SLOT-MACHINE GAMBLING VOTE LEAVES MUCH TO BE DESIRED

When Missouri voters head to the polls Nov. 2 they once again will consider one of the most contentious and bungled measures to come down the pike in a long time. Amendment 6, which would change the Missouri Constitution to allow slot machines on gambling boats, could be the last-ditch effort by gambling companies -- and state officials who covet the promised tax revenue the floating casinos will bring -- to get this matter resolved, at least for a while.

Missouri's fledgling riverboat industry is desperate to get around a state constitutional ban on games of chance. In April, voters narrowly rejected slot machines. Proponents wasted little time in securing ample signatures to get another roll of the ballot-box dice, hoping for a better pro-gambling turnout in the fall. Their optimism is understandable. Remember, an overwhelming majority of Missouri voters approved riverboat gambling in November 1992.

A court fight followed that election and ended this year in a Missouri Supreme Court ruling that games of skill -- poker and blackjack -- are legal, while games of chance -- slot machines -- aren't. The April vote on a constitutional change barely failed.

In the meantime, four gambling boats opened as planned on the Missouri and Mississippi rivers at St. Louis, St. Charles, St. Joseph and Riverside near Kansas City. In Cape Girardeau -- where voters rejected a local riverboat gambling option only to approve it on a second vote -- Boyd Gaming officials said they would forge ahead with their plans for a $51 million downtown casino development.

Like other gambling representatives, Boyd officials told Cape Girardeau residents that even without slot machines they would float a casino here. Still, you can bet they are keeping a close eye on how those four other Missouri operations are doing. What they see is disaster.

Gamblers continue to go across the Mississippi in Illinois where slot machines are plentiful. To date, combined attendance on the Missouri boats has totaled fewer than 1.5 million gamblers with receipts of about $25 million, while the nine floating casinos in Illinois attracted more than two million visitors in July alone with receipts of more than $77 million. More than two-thirds of the July gross receipts in Illinois, $51.7 million, were from slot machines.

Meanwhile, the first two Missouri casinos, St. Louis' President and Casino St. Charles, already have laid off workers. Casino St. Charles caused parent company Station Casinos to lose $7.4 million for the quarter ended June 30, officials said. Admissions for the state's other two casinos have leveled off with revenue far below expectations.

In other cities where gambling companies competed bitterly for the chance to set up shop development has stopped. Players International is blunt about its plans in Maryland Heights. "If the slot issue passes in November, we'll be in Maryland Heights," said Duke Rohlffs, vice president of corporate development. "If not, we'll go on down the river."

Through it all, gambling company officials wonder: What is wrong with Missouri? These companies invested more than $150 million in projects and planning in Missouri only to be left in limbo.

While the fervor on both sides of this issue is certain to rekindle as the November vote approaches, it is interesting to observe how quietly Missouri riverboat gambling -- without slots -- has plodded along since the April vote. The most vociferous rallying cry among gambling proponents then was the economic boost casinos would bring to the state and the cities fortunate to have riverboats.

But there was no corresponding gnashing of teeth when companies began laying off workers because of revenue shortfalls. The signature campaign to put the issue back on the ballot was a quiet one. Where were the economic development advocates pushing to get this thing rolling?

Today, unlike when Missouri voters overwhelmingly approved riverboat gambling in 1992, crime, drugs, education and other issues have supplanted the economy as primary concerns. Rest assured, the riverboat gambling companies will spend millions campaigning to get the votes Nov. 2. Whether the general public can again be aroused by the promise of jobs and a revenue windfall, remains to be seen.