Editorial

The casino lottery

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

The Missouri Gaming Commission, which oversees gambling casinos in the state, has decided that an existing casino can't rebuild or move without obtaining a new license. This is tricky, now that overwhelming approval last year of Proposition A limits the number of Missouri casinos to 13, making any available license a hot commodity. Developers of at least three proposed casinos, including one in Cape Girardeau, would likely seek a license if it became available.

Two Cape Girardeau businessmen, David Knight and Jim Riley, tried to get a license application submitted last year before the vote on Proposition A, but the gaming commission cut off applications pending the outcome of the vote. Plans for a casino in Sugar Creek, Mo., in the Kansas City area were also put on hold. And now a developer of a 377-acre project that includes a casino in northern St. Louis County is moving forward.

Opportunities for an available license are slim. The legislature could increase the limit. An existing casino could go out of business. Or, as in the case of the President Casino in St. Louis, a casino could lose its license by abandoning its facility or moving.

Keeping tabs on how all this turns out should be interesting.

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I guess there's opinion buried in there somewhere. Not sure what 'tricky' means - kind of a shadowy non-opinion opinion.

Missouri lawmakers have determined that Missouri voters will tolerate a certain amount of gaming and the riverboat casino venue has been guardedly accepted. But it's a sensitive industry involving valuable tourism, local income, activities and entertainment that attracts population and jobs.

But there are some legitimate negatives attached that are worrisome - gambling, carousing, drinking, smoking - human endeavors that many believe are unhealthy and even sinful.

The Americans that inhabit the Show Me state cherish their civil liberties and work hard to preserve the freedom to pursue recreation and happiness. We expect our lawmakers to understand our wants and needs, to make tough decisions on our behalf and to manage our affairs competently.

What lawmakers and the Commission have done to this point seems prudent and thoughtful. And we are keeping tabs.

-- Posted by blogbudsman on Wed, Sep 30, 2009, at 6:13 AM
Talk about riding the fence!

-- Posted by grandma73 on Wed, Sep 30, 2009, at 12:11 PM
I won't say yes, I won't no, I might say maybe.

-- Posted by TheCamp on Wed, Sep 30, 2009, at 12:21 PM

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