Decision near on last casino license

Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2001 | 9:54 a.m.

NEW ORLEANS -- Louisiana gambling regulators will decide next month where the state's 15th and final riverboat casino license will go.

All of the background checks on the three applicants have been completed and the Louisiana Gaming Control Board will meet on Oct. 16, board chairman Hillary Crain said Monday.

Pinnacle Entertainment wants the license for a gambling resort in Lake Charles, while Horseshoe Entertainment wants to put a second boat along the Red River in Shreveport, across from its current floating casino in Bossier City.

A group known as Louisiana Horizons, including some politically connected investors and Isle of Capri, wants to put together a smaller gambling project near Morgan City.

Crain said state police would present their background reports at a meeting on Oct. 10, giving the applicants time to respond. Crain said he expects a decision the following week.

The winning project will have to go win approval from voters in the parish where it is to be located. Crain said that if such a vote failed, the board probably would start the whole process over again.

Louisiana law limits the number of riverboat casinos to 15.

Pinnacle's proposed $220 million project would compete against a pair of two-boat complexes operated by Isle of Capri and Harrah's Entertainment in Lake Charles, as well as an Indian reservation casino in nearby Kinder. Horseshoe's boat would be the sixth casino in the lucrative Shreveport-Bossier City market.

Louisiana Horizons would be creating a new riverboat casino market.