30% | Somewhat or strongly disapprove: 22%
Scratch-off or lottery tickets
+ 67 percent of respondents said they had bought at least one scratch-off or lottery ticket in the past year. Nine percent said they did at least once a week.
People who have never in the last year...
+ Gambled at casino slot machines or VLT: 75%
+ Bet on horses or other animals at the track: 67%
+ Placed a bet at an OTB facility: 90%
+ Bet on college or professional sports or played fantasy sports for money: 86%
+ Played cards or dice in person for money: 86%
+ Participated in online poker or other gambling games: 98%
+ Played games of skill for money such as bowling, shooting pool, or golf: 88%
+ Played bingo for money: 91%
Gambling problems
+ Do you know anyone you think might have a gambling problem? Yes: 32% | No: 67%
+ Do you agree or disagree that increasing the number of casinos will increase the number of people with gambling problems? Agree: 66% | Disagree: 32%
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SRI says the poll was conducted January 8-11, 2017 and included 902 respondents. The margin of error is +/- 4%.
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Comments
"Respondent sampling was initiated by asking for the youngest male in the household." So did the survey only included men? That makes a huge difference in the results!
(I'm a bit concerned that Siena isn't even willing to publish the survey response rate...)
... said Sarah on Feb 8, 2017 at 9:31 AM | link
Sarah - open up the link to their data. It gives you the breakdown of the sample. Asking for the youngest male is "initiated" as these are the more difficult respondents to get to. So, if there is a house with a 50 year old woman and a 25 year old male, pollsters go after the 25 year old male. This is standard is many polls.
... said Gee on Feb 8, 2017 at 9:57 AM | link