Boyd Gaming Opens
Delta Downs Casino in Louisiana
- LAS VEGAS - Boyd Gaming Corporation opened the casino
at Delta
Downs Racetrack and Casino 1:00 pm on February 13.
Within minutes of the ribbon cutting, the 1,500-slot machine
casino was operating at full capacity. Headquartered in
Las Vegas, Boyd Gaming Corporation is a leading diversified
owner and operator of 12 gaming entertainment properties
located in Nevada, Mississippi, Illinois, Indiana and
Louisiana. Boyd Gaming is also developing "The Borgata",
a $1 billion entertainment destination resort in Atlantic
City, through a joint venture with MGM MIRAGE.
Indiana Looks to Dockside
Gambling
- CHICAGO, IL - Indiana lawmakers are considering a bill
that would allow dockside gambling at the states
ten riverboat casinos. The Indiana Senate has approved
a dockside gambling bill and has sent it to the Indiana
House, hoping that a law will result in an additional
$111 million a year in wagering taxes. Riverboat casinos
in neighboring Illinois have been cashing in on dockside
gambling since the summer of 1999, when Illinois ended
its nearly ten-year-old rule that patrons could gamble
only when the boats were cruising. In 2000, dockside gambling's
first full year in Illinois, Illinois riverboats
revenues jumped 21.6 percent from the year before. A recent
study done for the Casino Association of Indiana concluded
that much of Illinois' increased revenue came from "the
customers' convenience and the lack of wait time,"
courtesy of dockside gambling. For first time, Indiana
Gov. Frank O'Bannon says he might accept permanently docked
riverboat casinos to help boost Indianas economy,
but he wants a provision in the bill that would limit
the number of casino slot machines and card games.