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The River: Lead us not into temptation and other concerns aboard busy riverboat gaming casinos


The riverboat captain is a storyteller, and Captain Don Sanders shares the stories of his long association with the river — from discovery to a way of love and life. This a part of a long and continuing story.

By Captain Don Sanders
Special to NKyTribune

“And lead us not into temptation…”
–The Lord’s Prayer

Gambling boats bet their existence on the temptations of the weak. All that is fine and dandy unless the weaker ones are on the payroll. Then the itch became a predicament. The temptation for theft of casino resources from within comes in varying magnitudes. For example:


Gambling boats bet their existence on the temptations of the weak.

Typically, technicians clad in pocketless coveralls count the daily “drop” in secure, padlocked rooms festooned with cameras(“eyes in the sky”) eavesdropping on each employee’s every move. The chambers for counting coins and tokens are labeled “Hard Count,” while paper currency finds its way into  “Soft Count” for tabulation. These secluded, secret niches seem impregnatable. Still, ever so often, someone employed inside the vaulted compartments believes themselves more innovative than the carefully orchestrated system of checks and balances for the internal security of all that dough.

One long-employed matron on the Soft Count staff pulled off a successful scheme for several years until she began living beyond her means. Too many nice accessories: cars, houses, vacation trips, etc. The dumbest mistake perpetrated in the book for thieves. She’s probably out of the joint by now. Perhaps, not.

When I assumed charge of the last of five casino boats, the magnificent paddlewheeler was freshly north of New Orleans. Below deck, far down in the hold, the Hard / Soft Count suite of rooms lay unsecured as no money was supposedly on board. Instead, stacked high on a large wooden pallet in one of the rooms were metal “bill validators,” or small strong boxes made to fit inside slot machines. Currency inserted into a one-armed bandit gambling device went directly into the secure boxes and was only removed once inside the Soft Count area. Although I passed the stack a dozen times making security rounds of the vessel, I assumed the boxes were empty and, of course, had no reason to believe otherwise.

Typically, technicians clad in pocketless coveralls count the daily ‘drop’ in secure padlocked rooms festooned with cameras (eyes in the sky) eavesdropping on each employee’s every move

For several months while we waited for our facility’s completion over 100 miles upstream, the crew onboard the riverboat was predominantly maritime personnel. However, once work progressed on the home port, employees of other departments began showing up. One of these fellows allowed his curiosity to guide him toward the stack of strong boxes, where he found some flush with greenback dollars of various denominations. After stuffing his pockets with several thousand bucks, he confided to a co-worker, “You ought to get some of that money in those metal cans down in Soft Count. I got me a few thou for myself.”

Of course, the co-worker reported the misadventure to their supervisor, but the miscreant chanced out when he was permitted to return the cash without facing prosecution. Had this happened once gambling officially started, the fellow’s fate would have taken a different course. Fortunately, he benefited from a misunderstanding that the cash was not available for the taking. How the corporation dealt with the surprise windfall, I knoweth not, as some mysteries are best left unquestioned.

Sometimes, the degree of misappropriation may be considered inconsequential compared to the examples previously given. Stacked on the employee boarding ramp leading to the landing barge of my last command, boxes of trinkets and giveaways such as coffee mugs and tee shirts seemed available for the taking.

Stacked high on a large wooden pallet in one of the rooms were metal ‘bill validators’ or small strong boxes made to fit inside slot machines.

One of my best chaps, a loyal coworker for several years, was identified “on camera” pilfering a shirt and ultimately lost his job for something worth no more than a few dollars. The next I heard, though, he was hired at the casino up the road, where he found a slot in their Security Department keeping an eye peeled for thievery. Apparently, the former deckhand learned a valuable lesson and ultimately finished his casino career protecting the property of his new employers.

An unusual opportunity for monetary misconduct happened when an unescorted in-house courier transferring a satchel filled with some 50 thousand dollars casually walked off the boat to his vehicle in the employee parking lot and roared away. He was so excited and drove at such a ferocious gallop a local deputy stopped him for speeding. However, the thief convinced the officer of a family emergency at home and was permitted to resume his getaway. For a considerable length of time, the brigand remained undetected. Everyone assumed he’d made a clean getaway. Then, surprisingly, despite his apprehension in Chicago some months later, the valise still contained the 50-K in cash while he found shelter with friends who had no idea their guest packed a small fortune within the only bag he carried.

The employee boarding ramp leading to the landing barge of my last command

Someone was always fantasizing about how to rob the boat and make off with a million bucks. Though these exercises remained an indulgence of the strictest imagination, I refused to participate for fear some outlaw gang would rip off the “cage,” and the first words out of someone’s mouth would be, “The Captain planned it all. I heard him, myself.”

Even the highly respected Security Director, a retired state police officer, had a theory of how the gambling boat might best be relieved of its cash by a band of brigands.

“The first thing they would do,” the top cop began, “would be to slip into the pilothouse and kill the Captain.”

“Say what? Let’s back up and try another approach”, I protested. “They can have every cent. After all, it’s only money.”

‘The Captain planned it all. I heard him myself./

But, despite my outcries to the contrary, the security boss refused to back down.

“It only makes sense to knock off the Captain and anyone else in the wheelhouse.”

The worst never happened. Although the boats carried armed “gaming agents,” primarily assigned state troopers, no time, in the 20 years I spent in the gambling business, were any agents ever required to defend against armed intruders set on relieving the vessels of their cash.

These days, with more liberal use of credit and debit cards, and tokens instead of coins, there may not be as much cash on board as there was 30 years ago when I started on my first floating casino. But, whatever’s going on aboard those gambling boats, I don’t want to venture a guess, for I’m the last one who wants to lead anyone into temptation with loose lips.

ISLE of CAPRI, Natchez — Whatever’s going on aboard those gambling boats, I don’t want to venture a guess.

Captain Don Sanders is a river man. He has been a riverboat captain with the Delta Queen Steamboat Company and with Rising Star Casino. He learned to fly an airplane before he learned to drive a “machine” and became a captain in the USAF. He is an adventurer, a historian, and a storyteller. Now, he is a columnist for the NKyTribune and will share his stories of growing up in Covington and his stories of the river. Hang on for the ride — the river never looked so good.

Click here to read all of Capt. Don Sanders’ stories of The River.

  


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4 Comments

  1. Mike Washenko says:

    Another great read Capt.

  2. Michael Gore says:

    Thanks, Capt. Don, for laying out an interesting insider look at the lure of free money by games of chance or by the siren’s call of “by hook or crook”.

  3. Greg Nienaber says:

    Always enjoy the stories!

  4. WOW What a great life Captain Don Sanders and what great stories. Read your comment re the Diamond Lady on Mckellar Lake in such a sad state. I think she could be brought back with fundraisers I believe Cornel Martin is doing for the Delta Queen.Most of these old time riverboats are gone. what a shame I tried to locate your address or phone in Aurora Ind but they wanted to charge me $25 which is ridiculous then sign in for $24 a month I am a widow live in Fla a riverboat buff collector and cruiser since 1991 its my main hobby I would like to reach you Carole Matthews 954-783-0063 cell thanks

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