I'd say this fits into the "safe bet" category:
Land-based gaming will come to Indiana, with declining overall casino revenues and other factors making such a shift more likely, Indiana Gaming Commission Executive Director Ernest Yelton said Monday.
"Every year it's gaining more and more momentum," Yelton told about 80 people at the monthly meeting of the Gary Chamber of Commerce at the Steel City Buffet & Grill.
Yelton said if land-based gaming is approved, it will be done on a statewide basis, rather than just for Gary. Nevertheless, he pointed out the city's pivotal role in the push, highlighting State Sen. Earline Rogers, D-Gary, as the "biggest champion" of the movement.
Requring casinos to be on riverboats -- and later on pretend boats that didn't really go anywhere -- always seemed sort of lame to me. It was a way for legislators to pose as morally thoughtful people, giving their approval to gambling, but only in a limited and responsible way. Yes, we'll encourage you to throw your hard-earned money away, but we'll make you go to a boat to do it. See there, we're not reprehensible at all! Letting a casino move to wherever it wants to, even -- gasp! -- to a land-base site adds or subtracts nothing to the debate over state-approved gambling.
