LITTLE RIVER -- The Victori Casino left Thursday night for its first gambling cruise out of South Carolina after passing a Coast Guard inspection.

The three-deck catamaran, which was brought to this fishing village on the North Carolina state line after grounding in a Murrells Inlet tidal creek last week, had 61 paying passengers for its maiden voyage.

The 100-foot catamaran moved its schedule up a day, taking gamblers from the Family Kingdom Dock on their first five-hour cruise to nowhere.

More trips are planned this weekend. One employee urged people to give the boat a chance.

"I used to gamble and I was responsible with it. But I don't do it (now) because I can't afford to do it anymore," said Kimberly Harley of Myrtle Beach, a cocktail waitress aboard the ship. "People who are against it should come in and give it a try, to not let others make up their minds for them."

While the state wants a federal judge to stay his order allowing the ship to operate, lawyers did not seek an emergency hearing to keep the boat at the dock.

"There are no plans for anything like that," said Tom Landis, a spokesman for state Attorney General Charlie Condon.

U.S. District Judge David Norton announced Thursday he will hold a hearing in Charleston Nov. 19 on S.C. Attorney General Charlie Condon's request for a stay of his ruling to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowing the boats to operate in South Carolina.

The state is asking for the stay until an appeal it has filed can be heard. South Carolina filed the stay Nov. 2, the day before Williams' boat arrived in Murrells Inlet.

"If there's a hearing, I'll be there," said Williams' attorney, Edward Frazier of Columbia.

Late Thursday afternoon the casino boat's ticket office was in chaos after the decision to set sail early. A reservationist in the Murrells Inlet ticket office said she was calling people with previous reservations.

As the 7 p.m. boarding time neared, strangers struck up friendly conversations with each other before engaging in cut-throat competitions with each other and the games. And everyone smiled as they prepared to board and hoped Thursday was their lucky night.

"You have winners and losers and believe it or not, a lot of the time people who lose say they enjoyed themselves, but probably not as much as the winners," casino manager Andrew Suggett said.

Linda and Danny Rhew of Conway waited in line after being denied a trip last weekend when the boat couldn't cruise from Murrells Inlet.

But as they eyed the slot machines and poker tables they assured each they were going to limit their spending. "These are better than [those video poker machines]," Danny Rhew said. "They're a world apart -- you can win better on slot machines." Richard Bane of Little River came by to see the boat dock but didn't have any money with him so he said he'd be on the boat Saturday.

Aside from the fact that he could win a jackpot, Bane said he was happy for the area. "I think it's do real good for Little River," he said." I think it's a great thing. It helps out all the restaurants, all the bars, all the motels. It's going to hurt the area if they don't let them stay."

DeWayne Williams, owner of the Victori Casino, had a big grin on his face before the launch.

"There are going to be a lot of happy people tonight," he said.