LOUISIANA GAMBLING GIVES US WARNING

An indictment delivered Friday in New Orleans alleges organized crime has gained a foothold in skimming profits from video poker machines. In addition to shedding light on suspected underworld operations, this case provides fodder for those who believe all gambling enterprises accommodate gangsters the way they accommodate spendthrift card players. In anticipating riverboat gambling as a burgeoning industry in Missouri and this area, we see the Louisiana case merely as a cautionary sign, one to pay attention to but not panic over.

There is no hint in this legal action that mob influences are present in any of Louisiana's five operating riverboat casinos. The indictment and arrests focused specifically on the 14,000 video poker machines in place in the bars, restaurants, truck stops, race tracks and off-track betting parlors of that state. However, Missouri authorities are observing this case with interest, hoping to take lessons from the regulatory experience of gambling enterprises in other states.

Legalized gambling can attract criminal organizations ... just as big sporting events can attract ticket scalpers and district fairs can attract pickpockets. Where people and money are present, there will always be those who break the law for their own gain. The keys are adequacy of laws and enforcement of those laws. Missouri remains unproven in this regard, but we see the state's pre-licensing investigation process as thorough and reasonable. That's a good sign. We believe this diligence will carry over to other aspects of riverboat gambling as this industry develops.

At stated in this space at other times, gambling will only work in Missouri if the customers who seek this diversion are adequately served while those who don't seek it are adequately protected. The state can accomplish that by running the cleanest operation possible. We've seen nothing in Missouri to this point that would waive that possibility.