BUSINESS MEMO: CASINO DEVELOPERS FEEL LUCKY

The developers of four major riverboat gambling casinos for the St. Louis area are still feeling lucky despite a moratorium on new gaming boats in Missouri.

The developers say they applaud the go-slow approach of the Missouri Gaming Commission and its chairman, Robert Wolfson. Each developer is convinced his proposed boat will float once a moratorium is lifted.

Wolfson announced at a meeting of the Gaming Commission on June 18 that he believed no new boats should be licensed in Missouri until a study by the commission's staff was completed.

Wolfson wants the staff to determine if the opening of twin boats in the St. Louis suburb of Maryland Heights early next year and two more casinos in Kansas City this summer and fall could lead to market saturation.

The $260 million Maryland Heights project is a joint venture between Harrah's Entertainment Inc. and Player's International Inc. The complex involves two 60,000-square-foot casinos, a 300-room hotel and several restaurants.

Left in possible drydock are casinos proposed for Lemay, Earth City and two for the city of St. Louis.

Wolfson's announcement hasn't stopped any of them from going forward.