By Ken Alltucker
Enquirer staff writer

Southeastern Indiana's three riverboat casinos took advantage of eased gambling restrictions to rake in record revenue through the first half of 2004.

Wagering figures released Tuesday by the Indiana Gaming Commission showed that the three riverboats had a combined collected "win" of $364.5 million from January through June, an 8.9 percent increase from the same period one year ago.

Win, also called gross gaming revenue, is the amount of money lost by gamblers at gaming tables and slot machines.

Just what is the impact of $364.5 million? It's more than eight times the amount Cincinnati Reds ownership pays each year to field a professional baseball team.

Or it would cover three years of wages and benefits for the Cincinnati Police Department's staff of 1,400.

Casino general managers credited the year's strong gains to Indiana's eased gambling restrictions.

Twenty-four-hour and dockside gambling now allow customers to freely board and wager at riverboats day and night.

Argosy Casino & Hotel, located closest to Cincinnati in Lawrenceburg, remains the region's dominant casino. Through the first six months of the year, Argosy collected $219.3 million in win, a 9.5 percent increase from a year ago.

Argosy also claims the title of Greater Cincinnati's top tourist attraction. More than 1.9 million people boarded the riverboat through the first half of the year.

Belterra Casino Resort, which added a new hotel tower and Jeff Ruby's restaurant in May as part of a $35 million expansion, recorded the fastest increase in win over the first half of the year.

The riverboat casino near Florence, Ind., took in $71.9 million through the first six months of the year, a 13.5 percent gain from a year ago. In June, Belterra's win surged 15 percent.

Belterra's expansion and strong gains have narrowed its gap with the region's second-highest grossing casino, Rising Sun's Grand Victoria Casino & Resort.

Grand Victoria collected $73.3 million in win from January through June, a 3.3 percent increase from the year-ago period.

But in May and June, Belterra's win exceeded Grand Victoria's collections by more than $2 million. The trend bodes well for Belterra, which could knock Grand Victoria to the market's No. 3 grossing casino before the end of the year if the trend holds steady.

The strong performance of Indiana's riverboat casinos and increasing social acceptance of gambling prompted Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken last month to call for a new casino on Cincinnati's riverfront.

State Rep. Tyrone Yates, D-Cincinnati, quickly introduced a pro-casino bill in the Ohio Legislature, but most political observers say such a bill is a long shot.

Indiana casinos earn more

Three casinos in Southeastern Indiana recorded a combined 2.4 percent increase in gaming "win" in June. Win is the amount of money lost by gamblers at slot machines and table games.

	Argosy	Grand Victoria	Belterra	Total
June 2003	$34,070,815	$11,881,020	$10,639,317	$56,591,152
June 2004	$34,104,036	$11,625,595	$12,236,273	$57,965,904
% Change	+0.1%	-2.1%	+15.0%	+2.4%

Source: Indiana Gaming Commission

E-mail kalltucker@enquirer.com