Ameristar, Pinnacle spend $500K on loss-limits push

The loss limit is a crazy concept that I am surprised passed in the first place. I know several gamblers who simply go over to Illinois or go to Tunica and other places to gamble. There they spend money on entertainment and restaurants and other things. Let’s keep that money in Missouri. We are the ONLY state that has a “loss limit”. Stop losing revenue that could be generated by people gaming in Missouri. Last I looked Las Vegas was doing pretty well and it is no coincidence that they rebuilt Biloxi, MS so soon after Katrina, because they understand how much money is bought in by gaming. I, for one, would vote to get rid of the “loss limit”.

I will vote to get rid of the loss limit. The concept does not make much cents, ;>)
Gamblers can simpley cross the river.
The loss limit will not have too much affect on slot machine palyers, you have to be really unlucky on a small demonination machine to go through $500 in two hours unless your playing five or ten dollar machines. (my experience anyway)
The real benefit for casinos and state revenue will be on the table games.

i have a friend who used to be in the industry. his perspective: it makes st. louis look like a joke when big players come into town and try to spend money. for instance: remember when we had the final four tournament here in st. louis? his st. charles casino was bustling with big-money gamblers from all over the country, and every single one of them was baffled by the fact that they couldn’t buy in for more than $500. i think the loss limit hurts the gambling reputation of st. louis more than it helps any of our local citizens. as a st. louisian, the last thing i want is for some out-of-towners to come in and scoff at my city (especially ones with deep pockets!)

The loss limit does not solve anything. I am a regular at one of the casinos. The people that really want to spend more than the $500 will find a way. I have had people ask me to go to the window and buy tokens for them. They offer me money to do it, and of course, I do it. I have a friend whose son goes to the casino with him, but leaves. The father will use the son’s card if he runs out of money on his. People are always willing to let others use their cards, so they can get the comps. People leave cards at machines and anyone can pick it up and use it. Gamblers will find a way to play, loss limit or not. A guy gave me $450 to buy him $400 worth of chips. $50 profit for me. I say let the High Rollers spend their money.

Yes for Schools? HAH! they don’t spend 2,4 mil cause they give a damn about schools! They are trying to lock out competition and fend off a REAL tax increase that would contribute REAL money the schools of this state NEED. they would pony up a lot more to get out from under the loss limit if we don’t let them bowl us over with propaganda.

I think that the casinos might have gotten a little too greedy with their current ballot proposal. In addition to repealing the loss limit, they are seeking to protect themselves from competition by permanently capping the number of licenses available in the state.

I would have absolutely no problems with voting to repeal the loss limits. The loss-limit rule was created and sold as a method to prevent people from losing more than they could afford. But in actual practice, it’s an easily-circumvented restriction that simply doesn’t work.

However, I have a real problem with the ballot measure’s cap on casino licenses. In any industry, companies that are allowed to operate without competition tend to neglect their customer base, skimp on new investment, and bloat themselves on near-guaranteed profits. Ameristar and Harrah’s both spent millions of dollars recently in renovations and new construction, primarily to compete with the arrival of Lumiere Place downtown. How much investment and reinvestment will take place in an environment where additional competition is forbidden by law? What will motivate the gaming companies to differentiate themselves and improve the customer experience?

[...] Also, last week, Yes for Schools First named a new spokesman: Scott Charton, formerly director of communications for the University of Missouri system. Read more from the original source: Ameristar, Pinnacle spend $500K on loss-limits push [...]

If there were no casinos in this town, we would all be better off. I don’t care that a good number of people would travel over to Illinois to gamble, a whole lot more would keep there money in Missouri and find more worthwhile ways to spend it. Gaming can be a lot of fun, but casinos turn a profit off the addictive behavior of those who can least afford to drop hundreds of dollars down the tubes on a given weekend. Although people can always seek out other gambling venues, the easier and more convenient it is for people to gamble, the more often they’ll do it. Who cares if “big shot gamers” think St. Louis gaming is a joke? Prove to me that more than a handful of people gambling locally are from out of the area! St. Louis is never going to be a Biloxi, Tunica, and certainly not a Vegas. These casinos are just draining our local economy of our hard-earned dollars, and they’ll leave when they’ve taken everything they can. Our neighbors are just throwing away money and sending the bulk of it to rich out-of-state investors — Missouri only gets a small return at a significant cost.

Why do you think that casinos in Las Vegas and other tourist destinations give comps to people willing to play higher limits? It’s because these are the people that they make the most money from. Sure, they make money on the rest of us but the real money comes from high rollers and if we have a $500.00 limit what high roller is going to want to sit down at a table? If we are serious about our gaming revenues we will eliminate this limit.

Get rid of the loss limits but don’t limit the number of licenses in the state. They need to have competition and they are trying to lock out more competition. If we get rid of the loss limits and increase competition, maybe we won’t have to pay $3 a beer while giving our money away. Vegas and Tunica have free alcohol while you are gambling.