Chicago Sun Times

If the bill passed recently to legalize dockside gaming and a casino license for Cook County passes court tests, one day soon we'll have a new place to play.

It's not going to happen overnight. Although it seems a done deal that the casino will be in Rosemont, the Illinois Gaming Board still has to sign off on both site and operators. Land has to be procured, facilities built--the process is going to take time.

Things to come in Illinois:

* New facilities will be built: Hollywood in Aurora and Empress and Harrah's in Joliet each operate two boats for one reason: to maximize available boarding time.

Illinois allows only a 30-minute boarding period for each gaming session. A casino that operates only one boat for gaming sessions two hours long leaves customers with a maximum 1 1/2-hour wait if they arrive just as the doors are being closed. An hour-and-a-half is a long, long time to wait in a casino pavilion. You can go to the buffet, but what are you going to do for the other hour?

* Crowds at casinos will not diminish: The northwest suburban area can easily absorb the extra 1,200 gaming positions a casino in Rosemont will provide. The casinos in Aurora and Joliet, which do not draw heavily from the northwest suburbs, will barely feel the impact. Grand Victoria in Elgin, 15 miles west of Rosemont, will take a hit. But it probably won't be a big hit. It's already turning customers away on nights and weekends. Some of that excess business will find a home in Rosemont.

* A Rosemont casino will draw more Chicago customers than casinos in Elgin, Aurora and Joliet: For $1.50, the L's O'Hare Line will take you from the Loop to Rosemont. Hollywood has been more successful than the others at attracting city business, but none will be able to match Rosemont for convenience to the City of Chicago.


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Mark V

Mark: A 10-minute wait can seem interminably long when there's nothing to do. Are there plans for shopping and more restaurants to be added? Maybe they should put in a movie theater!

We visited a dockside casino with Michael's sister in Kansas City. The pavillion that was dockside had a sports bar place, and I think a small shop, but that was about it. I'll have to ask Michael's sister if they have added anything recently. BTW, they were very strict in Kansas City about getting you out after 2 hours. They told us to leave, and we stayed, but went to a differnet place. They found us again and told us that we had to leave now.
Lee Ann

V, they haven't announced the actual plans at this point, but knowing what I do about Rosemont, they have lots of Grand plans.

They are probably secretly digging somewhere, and building something at a hidden location. Rosemont is the one place that might be able to put up a hotel or Casino faster than Las Vegas.

[This message has been edited by Mark (edited July 12, 1999).]

How many states have enforced cruising? I still remember my shock the first time I went to the Treasure Chest down in New Orleans; I was tired & hungry after work so I headed straight for their EXCELLENT buffet, planning on checking out the gambling afterward. After dinner, I tried to follow the signs to the casino but found out it had just sailed. Up to that point, I had no clue the boats really went out<g>.

Mark,
The riverboats in Illinois don't have to cruise now (since Gov. Georgie signed the bill) so there aren't any more boarding times. I know the Par-A-Dice in Peoria has had ads all over touting that fact -- you can get on any time, the boat doesn't sail, etc.

The boats themselves are still limited by their sizes; since they technically ARE sailable they have a maximum passenger limit.
Those places that have 2 boats -- Harrahs, Empress, etc., now don't need them to shorten the time between boardings, they just have more space available for gamblers.
Do you know if the existing riverboat <G> casinos will be able to transfer their operations to land?
It's been an interesting <G> progression here in Illinois from the original proposals allowing gambling boats here -- remember the "cruise limit of $200" that "accidentally" got left out of the first bill (thankfully).

[This message has been edited by supermom (edited July 18, 1999).]