SOME ILLINOIS GAMBLERS TURN TO CREDIT

What happens if Missouri gambling regulators decide to eliminate the $500 loss limit for each visit to one of the state's casinos? One indicator may be next door in Illinois, which allows its casinos to extend in-house credit to gamblers.

According to reports issued by the Illinois Gaming Board, The average amount of credit extended by casinos to gamblers was over $5,500 a month.

However, that state's gambling officials say there is no real cause for alarm. Most of the credit gets repaid, and only about 2,500 gamblers use the available credit each month -- some high rollers getting as much as $100,000 in credit at a time.

The Illinois casinos can only extend credit for short periods, and some high-stakes gamblers -- there are no loss limits in that state -- don't feel comfortable carrying large sums of cash.

It is highly unlikely that many Missourians who voted for riverboat gambling had any notion of turning the state into a no-holds-barred gambling state. But they have only to look across the Mississippi River to see the future, if gaming companies are successful in their efforts to remove more and more regulations.