Sunday, December 14, 2025

Watering Down the Law

 

December 14, 2025

 

Archaic law in Illinois and Missouri:

 

Casinos can’t be on land, they’re supposed to be on riverboats—or “water-based”.

 

  1. If you’re going to allow casinos, what does it matter where they sit? (Except economically, for the chosen few communities who have water available)
  2. The ways of getting around the law are many and varied:
  • Put a casino boat in a river in the middle of town (Elgin, IL)
  • Have most of the building on land, but have an outcrop over the water (St. Louis, MO)
  • Build an artificial lake adjacent to the river, and put the casino on that (MO)
  • The latest: Pump river water into a basin below the casino floor (Peoria, IL)

 

It looks like the law is excellent as an exercise in creativity, but not good for much else.

 

 

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