Jobs eliminated at Indiana riverboat casino

Friday, Feb. 16, 2001 | 11:25 a.m.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

RISING SUN, Ind. -- One of the pioneer casino resorts in the Cincinnati area is feeling the pinch of competition and is laying off workers.

Grand Victoria Casino & Resort laid off 64 workers Thursday, the latest in a yearlong series of cutbacks in which 250 jobs have been eliminated at the riverboat complex.

About 40 of the people who received notice this week were dealers, fired because of the casino's decision to cut almost half of its 70 table games.

Since the Grand Victoria opened on October 1996, two more casinos have opened to the south -- one in Vevay and another across from Louisville, Ky. The Argosy in Lawrenceburg is closer to Cincinnati and is the nation's top revenue-producing riverboat casinos.

Last year, Grand Victoria, Argosy and Belterra Casino & Resort in Vevay, which opened in October, attracted more than 11 million visitors and won a combined half-billion dollars.

But Grand Victoria's business suffered in late 2000. In December, the Hyatt-owned casino won $9.8 million, down 19 percent from the same month in 1999.

Employment at Argosy and Belterra have remained steady, with about 2,400 and 1,500 employees, respectively, officials said. The number of jobs at Grand Victory has fallen to about 1,100.