Oligopolies: UAMS, Walmart and Licensed Casinos Controlling Our Courts

“Oligopoly – the market condition that exists when there are few sellers, as a result of which they can greatly influence price and other market factors.” – Dictionary.com

What do you think about when you are taking a shower? Probably how great it is that we have indoor hot water. Or, that you need to replenish the conditioner.

My autistic brain fixates on my legal matters. This morning it was about my poker cheating case against a Vegas casino.

There is only a small amount of money at stake – but I am asking for declaratory relief, also. I want the Gaming Commission to require that the casino make a reasonable effort to stop cheating. When cheating occurs that could easily have been stopped by the dealer, or security watching through the surveillance system, the casino should reimburse the mark.

Why? Because the industry is highly regulated, creating an oligopoly. Well, I didn’t have my dictionary in the shower… I was going to coin a word: polyopoly. Say it. It’s fun.

But, when I went to “write, don’t ruminate”, I found that a word describing the situation already existed. Oligopoly. In the case of poker, there are only so many dollars people are willing to voluntarily put in the pot. With the limited number of casinos, it puts a serious poker player at a disadvantage if even one casino is not available to play at.

The regulatory agencies know who directly butters their bread. It is easy to ignore the fact that it is the people who gave authority to the gaming commission, the CFPB, the medical boards.

UAMS, a public university hospital, literally can get away with murder. The police are sometimes the ones (allegedly) pulling the trigger.

And debt originators like Walmart, who partners with Capital One and other big credit card companies, have their counsel shimmy on in to positions on the bench, deciding cases against creditors and debt buyers like Portfolio Recovery Associates.

It is all very frustrating. Why are We the People standing for it? Let’s put up a fight. Let’s get loud.