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IT'S FULL STEAM AHEAD FOR RIVERBOAT GAMBLINGBY PHILIP TRUPP |
One of those raging Midwestern storms was sending its icy tendrils across Indiana and into Joliet, Ill. The big
white flakes of snow swirled across the bow of the Northem Star as she eased under a drawbridge and into
the slate gray Des Plaines River.
Only a lone reporter among the 300 or so passengers that afternoon in January took any notice of the
weather. The others were coagulated around blackjack and roulette tables or planted stoically in front of slot
machines. And, of course, the big spenders up in the bow placed their bets with that brittle edge which goes
with table stakes up to $100.
"It gets pretty intense," says Jerry, one of the crew aboard Harrah's floating casino. "High rollers, you
know. He motioned to a man in a black sweater hovering above one of the blackjack tables. One of our local
news anchors.
"Hmmm," l replied. Any other celebrities?
"Oh, sure. Get 'em all the time."
"People don't disapprove, of gambling, I mean?"
"Gosh, no. Hey, this is entertainment"
Entertainment - that's the word. And Gaming. Put it all together and it's called Entertainment Gaming," the
euphemistic, blue law-tinged way around the real -G" word that everyone uses in Las Vegas.
And that's what the Northern Star, and her soon-to-be-launched sister ship, Southern Star (a faux paddle
wheeler in the style of a traditional Mississippi riverboat), is all about. Let's say it and get on with it
"Gambling. Yes," says Timothy J. Wilmott, the 35-year-old General Manager of Harrah's Joliet casino
cruise operation. Gambling, he repeats. "I have no problem with the word."
Not many people hereabouts do. That's because it pays, handsomely. And, as if to underscore the point, a
placard on the wall behind Wilmott's desk reads: Vidmar Buick People You Can Believe In." It's from the old
auto dealership that once stood abandoned, and which is now the site of Harrah's shiny riverboat pavilion, 3 5
miles southwest of Chicago's Loop.
We may long for the good old days when Vidmar was booming. But the fact is that riverboat gambling here in
Joliet, and at dozens of other spots around the country, is the latest rage in our brave new "No New Taxes"
world It's America's new, trendy cash machine.
The trend it seems, is all-pervasive. Two years after the first waterborne casinos opened on the Mississippi
River in neighboring lowa Harrah's, Bally's, Circus Circus and other heavy hitters moved in with their own
operations. Harrah's plans to launch six more riverboats by year's end along waterways from Vicksburg,
Mississippi to Kansas City Missouri
As if to give it the all-American stamp of approval America's own newspaper, USA TODAY, recently
described the arrival of Harrah's in Joliet as "a new era for vacationers to the American heartland...." And
the travel industry is bullishly following the lead.
It isn't surprising that Mirage Resorts, Inc, and Caesar's are also getting wet; these companies are old line
gaming outfits. But the action is so lucrative that conservative hotel chains such as Hilton and ITT Sheraton
have projects underway in Kansas City, New Orleans, and Tunica, Mississippi
Far from shadowing the fringes of the nation's civic cash-generating agenda, riverboat gambling is fast
becoming a pillar of the community, albeit in slightly racy colors.
In Joliet, for example, Harrah's worked with city planners to revitalize this once moribund rust belt town.
According to Wilmott, the Northem Star, along with the shoreside pavilion, restaurants, cafes and gift shop
have created 1,600 new jobs and about $S million in tax dollars. Now that's sure cash No need to hedge the
bets. Vidmar Buick in its heyday could never boast such numbers.
All this has happened since 1990, when Illinois legalized offshore gambling. Within six months, Joliet's
riverboat operation became the state's 12th largest attraction.
Harrah's, drawing more than one million visitors. With Harrah's estimating a gross of $150 million a year, the
city o f Chicago, at first excluded from the new gaming laws, is currently lobbying for five riverboat casinos of
its own.
Officially undemonized, riverboat gambling has no sinister shadows to contend with That's because the
offshore scene differs in important ways from the traditional shorebased spas at Las Vegas or Atlantic City.
For example, Harrah's cruises are only two hours long, and you're limited to two a day. Some offshore
casinos even have "loss limits" designed to keep those avid "entertainment gainers" from cashing in the
family farm. In the shore-based arenas you can blow it all - or win it all - any old time. And as for the
compulsive types, welt riverboats appear to be too tame for the devotees of the Vegas-style gaming pits.
A case in point is Chicago-based domestic relations attorney, Mark Gladis. On this particular gray afternoon
on the Des Plaines, he had come aboard the Northern Star with a friend, an avid blackjack player. But Gladis
wasn't in the mood to challenge the House of Harrah.
"So where's the food? Where's the show?" he asked.
The boat had neither, but others were happy enough with the gaming action, the chirping slots, the clatter of
silver spilling into bins, the occasional whoops of the winners, the hazy aura of risk-taking.
"Did okay," one grandmother told me, patting her handbag the way Wyatt Earp used to fondle his holster.
Even losers seemed happy. "So I lost a few bucks," one man told me. "I had a good time, didn't I? Oh hey!
Don't use my name."
Waterborne casinos, says Wilmott, are "more palatable" to those critics who fear that the "G" rhymes with
'T' which stands for trouble. They'd have a hard time finding it on the benign three decks of the Northern
Star. Not everyone is convinced, however. In Washington, D.C., there is much acrimony over proposals to
launch floating casinos on the historic Potomac and Anacostia rivers. In a recent editorial the Washington
Post insisted that the question is "whether the capitol city should risk inviting the classic pattern of unsavory
activities that seem to move in with gambling operations." Despite the city's diminishing tax base and its
ubiquitous violent crime, the newspaper warned "The city's financial standing is precarious enough without
taking on a shaky venture such as this."
Wilmott and other advocates say these fears are based on outdated and uninformed views of gambling in
general.
"Riverboats bridge a gap," Wilmott says. "PIayers have to make reservations. Their onboard time is limited
And there's a lot less crime in this city now. We've had a very positive effect on the community."
Wilmott believes Las Vegas and Atlantic City will benefit from riverboats, too.
"Visitors will come to Joliet maybe this will be their first time gambling, and they'll see it's fun, a good time.
That's bound to be positive for everybody."
Is riverboat gambling enough to turn Joliet into a primary destination?
"No," says Wilmott. "If you visit the Chicago area, drop by, give it a whirl for a couple of hours. If you want
full-time action, go to Vegas or Atlantic City."
But if you like rollin' on the river- even in a snow storm-Harrah's riverboats are a safe bet.