Dockside Gambling Shuts Bally's

Regulators ordered troopers to board the Belle of Orleans on Wednesday afternoon and close the casino for violating cruise regulations.

The order was signed by Hillary Crain, head of the new state Gaming Control Board, after state police learned the boat had been conducting dockside gambling without clearance since Sunday.

State law requires the riverboat casinos in the New Orleans area to cruise regularly unless weather or water conditions keep them at dockside.

The Coast Guard told Bally's on Sunday that the boat could not sail until several mechanical problems were repaired, including faulty generators.

The law says mechanical failure is not a reason for failing to cruise and such situations should result in closure, said Trooper Danny Franklin, a state police spokesman.

Franklin said troopers were investigating the weather-related reasons Bally's had used for not cruising.

In addition, the casino closed Wednesday morning without notifying regulators as required by law, Franklin said. During an attempt to fix the generators, the boat lost all its power and a required video tape of the casino's money count was not made, he said.

Franklin said no citations had been issued Thursday, but he expected state police to propose sanctions. Investigators said earlier that Bally's would be cited for not cruising between Sunday and Wednesday.

But Bally's attorney Jim Smith said that because the boat received a Coast Guard order to stay dockside, it was legally able to stay open while making the required repairs. He said the law did not require the boat to notify the state police of the Coast Guard order.

"The order from the new board is not (in) keeping with their own rules," he said.

Franklin said that after the needed repairs are made and the boat passes a Coast Guard inspection, Bally's will have to ask the board to re-open. He said he did not know how long that would take.

archive