Establishing a new Downtown casino in Indianapolis to bail out the city’s struggling sports venue board will face long odds in the state legislature, Gov. Mitch Daniels and some lawmakers predicted Friday.

Rep. Bill Crawford, D-Indianapolis, has pitched a 1,500-slot machine casino as an answer to help plug the projected $47 million deficit the Capital Improvement Board will incur in operating the city’s sports venues.

While the plan would generate $20.5 million for the CIB through a 10 percent gaming tax, Daniels said it’s “very unlikely” the General Assembly would back slots.

For the complete story, please see Bill Ruthhart, Few betting on casino in downtown Indy, The Indianapolis Star, April 12, 2009.