New Orleans casino winnings up slightly

Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2000 | 12:35 p.m.

Louisiana's 13 riverboat casinos won a total of $124.96 million in September, state police said Tuesday in their monthy report on casino revenue. Total casino winnings for the month: $148.6 million, an improvement over August's $138 million.

The Shreveport-Bossier City casino market continued to be the leader among all regions of the state, with gamblers losing close to $60 million there. The Horseshoe did the best among the four riverboats there, winning $23.1 million from 328,784 visitors, an improvement from the previous month's winnings of $20.3 million.

The New Orleans market, led by the Harrah's casino, was in second. The Treasure Chest and Boomtown casinos each pulled in more than $8 million from gamblers while Bally's took in $5.4 million, all improvements over the August take.

Gamblers lost $29.3 million in the four-boat Lake Charles market. Like Shreveport-Bossier City, the Lake Charles market draws heavily from Texas gamblers, but also must compete with a nearby Indian casino which is not required to report winnings publicly.

The two boats at Baton Rouge, Casino Rouge with $7.7 million in winnings and Argosy with $6 million, combined for a September market total of $13.7 million.

Although Harrah's New Orleans Casino's winnings have edged up in recent months, some analysts have said it must win as much as $30 million a month to be successful. Others have put the break-even number between $20 million and $25 million.

Casino officials have said Harrah's needs relief from the state's minimum $100 million tax to survive. Casino owner JCC Holding Co. and manager Harrah's Entertainment Inc. both have said it is unlikely the casino will stay open past March 31 unless the Legislature reduces the tax.

JCC Holding president Fred Burford made another push Tuesday for a tax cut.

"At 41 percent of gross gaming revenues, this is the highest effective state gaming tax rate in the nation and continues to threaten the viability of this business," Burford said.

JCC Holding also is expected to push for legislators to lift a ban on the casino having its own hotel and in-casino dining - both of which the company cites as a competitive disadvantage with casinos on the Mississippi coast.