IT'S BUSINESS AS USUAL FOR THE RIVERBOATS

After licensing 10 riverboat casinos to operate in ponds rather than on the Missouri or Mississippi rivers, the Missouri Gaming Commission has had to reverse itself. But the action may be little more than bureaucratic red tape, because the boats in moats are still operating games of chance -- slot machines -- and are likely to continue until November when casino owners hope Missourians will make yet another change in the state's gambling laws.

The issue isn't whether casinos can be in moats rather than on the rivers. The issue is slot machines, which are considered games of chance rather than skill. Under Missouri's gambling laws, poker, blackjack and other games are lumped into the skill category and are permitted on any of the state's 16 riverboats, including the 10 in moats.

The gaming commission's action last week was prompted by a Missouri Supreme Court ruling last winter that boats in moats weren't legal venues for games of chance.

Casino operators are less concerned about the gaming commission, which has acquiesced to virtually every demand of riverboat owners, than they are about Missouri voters. The gambling interests has nearly collected 109,000 signatures needed to get the boat-in-moats issues on the Nov. 3 ballot. This would let Missourians vote on whether to allow games of chance at casinos that aren't on a river.

One of the big selling points that will be trumpeted by the gambling folks is how much revenue the casinos generate for state government. And, in particular, they will depict funding for public education as teetering on a precipice and likely to be woefully underfunded if gambling revenue isn't there to help.

Don't be fooled by this. Yes, riverboat gambling produces revenue for the state -- about $180 million last year. And, yes, much of this revenue is earmarked for more spending on education. But to suggest that Missouri's public education depends on gambling funding is way off base. First, riverboat gambling generates less than 1 percent of the state's total budget. In other words, if all of the riverboat revenue to the state disappeared, it would be a drop in the bucket in a state whose total revenue has grown by leaps and bounds and in a state that is having to refund excess taxes collected from its residents.

The riverboat owners are fairly certain Missouri voters will approve games of chance on riverboats that aren't on rivers. And there are enough delaying tactics to prevent the gaming commission's recent action from taking effect. All in all, it's business as usual for the gambling interests, which seem to have their way whenever they want it.