Louisiana casino winnings remain relatively flat

Alan Sayre

Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2005 | 9:19 a.m.

NEW ORLEANS -- With Louisiana's 15th and final riverboat casino allowed by law scheduled to open later this year, the existing state-licensed gambling halls continued a trend in December of relatively little overall growth in winnings despite the addition of more wagering outlets.

The 14 riverboats, the downtown New Orleans casino and three slot-machine casinos at race tracks took $175.8 million from gamblers last month, compared with $166 million in December 2003, state police reported Tuesday.

The only difference from a year ago was a full month of operation for the casino at Evangeline Downs in Opelousas, which was open for 12 days in December 2003.

The riverboats pulled in $124.7 million, compared with the year-ago figure of $125.4 million; Harrah's New Orleans won $25.9 million, compared with $23.2 million in December 2003; and the track casinos won $25.2 million, up from $20.6 million a year ago in December.

The results indicate a trend that has been evident for about four years: the addition of new gambling outlets, unlike the early days of casinos in Louisiana during the 1990s, results in smaller and smaller revenue increases overall as the gambling market gets tighter.

The Shreveport-Bossier City market, which includes five riverboats and the track casino at Louisiana Downs won $64.6 million from gamblers in December, compared with $65.5 million in December 2003.

The New Orleans market, which includes Harrah's New Orleans Casino and three riverboats, won $49.8 million, compared with $45.6 million a year ago.

The Baton Rouge market, with two riverboats, saw casino winnings of $16.1 million, up from the year-ago figure of $14.9 million.

In the Lake Charles market, which includes a pair of two-riverboat complexes and the Delta Downs track casino, gamblers lost $38.9 million in December, compared with $36.2 million in December 2003.

The Opelousas market, with the Evangeline Downs track casino, won $6.5 million in December, compared with $5.7 million for the partial month of December 2003.

With Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. scheduled to open a $365 million riverboat casino resort this spring, Isle of Capri Casinos Inc. is trying to move one of its two riverboats in the market to the New Orleans suburb of Metairie.