BY RACHEL MELCER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Riding the crest of a statewide increase in riverboat casino admissions and spending in July, Argosy Casino Lawrenceburg continued to break its own records and rank as the top cruising casino in the country, according to figures released Thursday.
The Indiana Gaming Commission reported 636,713 cruise admissions on Argosy in July -- 17.5 percent more than in June. And players lost 9 percent more money, $24.3 million, at the casino's tables and slot machines in July than during the previous month.
But officials at Argosy as well as Grand Victoria Casino and Resort in Rising Sun are concerned with the planned fall opening of Caesars' Glory of Rome casino in Harrison County, near Louisville. And they say they are unsure how the market will be affected if the gaming commission next month awards a gaming license to Boomtown-Hollywood Park Inc., which wants to build a hotel and casino in Switzerland County, about 60 miles southwest of Cincinnati.
Commission members have indicated that they will do so.
Overall in July, Indiana's eight riverboats carried 3.1 million people who lost more than $120 million. The casinos paid $4.45 million in state wagering and admission taxes.
Locally, Grand Victoria marked a 10 percent increase in both admissions and the amount of money its casino took in last month: There were 344,834 admissions, and visitors gambled more than $15 million.
Grand Victoria's new general manager, John Spina, said he is happy with the strong showing and pointed out that July and August are among the best months for the local industry.
And he hopes that the southern Indiana market will continue to grow and accommodate two new riverboats.
"It's hard to predict what's going to happen once Caesars opens," he said. "We need to see how this whole market absorbs that added capacity. Only time is going to tell, after they open, how that will impact us."
Arnold Block, general manager at Argosy, which is the closest casino to Cincinnati, is more optimistic. He said Caesars will be far enough away that it won't provide too much competition for his boat -- and Caesars' well-known name might draw even more gamblers from other states to southern Indiana.
He wasn't even too concerned that the Caesars casino will be larger than Argosy -- upsetting Argosy's longstanding ability to market itself as the nation's biggest riverboat.
"We'll just have to alter our marketing strategy. It's probably a good time to change, anyway," he said.
Both men agreed that it is too soon to judge the impact of an additional casino in Switzerland County, which isn't likely to open before 2000.
"It will definitely have an impact," Mr. Block said. "But I think we've got a great property . . . that will compete very well."
Mr. Spina said no matter what happens, Grand Victoria will stay on course. "We're going to continue to provide great service and a great product for our customers," he said.
