Friday, Aug. 2, 2002 | 9:47 a.m.
EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- No more two-hour tours. No more schedules. No mad rush to catch the riverboat.
Spirits were high Thursday as gamblers entered and left the Casino Aztar freely for the first time Thursday under state guidelines that allow dockside gambling.
"We came just to see how it felt just to walk on," said Marge Bogan, of Evansville, Ind., with her husband Bob by her side.
The Indiana Gaming Commission gave the go-ahead Monday for seven of the state's 10 casinos to begin offering dockside gambling.
The new rules mean customers no longer have to arrive at scheduled times to take two-hour cruises on Lake Michigan or the Ohio River. Even during inclement weather when the boats were docked, the casinos were only allowed to board gamblers every two hours.
"We can come and go as we please," said a smiling Katie Abshier, 70, of Loogootee, Ind., from the seat of a video slot machine. She said she and her husband waited two hours to get on board the boat one day after missing it by five minutes.
Outside the Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City, Ind., Billie Cassoday of Valparaiso also praised the change.
"I just went in there and realized I'd left my money out in the car," Cassoday said. "If this had been before, I'd have to have waited. I love this. This is so much better."
The General Assembly loosened riverboat's restrictions during the recent special session. Lawmakers hope tens of millions of dollars will be generated in taxes from the casinos because a graduated wagering tax is imposed on riverboats that choose to implement the dockside gambling.
Jennifer Arnold of the Indiana Gaming Commission said she had heard of no problems resulting from the switch to dockside gambling.
But not everyone is pleased with the change.
"I'd rather they didn't have it at all," said Candice Elswick of Elkhart, Ind., who was waiting for her husband Thursday outside the Blue Chip.
Paul R. Oakes, former chairman of the Citizens Against Legalized Gambling, said having easier access to the casinos would likely increase the number of people with gambling addictions.
He said the gamblers were often people who could not afford it.
"It's a continuing plague on the community to add things and change the rules," Oakes said.
Larry Kinser, the general manager of Argosy in Lawrenceburg, Ind., said his staff was expecting a larger-than-normal crowd this weekend as word spread about dockside operations.
"The No. 1 thing with any casino that's a boat, is we have legal capacities that we must maintain," Kinser said. "And we've anticipated that may become an issue on the weekends, so we're working with our staff to prepare for that."
Aztar officials hope to bring back the 15 percent in revenues the casino lost when Illinois in 2000 began offering dockside gambling, said casino spokeswoman Pam Martin.
Many of boat's customers choose to go to the casino in Metropolis, Ill., for the convenience, Martin said.
"Customers want to come and go as they please, and now they can do it," she said.
In Illinois, after dockside gambling was approved in 1999, casinos posted a record $1.65 billion in revenue -- 21.6 percent higher than the previous year.
Three of the state's casinos -- Harrah's in East Chicago, Ind., and Trump and Majestic Star in Gary, Ind., -- have to wait until Monday to offer the dockside gambling.
The commission chose to punish the three for advertising dockside gambling before the commission formally approved it.
The seven approved casinos are Aztar in Evansville, Ind., Horseshoe in Hammond, Ind., Hyatt Grand Victoria in Rising Sun, Ind., Belterra in Vevay, Blue Chip in Michigan City, Ind., Argosy in Lawrenceburg, Ind., and Caesars Indiana in Elizabeth, Ind., near Louisville, Ky.
Aztar took its final river cruise at 3 a.m. Thursday -- three hours before the new dockside rules went into effect.
The Aztar will continue to maintain a ship crew with four captains to keep the boat in working order.
Capt. Julian Drew said he would not miss the cruises.
"If I feel like running a boat, I've got a bass boat I can take on the river," Drew said.
archive
