Mark twain casino

Earlier this week, the Mark Twain Casino announced they will no longer offer live table games due to difficulty hiring and retaining qualified dealers and supervisors.

Instead, they will offer virtual versions of the games--including poker, black jack, roulette amongst a few others.

Chairman of the Missouri Gaming Commission Jan Zimmerman says other casinos are dealing with some of the same staffing issues at Mark Twain Casino--but not quite at that scale yet.

The Mark Twain Casino brings in a significant amount of revenue to all of Lewis County.

But some question the impact these changes may have not only in LaGrange--but also the surrounding communities as this could cause some to stop attending.

Canton Mayor Sharon Upchurch says she is not concerned that the Canton economy will be impacted if this were the case.

"We don't receive any of the tax money from that, or I think there is a fee per person," said Upchurch. "We don't receive any of that. On the surface, I am not expecting any big impact."

But something that will affect the city of Canton is the loss of jobs.

"We have residents who live here who work there and to whatever degree some of those people lose their jobs, then that's an impact," said Upchurch.

And that impact expands further across state lines.

"Obviously, the proximity to Illinois causes an even bigger impact than just the county or just the community," Zimmerman said. "It's actually impacting both of the states as far as available jobs and those things that type of entertainment that people might be traveling there to see."

Zimmerman says it is still possible for things to go back to normal in the future if the staffing issue is resolved, but right now, she says it is important to continue to interest customers into continuing to visit and enjoy their new style of entertainment.

"I'd be willing to bet that they are looking hard at ways to entice customers and improve that experience so that they really are still coming there for the opportunity, even it's not an actual table game, the opportunity to go out and be entertained," said Zimmerman.