Weisberg said he's offering them an opportunity on a new venture, but can't share those details.

Now, those 100 employees are looking for new jobs. During the three months it was docked, the company paid all of its employees about $1 million total. Weisberg said his group, PB Gaming, spent $9 million fixing the boat. Weisberg said it was successful during that time period, the weekend cruises were booked solid.īut he anticipates the new gambling rules will take effect next year, making it impossible for his business model to work.Įngine trouble delayed that first cruise by about three months. 'I'm 50 years old and after nine months, or a year, I didn't have a job,' he explained.īlue Horizon sailed for about five months. He pointed out previous ones at this port, like Black Diamond and Island Breeze, had issues, making it hard on employees like him. He said he's worked on casino boats for 12 years. 'When you're stuck four hours, it's hard to do anything but sit there and wait for it to come back to the dock.' It's hard to compete with land-based stuff,' explained former casino boat captain Mark Wilkerson. Plus, the deal would allow the Palm Beach Kennel Club to have a system similar to slot machines, which is also something the casino boat offered. This is something that only ships like Blue Horizon could do before the agreement. Robert Weisberg, with Blue Horizon, said the state of Florida has all but formally agreed to a new gambling deal, which allows land-based casinos to offer craps and roulette. 'There are so many places you can gamble on the land, that unless you take a cruise and they have gambling there, a ship that just does gambling isn't going to survive,' explained Tica Richardson. Management says the casino boat can't compete with new gambling rules in Florida that make more games available on land.Ī lot of people weren't surprised by the decision. They announced the casino cruise will stop operating out of the Port of Palm Beach effective Wednesday. It's a gamble the owners of Blue Horizon casino don't think is worth taking.

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