News that Mayor Bloomberg’s appointees to the board that runs the city’s Off Track Betting parlors may vote as soon as today to shut the whole operation down because the city would have to subsidize its losses is a cautionary signal for newly elected Democratic governors nationwide who are hoping to avoid tax increases by turning to gambling revenues.

In Maryland, our Jacob Gershman reported earlier this month, Governor O’Malley is endeavoring to close a $1.7 billion budget gap in part by pressing the state to legalize slot machines. In Kentucky, which faces its own budget crunch, Governor Beshear is calling on lawmakers to permit voters to amend the state constitution to legalize casino gambling. In Massachusetts, Governor Patrick is urging lawmakers to approve a measure to auction three casino licenses to help finance new education and public safety spending and close a $1.3 billion hole in his budget. And here in New York, Governor Spitzer hopes to raise $36 million this year by bringing Quick Draw, an electronic Bingo-like game, to more bars and restaurants and by removing restrictions on its hours of operation. He’s banking on $250 million from the sale of video lottery terminal development rights at Belmont Park.

Since Mr. Gershman’s article, Mr. Spitzer announced a deal with Mohawk Indian tribes that would bring the state $100 million a year in slot machine revenue amid reports of plans to build a $700 million casino and resort at the site of the old Concord Hotel in the Catskills. The cautionary note is that gambling isn’t a sure thing even for private sector entrepreneurs, as the 2004 bankruptcy of Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts Inc. attests. When government is the bookie, or the dealer, the situation is even riskier, as the results at OTB show. Better to balance the budget by cutting expenditures or by growth-generating tax cuts.