Lifting Loss Limits to Casino Gambling Pushed by Missouri Leaders

The Missouri Gaming Commission has said losses to Kansas casinos may be as high as $200 million if the loss limits are left in place.

Bolstered by estimates of huge economic losses unless action were taken, the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry backed an initiative to rid the state of its casino loss-limit law. Repealing the old law would allow Missouri to compete more effectively for gambling dollars.

Under the current system, gamblers in the state must show a picture identification when playing at the state licensed casinos; purchase of chips is then limited to $500, the maximum amount a gambler can buy for any 24 hour period.

But new casinos are opening in surrounding states. Kansas casinos still in the planning stage are the most worrisome to Missouri leaders. The Missouri Gaming Commission has said losses to Kansas casinos may be as high as $200 million if the loss limits are left in place.

Education in Missouri receives over $300 million from gambling taxes each year. If the loss limit is removed, more total dollars will surely be wagered; and another provision of the measure is a raise in casino tax to 21%, which will net the state as much as $130 million.

Ameristar and Pinnacle both have lobbied heavily for the repeal; clearly, it is worth the increased tax to them to remove the unwieldy and abrasive identification and accounting process.

Now that business and commerce leaders have seen the need to protect thousands of casino jobs and allow their state an even playing field with the competition, the removal of loss limits should be just a matter of time.