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Missouri Casino Industry Launches Campaign

ST. LOUIS, Missouri – (PRESS RELEASE) -- The Missouri casino industry has launched a campaign to provide positive messages about casinos and a toll-free helpline on the back of "ticket-in ticket-out" (TITO) stubs, the bar-coded tickets that have replaced metal tokens in most slot machines. Argosy Casino in Riverside is the first Missouri casino to offer the messages on TITO stubs, which casino visitors use to cash out, switch games and transfer credits to different machines.

"Most casino visitors end up with a TITO stub at the end of play, so we thought they would make wonderful mini-billboards to inform people," said Bill Keena, president of the Missouri Gaming Association and regional vice president of Harrah's Entertainment.

"Our own customers are our most enthusiastic advocates, but even they may not be aware of the many ways that casinos benefit Missouri through jobs, casino-paid taxes and fees, and community projects," Keena said.

The TITO stubs are printed with the message "Missouri's eleven casinos provide great jobs, fund education and support community projects through casino-paid taxes and fees" and include the Missouri Gaming Association website. Headlines that will appear on the tickets on a rotating basis include:

- 11,100 Great Jobs

- $287 million to Missouri Schools in 2005

- $128 million for Veterans' programs

- If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-888-BETSOFF for free help.

In addition to the taxes paid to the state, the casinos provide revenues to the communities where they are located. The cities that host Missouri's casinos receive a tax of two percent of gaming revenue and a fee, also paid by the casinos, of one dollar per admission. In 2005, local communities received more than $84 million in gaming taxes and admission fees, revenues that have funded numerous street, bridge, sewer, lighting and other infrastructure improvements. Casino revenues also have been the major source of funding for special projects ranging from a new city hall/police station complex in Maryland Heights to a city-owned broadband network providing high-speed Internet access to businesses and residents in North Kansas City.

The TITO stubs also offer the toll-free 1-888-BETSOFF helpline and a link to the website of the Missouri Gaming Association where consumers can learn more about the Missouri casino industry. Materials on the website include MGA annual reports, an economic impact study and Gaming Benefits Missouri's Workforce, a report on employment in the Missouri casino industry.

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