Some say slots would keep money in Ohio

Lisa Cornwell

Friday, Nov. 22, 2002 | 9:42 a.m.

LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. -- Linda Lange travels from her central Ohio home to Indiana, West Virginia, Michigan and Canada to play slot machines. She says it would be great if she could enjoy that hobby without leaving her state.

"I hope that Ohio does put slot machines at the racetracks," said Lange, 56, of Howard, Ohio, who spent part of Wednesday gambling at the Argosy Casino in this Indiana city along the Ohio River. "I'm sure I wouldn't come here as much if I could go to one of the tracks in Columbus to play the machines."

Sen. Lou Blessing, a Cincinnati Republican, is counting on other Ohio gamblers having the same attitude. He has introduced a bill that would authorize the installation of electronic slot machines at Ohio's seven racetracks to raise new revenue for the state.

However, Ohio Gov. Bob Taft opposes the idea and says he would veto the bill.

Blessing said he figures Ohioans travel to out-of-state casinos mainly for the slot machines and would stay in Ohio if they had the chance.

He told the Senate Agriculture Committee on Thursday that as many as 70 percent of the customers at some out-of-state racetrack-casinos are Ohioans.

"It pains me to see these other states suck Ohio dry," Blessing told the committee during the first hearing on his bill. "Ohioans are gambling. They're just not gambling in Ohio."

Representatives of the racing industry told the committee that tracks in other states have bigger purses for races, better horses and more customers, in part, because they allow other forms of gambling. That allows those tracks to compete with casinos that have opened in Indiana and other states, the Ohio horsemen said.

The Argosy Casino near the Kentucky-Ohio state line draws a lot of Ohioans daily, and some who gambled there Wednesday agreed slot machines are the big draw. While few of them said they would desert out-of-state casinos if Ohio allows slots at racetracks, most said they would divide their time between the racetracks and casinos.

"I probably would do both," Alaysia Flowers, 27, of Cincinnati, said. "I might go to the racetracks in Cincinnati more because they are closer, but I wouldn't stop coming here. The best thing would be if they got casinos in Ohio, too, but that's never going to happen. Ohio is just too conservative."

Fred and Sue McGuire, of Harrison, Ohio, just west of Cincinnati, said they would play slots in Ohio and Indiana, although the Argosy still would get a lot of their business.

"This is closer because it's only about 15 minutes from our home, while the Cincinnati racetrack is about 25 or 30 minutes away," Sue McGuire, 64, said.

"We probably wouldn't go to the track just because of the slots, but we would go there when we wanted to go to races, too," Fred McGuire, 65, said.

If Ohio allows slots, the Indiana casinos probably would lose customer Beula Lawson, of Springdale, Ohio, in suburban Cincinnati.

"I would play the slots in Ohio to keep the money there," she said. "Ohioans should never have voted down casinos, because we're losing all that money to other states. I would rather keep the money in our state."

Ohioans twice have voted down allowing casinos.

Kathy Weisenberger, 49, of Cincinnati, said she loves slots and would like to see them in Ohio, but she prefers playing at casinos over racetracks.

"I just don't like tracks that much, all that dust and dirt," she said. "I like the casino atmosphere better, so if Ohio wants my gambling business, they will have to build a whole casino. Just a few machines at some tracks won't do it."

Backers of the bill claim the slots could raise $500 million a year in new revenue for the state. Opponents question that claim and argue that the slots would bring "casino-style" gambling into the state that could increase crime and harm problem gamblers.

Sen. Jim Jordan, an Urbana Republican, said he would vote against the bill and doesn't believe slots at racetracks would keep people from vacationing in places such as Las Vegas.

"If you care about communities and families in this state, you don't want this kind of casino-style gambling coming to your back yard," Jordan said.