First full month of track casino fails to boost Louisiana revenue

Tuesday, July 15, 2003 | 6:55 a.m.

Louisiana's state-licensed casinos saw their winnings from gamblers last month drop slightly from June 2002, despite the first full month of operation of the state's second slot-machine casino at a race track.

The 14 riverboat casinos, Harrah's land casino in New Orleans and the track casinos totaled $167.5 million in winnings, down slightly from $167.9 million in June 2002, state police reported Tuesday.

The riverboats won $129.8 million, down from $134.2 million a year ago. Harrah's New Orleans won $22.1 million in June, compared with $22.8 million in June 2002.

The Delta Downs casino at Vinton won $11 million, compared with $11.4 million in June 2002. Louisiana Downs' casino won $4.6 million during its first full month of operation after winning $2.6 million during a partial month of operation in May.

Two of the state's four gambling markets saw their winnings drop last month from June of 2002:

- Shreveport-Bossier City, which has five riverboats along with Louisiana Downs, won $70.6 million last month, compared with $68 million in June 2002, indicating that some of Louisiana Downs' winnings came at the expense of the boats.

- The Lake Charles market, which has a pair of two-boat complexes and Delta Downs, won $36.8 million in June, down from $39.5 million in June 2002. To this point, Delta Downs' casino has hit the riverboats in that market far harder than Louisiana Downs has affected Shreveport-Bossier City's boats.

- The New Orleans market, which also includes three riverboats with Harrah's, won $44.9 million in June, down from $46.1 million in June 2002.

- The Baton Rouge market, which had two riverboats, won $15 million in June, compared with $14.3 million in June 2002.

The figures do not include the three Indian reservation casinos in Louisiana, which are not required to publicly report their winnings from gamblers.