When riverboat casinos first opened in Illinois in the early 1990s, the state’s most powerful politicians were conspicuous by their absence. The lure of government money flowing from gamblers had proved too much to resist, but no politician wanted to be photographed dropping coins into a slot machine.
There were no speeches in front of the blackjack tables. When the big-time pols did show up, they cut a ribbon and bolted. No time even to hit the buffet. Too risky, given the public ambivalence about turning casinos into something people found in their hometowns.
Contrast that with what happened in downstate Illinois on Aug. 25 when Gov. J.B. Pritzker heralded the arrival of the new Walker’s Bluff Casino Resort in the Carterville area in southern Illinois.
