Wide-open gambling proposed in Missouri

Rick Alm

Thursday, May 27, 1999 | 10:54 a.m.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri Gaming Commission agreed unanimously Wednesday to abolish restrictive casino boarding times, but only if the casinos move all their automatic bank teller machines away from the slot machines and other gambling areas.

If wide-open gambling does come to Missouri, it won't happen before Oct. 30 -- and perhaps not at all at Kansas City's largest casino.

Gamblers, casino operators, tourism boosters and others have sought an end to boarding times since the first Missouri casinos opened in 1994. The rule requires gamblers to stand in line as long as 75 minutes, waiting to enter a casino.

The ATM restrictions -- though they've been debated in the General Assembly over the years -- came as a last-minute surprise Wednesday from the commission.

"If you're going to have open boarding, we think it's good public policy to at least move them off the gaming floor," said the commission's deputy director, Kevin Mullally. "That way, there's a cooling-off period that gives a player a little time to think" about withdrawing more money.

The ATM issue probably won't become a sticking point, said Mike Ryan, executive director of the Missouri Riverboat Gaming Association.

"It depends on how they interpret 'gaming area.' If it (new ATM locations) doesn't become a great inconvenience to our customers, we can work it out," Ryan said.

Either way, the change won't happen soon.

"The earliest date (for open boarding) is Oct. 30," said Mullally, and that's only if the state's cumbersome administrative rule-making procedure, including a round of public hearings, is not delayed.

Station Casino Kansas City also might fight to keep ATMs on its casino floor.

"That is something we would not agree to," said Troy Stremming, Las Vegas-based Station's general counsel for Midwest operations. "We're just inconveniencing the guests."

Because of its competitive advantage as a two-boat casino with staggered boarding times, Station officials in Kansas City and St. Charles never joined the campaign for open boarding.

Harrah's North Kansas City Casino & Hotel, Kansas City's other two-boat operation, has been a leader in pushing for open boarding.

If the change comes, Stremming said Wednesday, Station may not change with it.

He said if the price for open boarding is to inconvenience guests' use of ATMs, "We'd have to re-evaluate the situation and determine if that is in the best interests of the operator and the guests.

"It's still going to be left up to the individual operators," Stremming said.

A commission staff report on open boarding estimated that the change would increase annual casino revenues about $21 million -- less than 3 percent of the $800 million statewide casino market.

And state and local government gaming taxes and fees collected could increase by as much as $22.5 million, the staff said. Casino companies are charged $2 a passenger for each two-hour cruise.

The greatest concern over open boarding centered on enforcement of the state's $500 loss limit rule. Under state law, players can buy up to $500 worth of slot machine tokens or table chips per two-hour session.

At informal public meetings last month to gauge public opinion on the change, casino officials told the commission that the electronic-swipe cards issued to slot club members and other guests are programmed in two-hour increments to monitor players' spending.

Although players will be less aware of the two-hour periods, computers will keep track of how long players are using their cards. Whenever a card is used during a new two-hour period, the casino is billed another $2 by the state. The state keeps $1, and the host city gets the other buck.

The commission also set another new rule into procedural motion that would legalize card counting in blackjack. The proposed rule also would permit casinos to take countermeasures, including restricting mid-game access and, under some circumstances, limiting the size of players' bets.

Missouri casino operators routinely bar known or suspected card counters from their tables, saying their systems for mentally keeping tabs of high and low cards played gives them an unfair advantage. Kansas Citian Robert Cherry filed an objection to the practice almost three years ago after he was barred from the tables at Harrah's.