DOCKSIDE SLOTS? WHAT NEXT?

Meanwhile, the "river" in "riverboat gambling" has run into more slack water, thanks to the Missouri Gaming Commission's virtually omnipotent authority to change rules in midstream.

While the Aztar casino at Caruthersville is the only riverboat in the state that is still required to make excursions while gamblers are on board, the commission has authorized Aztar to install dockside gambling so passengers waiting to get on the boat can while away there time doing exactly the same thing as the riverboat gamblers.

When Missourians approved river gambling, there were limits that many voters took to be safeguards: casino excursions with time limits, boarding fees, loss limits and gambling on boats only.

Little by little those conditions are being removed. Aztar is likely to get commission approval in the not-too-distant future to keep its boat docked at all times. A big push is on to remove loss limits without any opposition from the gaming commission. And many boats have dropped, with commission approval, the boarding fees.