Vol. 5 No. 2, February 2008
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Missouri could scrap $500 loss limit
If legislators won’t repeal the $500 loss limit at Missouri casinos, the casino industry want voters to decide if they aprrove of the measure, which was enacted in the 1990s to save compulsive gamblers from themselves.
Casino interests have filed papers for a statewide referendum on the limit, which critics say has driven high rollers from the state and invaded every gambler’s privacy by tracking their play.
According to the Missouri Gaming Commission, the limit hasn’t effectively curbed problem gambling. The commission estimates that only 2 percent of gamblers hit the limit (a $500 buy every two hours), and adds that a determined gambler can easily get around the restrictions.
The issue is a critical one right now in the Show Me State, because competition is springing up all around. Next door in Kansas, new casino resorts without wagering limits are being built. A new tribal casino will open this month. And the Woodlands racetrack is expected to add 1,000 slot machines this year.
Besides Kansas, an effort is under way to build a new casino in Sugar Creek just off Missouri 291. But how many casino operations can the region sustain? Gaming Commission Director Gene McNary refuses to rule out more expansion in the state.
“It is not our job to protect anybody,” said McNary in a recent interview. “These are big boys and they’re in competition. Our job is to regulate and make sure there’s integrity in the games and that the various casino companies are economically viable. After that it’s the marketplace.
“If we can create a marketplace situation that is better for the state of Missouri than we currently have, then I think that’s the direction to go.”
