By Robert Anglen
The Cincinnati Enquirer

A Belterra Casino billboard, along Interstate 75 south of Paddock Road, is one of several advertisements claiming the casino has the loosest $1 slots in Indiana. (Michael E. Keating photo) | ZOOM |

The model smiling down at motorists from a billboard on Interstate 75 has been promising for months that Belterra Casino has the "loosest $1 slots in Indiana."

It's not true. Neither are the radio and television ads that have been luring Cincinnati residents to the Vevay, Ind., casino gambling boat with claims that it pays better on its $1 slot machines than any of the state's nine other casinos.

An Enquirer analysis of slot-machine numbers shows that the Argosy Casino in Lawrenceburg had the loosest $1 slot machines for all of 2002 and during the seven months that Belterra has "officially" run its advertising campaign.

"One of those billboards is sitting right across the river from us, and we want it moved," Argosy General Manager Larry Kinser said Thursday. "Consistently month after month, Argosy has had the best payback."

Belterra marketing officials said the advertising campaign was based on casino numbers from May, when it did post better payouts than the Argosy.

But that disclaimer isn't found on any signs or mentioned in any broadcasts, and Belterra General Manager Alain Uboldi said that was probably a mistake.

"We are changing that as we speak," he said, adding that the ad campaign, which ran from May through November, is being replaced. "We started changing that in December."

However, the newest ads - featuring "Norm," a guy who can't win anything until he goes to Belterra - still employ the "loosest slot" claim.

"Belterra does have the loosest $1 slots in Indiana," a voice tells Norm during a commercial broadcast on popular Tristate radio stations Wednesday and Thursday.

State casino regulators said this is the first time since Indiana legalized casinos in 1993 that they have seen false advertising.

"Our job is to protect the integrity of gaming in the state," Indiana Gaming Commission spokeswoman Jenny Arnold said Thursday. "In general we don't regulate advertising. But we have never received information that a casino claiming to have the loosest slots is not true."

Last year, state officials fined Belterra $2.6 million and closed the casino for 2‡ days for allegedly providing prostitutes to high rollers on a 2001 golf outing.

Arnold said executive staff members would look into the advertisement. She refused to speculate about possible outcomes.

Numbers showing the ads to be false are from Indiana Gaming Commission monthly revenue reports. The reports detail the amount customers put into slot machines and how much the casino keeps after payouts.

For all of 2002, the Argosy paid out 94.97 percent of what it took in while Belterra posted a 94.96 percent payout. For the seven months it advertised, Belterra paid out 94.94 percent and Argosy paid out 95.05 percent.

The difference might seem insubstantial, but New York gaming analyst Lawrence Klatzkin of Jefferies & Co. said claims of having the loosest slots can impact casinos and influence gamblers.

"It's about credibility," he said. "I suspect if gamblers feel deceived, they will have a negative reaction."

Klatzkin pointed out that in markets such as Las Vegas, casinos compete for any advantage.

There, casinos advertise 99-102 percent paybacks on various slot machines; and a claim of the loosest slots can lure gamblers to a single property.

Debbie Barker, a Florence resident who gambled at Belterra on Wednesday, said the ads were appealing.

"It's a good slogan for them, `the loosest $1 slots,' " she said. "It means the chances of winning on $1 slots are better here."

Barker said everyone is money conscious, even as people look for the best payoff, "the big one."

Warren Hayes, 61, of Doylestown, Ohio, said he never thought twice about the ads.

"I believe it is all advertising hype," he said, adding that slots will always win. "The odds are totally against you."

Belterra had the second-biggest $1 slot payout total in the state. It paid more than Argosy from January to May, and again in August and September. But the numbers weren't enough to beat Argosy's annual totals.

Argosy manager Kinser said he makes sure his casino comes in first every year.

"We have had real criticism from the investment community for doing it," he said. "But we have a commitment to the customers."

Larry Buck, general manager of the Grand Victoria Casino in Rising Sun, said the ads send the wrong message to customers.

"I think from customers' perspective, the ads are misleading," he said. "If it affects the customers' perception, it will affect (the business)."

Buck said all of the state's casinos have liberal $1 slot payoffs, but the Grand Victoria doesn't advertise odds or paybacks on any of its games. "We're not geared to high rollers. When it comes to slots, we like to say we have the newest and latest."

Uboldi repeatedly said there was no intention to defraud anyone with the ad.

"At the time we started, we were below (the Argosy)," the Belterra manager said. "We achieved what we wanted. ... We attracted people's attention. Our slots were very liberal."

But not liberal enough to suit Pat Short, 74, of Grove City, Ohio, who was playing $1 slots at Belterra on Wednesday.

"It would be a good advertisement, if it were true," she said "They are not the loosest."

Her friend, Helen Normoyle, 79, of Columbus agreed. Both said regular gamblers could tell which casinos have the best payoffs.

But neither woman was disappointed. They said free meals, free shows and discounted rooms make the trip to Belterra worthwhile.

"What we are giving up in $1 slots, we are getting back in other ways," Normoyle said.

E-mail ranglen@enquirer.com