STRICTLY BUSINESS: ELVIS PRESLEY MASTERCARD PROVES `LEGAL TENDER'

Elvis Presley, king of rock 'n' roll," often sang "Love Me Tender."

More than a dozen years after Presley's death, he has become "legal tender."

Leader Federal Bank for Savings, a Memphis-based financial institution, and MasterCard International Inc. are issuing an Elvis Presley credit card.

"This is a real MasterCard," said Jeb Strickland, vice president of credit cards at Leader Federal Bank. "It's spendable anywhere."

The card, which features three images of Presley, from a 1968 TV special and a 1969 Las Vegas engagement, is the first credit card approved by the Presley estate.

The late rock 'n' roll legend has proved to be a very successful marketing tool, according to Carol Butler, director of worldwide licensing for Elvis Presley Enterprises Inc.

The U.S. Postal Services' Elvis Presley stamp has earned about $50 million in revenue and was the most popular commemorative stamp in U.S. history.

Graceland, the home of the late singing star, is second only to the White House in total annual visitors.

A portion of the proceeds goes to some of the late singer's favorite charities.

"A lot of people don't realize how generous Elvis Presley was with donations," said Strickland. "During his last tour to Hawaii, in the mid-1970s, Elvis donated all proceeds to the Kui Lee Cancer Foundation."

Back home, in Memphis, Elvis established a special bird center, and included funds to train veterinarians to establish bird centers in other areas.

The list goes on and on...hospitals, organizations, individuals.

The bank, and MasterCard, is prepared for a large number of calls.

"Right now, we're tracking fast," said Strickland. "Our initial projects was for more than 25,000 cards, but we'll probably issue more than twice that many."

Bank and card officials expect a few Elvis memorabilia collectors to order the card.

The bank is looking to the future.

Card holders who use their cards will have a chance to vote on images used on the next Elvis MasterCard.

Additional information and to order the new Elvis MasterCard, call 1-800-213-9577.

Something new coming to

Merv Griffin Landing

There will be something new at Merv Griffin's Riverboat Landing next month.

Players II, a five-deck, 260-foot long, paddle-wheel riverboat gambling casino will arrive at Metropolis, Ill. in mid-November.

A grand-opening party, complete with the appearance of Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar, will welcome the new boat at Griffin's Landing on the Ohio River.

The new casino, with a capacity of 1,650 passengers and 250 employees, offers more space and more gambling spots than the current Players I riverboat, which has passenger capacity of less than 1.400.

Players II, which has undergone complete refurbishing, was previously a fixture at Players International Riverboat operation at Lake Charles, La., which recently received a larger riverboat.

The current Metropolis Players I Riverboat has a capacity of 1,300 passengers and about 750 gambling positions. The new Players II has a capacity of 1,625 passengers and almost 1,000 gambling positions. Players I has been hard-pressed to meet demands in recent months. The July reports from the Illinois Gaming Commission show more than 210,000 people board the casino at Metropolis, an average of almost 7,000 people a day. September figures were similar, and officials say a number of people are being turned away on weekends.

The new riverboat will provide four decks of gambling, compared to the current, three-deck boat. The new boat could be in place in November, said Pat Rogers, vice president and general manager of the Metropolis operation.

Players International, with riverboat gambling facilities at Metropolis and Lake Charles, is now looking at Maryland Heights in the St. Louis area, where Players is teaming up with Harrah's for a four-boat, gambling, hotel and entertainment complex.

Players II was built at Leevac Shipyards in Jennings, La. The superstructure supports five decks, the first three of which are casino floor space, on the 240 x 61 feet frame. The fourth deck will include snack bar and slots, for a total of 24,000 square feet of gambling space.

The fifth deck is for the pilot house.

The new casino will continue to operate two-hour cruises.

Illinois is one of the states which still requires "floating" casinos.

Meanwhile in Missouri, Casino Aztar is the only "cruising" casino left among the eight riverboat gambling centers. Aztar has also applied for dockside privileges.

The company has also petitioned the Missouri Gaming Commission for permission to add gambling positions on its landing barge. "The City of Caruthersville" currently has dockside operations at night, but cruises through the day. The riverboat is averaging about 2,000 people a day on its 500-passenger boat.

Taking the river out of

riverboat gambling

With Missouri and Iowa boats docked, captains of riverboat casinos have no place to go. But, the U.S. Coast Guard still requires all navigable passenger vessels to keep a trained crew with licensed captains, mates and engineers aboard.

The captains, however, do little more than shake hands with gamblers, oversee their crews as they swab decks, stand watch and run drills for cruises that never happen.

The crews drill regularly on fire-fighting techniques and safety procedures to stay sharp for monthly tests from the Coast Guard.

Some riverboat captains and crews who want to cruise could look to Illinois, Indiana and Louisiana. Two of the states -- Illinois and Louisiana -- have been in the riverboat casino business for a while, and both still require boats to cruise. Gambling riverboats have been approved in Indiana, and the Hoosier state will require the boats to cruise.

When Hammond, Ind. was in the process of selecting its riverboat casino, one company was "overlooked" because of floating violations during an operation in Louisiana.

The state of Mississippi never pretended to have floating riverboats, although the casinos had to be located in river or gulf coast water and be capable of moving.

Meanwhile, captains and crews in Missouri are doing exactly what they would do if they were sailing. And, the good news, said one captain, is that "we're always on time."