21.   It was only three years ago that lady luck arrived in Canada, when the first gambling hall opened in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

22.   Its two dockside gambling halls on the Mississippi Gulf Coast produced higher earnings because of increased revenue and reduced costs, she said.

23.   Last week, Boyd Gaming lost its bid to build a casino in Hammond, Indiana, to the owners of an Illinois gambling hall.

24.   Less well known is a shuttered gambling hall in the far northwest corner of Washington state, run by the Lummi Indian Nation.

25.   Lenders, watching some of their customers go belly up, are growing wary of extending credit for new gambling halls.

26.   Local residents, fearful that a gambling hall would change their rural quality of life, vigorously opposed the idea.

27.   Massive barges support the gambling halls, which are linked to elaborate buildings housing upscale shops, hotels and some of the best and cheapest restaurants in town.

28.   Mirage plans to build its own casino on the land and give Circus Circus Enterprises Inc. and Boyd Gaming Corp. separate plots to build their own gambling halls.

29.   Most gambling halls are dark, cramped and windowless, which helps customers lose track of time and gamble more.

30.   New gambling halls over the next few years will intensify competition and crimp profits, analysts and investors say.