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- <text id=91TT0797>
- <title>
- Apr. 15, 1991: American Notes:Gambling
- </title>
- <history>
- TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1991
- Apr. 15, 1991 Saddam's Latest Victims
- </history>
- <article>
- <source>Time Magazine</source>
- <hdr>
- NATION, Page 39
- American Notes
- GAMBLING
- Floating Crap Games
- </hdr><body>
- <p> In Mark Twain's day, riverboat gambling brought romance and
- roguery to the Mississippi River. Now Iowans are betting that it
- will bring tax revenues and jobs. Last week legalized floating
- casinos returned to the river for the first time in nearly a
- century. Three ships, the Diamond Lady, the President and the
- Casino Belle, left from separate Iowa port cities. They were
- loaded with slot machines, blackjack tables and roulette wheels
- as well as bettors who pay from $7.95 for a breakfast cruise to
- $40 for a weekend jaunt.
- </p>
- <p> Iowa lawmakers approved riverboat gambling three years ago
- in the hope of creating jobs in shoreside communities hurt by
- the declining fortunes of local farm-equipment manufacturers.
- The state will get 20% of gross receipts and expects to take in
- $11 million annually. To head off criticism that the government
- is tempting people to bet the rent check, state lawmakers put
- limits of $5 on bets and $200 on any gambler's losses in a
- single day. Iowa will lose its monopoly on floating crap games
- this summer, when gambling boats start leaving from the
- Illinois side of the river.
- </p>
-
- </body></article>
- </text>
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