GAMBLING LOBBY LIKES THE ODDS

The gambling lobby in Missouri is gearing up for a big push in the coming legislative session to change a few things. They don't like the requirement that riverboat casinos must actually be able to float and get from point A to point B on a river. And they don't like the $500 daily loss limit that protects gamblers from losing all of their savings at one time.

So how are the gambling folks selling these proposed changes? Education. It is a magic word, they think. If enough Missourians believe the beneficiaries of the changes would be schools across the state, they will agree with the casino operators, right?

Watch out. Missourians were slow to approve the lottery, civic-club bingo and the riverboat casinos. In each case they were promised safeguards and conditions. To take away these shields at this point would be viewed by many Missourians as a double-cross.

It would look to some like voting to legalize gambling with certain restrictions was a crap shoot after all.