Winnings for casinos remain relatively flat

Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2005 | 9:34 a.m.

NEW ORLEANS -- The take at most of Louisiana's 15 all-games casinos and three racetrack slot machine casinos edged up slightly last month from December.

But eight of the state's 14 riverboat casinos were doing worse than a year ago. In the Shreveport-Bossier City market, the Louisiana Downs slots casino was the only one in better shape than in January 2004.

Louisiana's 15th riverboat casino -- the last allowed by law -- is scheduled to open later this year.

All told, the casinos took $184.5 million from gamblers last month, compared with $175.8 million in January 2003, state police reported Tuesday.

The riverboats pulled in $129.9 million -- $5.3 million less than a year earlier, while track casino income rose $5 million, to $27 million.

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