LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. — “Today's my birthday,” 71-year-old Clarence Allen says, leaning back on a stool and dropping quarters in a slot machine.

        The slot machine responds by flashing and ringing — and presenting the Amelia man with his first birthday present of the day: 300 quarters.

Tina Fails, of the West End, was playing three slot machines at 1 a.m. at the Argosy Casino. (Tony Jones photo) | ZOOM |

        Only time will tell if there are more presents. For it's only 12:40 a.m. on a Monday at Argosy Casino and Hotel on the Ohio River, and the casino this month began staying open until 5 a.m. seven days a week.

        On this late night/early morning, there are more than 2,100 gamblers trying their luck on the three levels of the casino, which has a capacity of about 4,000.

        “I'm a night person,” Glynis Johnson, 38, of Roselawn, says during a break from testing her luck at picking the number where the spinning Big Six Wheel will stop on.

        How long will she stay to beat the odds?

        “A couple of more hours, depending on how my luck is,” Ms. Johnson replies.

        Bartender Greg Corbin frequently works the late-night shift.

        “It's very surprising how many people are still on the boat at 3 o'clock in the morning,” says the 29-year-old Independence, Ky., man.

        The Indiana Gaming Commission in July approved dockside gambling for its 10 casino boats, allowing them to stay moored instead of the previously mandated two-hour “cruises” that limited boarding. The compromise came with a hefty tax increase. Yet some of the Ohio River boats already are reporting gaming revenues are up as much as 30 percent since dockside gaming began Aug. 1, compared with the same period last year.

        Aug. 1 also was when Argosy expanded its hours to 9 a.m. to 5 a.m. seven days a week. Previously, it kept those hours Fridays and Saturdays only.

        “They would go to 7 a.m. if they could,” Reggie Holloway, a dealer at one of the poker tables, says of the late-night patrons of the casino.

        And with no windows or clocks, gamblers have no way of knowing whether it's day or night without looking at their watches.

        “For the most part, the late-night gamblers are more of “a younger, lively crowd,” says Mr. Hollaway, a 32-year-old Westwood resident.

        On this particular night — and a Thursday the following week — the three levels of the casino are fairly crowded with gamblers of all ages.

        Lillie Captain, 68, and her boyfriend, Aaron Jefferson, 73, both of Dayton, Ohio, are sitting at a bar at 1:30 a.m. taking a short break.

        “I came at nine o'clock (p.m.), and I'll be here until 2 or 3 in the morning,” Ms. Captain says. “I usually come at night. Just to get out of the house and cool off (in the air-conditioned casino).”

        Any luck?

        “I did pretty good, and I gave it back,” Ms. Captain says. “I ain't got sense enough to take it off the boat.”

        To the uninitiated, the casino noise — the constant ringing of slot machines, spinning of the Big Six Wheel, good luck chants of craps players and the clanging roulette wheel ball — take some acclimation.

        “You kind of get used to it,” says veteran slot machine player Patsy Tomlin of Rochester, N.Y.

        In one section of the casino, 51-year-old Tina Fails has staked out three quarter slot machines and is playing them all simultaneously.

        “I've been winning all day long. I can't stop now,” says Ms. Fails, a manager for Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits, as she sways back and forth on her stool. “I'm ecstatic. I'm having a ball. I ain't mad at nobody. I love it! I love it! I love it!”

        The West End woman has been so lucky that she missed the last bus back to Cincinnati.

        On another level of the casino, Joe Conrad of Hebron is more laid back as he plays video poker.

        “I usually play the slot machine. Sometimes I play the tables,” says Mr. Conrad, 72. “I usually come in the evening because it's less crowded.”

        Gambling on the video poker machines is a personal experience for Mr. Conrad.

        “I name the machines. This one is Teresa,” says the Delta Air Lines retiree, pointing to a machine that's been good to him this night.

        So how's his luck tonight?

        “Not bad,” Mr. Conrad answers.

        At the craps table, Wallace Tompkins is literally on a roll. The shooter has made his point three times in a row. Each time before he throws the dice, he slowly places one die on the table, then stacks the other on top of it before throwing them on the table.

        On this night, the craps (“That's where the big money is”) and slot machine player believes he'll be gambling at least “to about three o'clock.”

        Larry Kinser, vice president and general manager of Argosy Casino & Hotel, says it will take some time to evaluate whether the extra weeknight hours will result in an increase in night-owl gamblers.

        “It's an added convenience to those who choose to do their gambling in the early morning hours,” he says, “whether they're staying overnight in our hotel or making the visit after working the evening shift.”

        If you have a suggestion for Night Watch, call William A. Weathers at 768-8390; fax 768-8340; e-mail bweathers@enquirer.com.

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