The casino lottery

The Missouri Gaming Commission, which oversees gambling casinos in the state, has decided that an existing casino can't rebuild or move without obtaining a new license. This is tricky, now that overwhelming approval last year of Proposition A limits the number of Missouri casinos to 13, making any available license a hot commodity. Developers of at least three proposed casinos, including one in Cape Girardeau, would likely seek a license if it became available.

Two Cape Girardeau businessmen, David Knight and Jim Riley, tried to get a license application submitted last year before the vote on Proposition A, but the gaming commission cut off applications pending the outcome of the vote. Plans for a casino in Sugar Creek, Mo., in the Kansas City area were also put on hold. And now a developer of a 377-acre project that includes a casino in northern St. Louis County is moving forward.

Opportunities for an available license are slim. The legislature could increase the limit. An existing casino could go out of business. Or, as in the case of the President Casino in St. Louis, a casino could lose its license by abandoning its facility or moving.

Keeping tabs on how all this turns out should be interesting.