Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Every state with sanctioned casinos has a program in force to allow citizens
to self-exclude themselves if they feel gambling is or has become a problem
for them.
Stiff criminal penalties are enforced in a majority of cases for people who
break their self-imposed curfews by entering a casino illegally. Casinos in
their advertising and via in-house signage and literature distribution must
inform customers who are at risk of gambling addiction of the organizations
to call for assistance. The state of Missouri, however, utilizes a law that
is unique among gaming states. It enforces an automated loss-limit tracking
system that restricts the amount of out-of-pocket money a gambler may lose
during any one session to $500. The system has been in place ever since
riverboat gambling began there in 1994, and in spite of periodic pressure
applied to the state legislature to lift the restriction, it remains in
force at all 11 of the casino destinations in the "Show Me" state. Iowa, the
first state to legalize riverboat gambling, enforced a loss limit in the
beginning but quickly withdrew it when droves of gamblers began crossing the
border for the opportunity to bet as much as they wanted at the newly opened
casinos in Illinois. Even though the casino barges and riverboats in
Missouri are permanently docked, each day is still broken down into what is
known as "phantom excursions" of two hours in duration. No gambler on a
Missouri riverboat can lose more money out-of-pocket than $500 during any
single excursion. Every gambler must have his player's card swiped before he
enters a Missouri casino. This process activates the system that will
monitor how much they bet. Unless you use that card when you play the slots
or buy in at a table game, you can't gamble.

The restriction is controversial, even among officials who regulate gaming
in the state. For example, Clarence Greeno, Missouri's Gaming Enforcement
Manager, told me: "I think the loss limit puts us at a competitive
disadvantage with neighboring states and prevents Missouri from becoming an
entertainment destination."

The $500 loss limit affects slot play to a degree but it especially impacts
the revenue-generating powers of the table games where single bet maximums
are measured in the tens and even hundreds of thousands of dollars elsewhere
around the country.

The gambling industry in Missouri is no small-time operation. Many of the
nation's major companies, including Harrah's Entertainment, Ameristar, Isle
of Capri and Argosy have made huge capital investments in high-quality
casino hotel complexes in the St. Louis and Kansas City regions.

There's no doubt the state could generate much more revenue and the gaming
companies more profit if the loss limit didn't exist, but Greeno hinted that
at this point it's a matter of principle more than anything.

"Legislators vote the conscious of their constituents," he said, "and
there's a strong feeling in this state that voters feel the loss limit helps
protect people from losing too much money."

Greeno acknowledged that gambling addiction is no less of a problem in
Missouri than it is in other states in spite of the loss limit, saying
"pathological gamblers have a problem regardless of how much money they can
bet."

Even with the restriction, Missouri has more than 10,000 people on the
state's self-exclusion list, which under present regulations bans such a
person from entering a casino for life and subjects violators to criminal
arrest for trespassing.