Video poker take up

Thursday, July 21, 2005 | 9:23 a.m.

NEW ORLEANS -- Video poker's take from gamblers increased during Louisiana's last fiscal year, along with the number of truck stop mini-casinos hosting the machines.

Gamblers lost $583.8 million playing video poker during the 2004-05 fiscal year at truck stops, bars, restaurants, hotels, and off-track betting parlors, compared with $566 million for the 2003-04 year. Both fiscal years ended on June 30.

At the same time, the number of truck stops offering video poker rose from 147 to 155. A truck stops can have 35 to 50 machines, based on its volume of fuel sales, compared with a maximum of three for bars and restaurants.

While the total video poker take increased, along with the number of truck stops, the total number of machines only rose by one to 14,297, and the total number of locations with the games actually fell from 2,798 to 2,751.

That is because the number of bars with video poker dropped. State police said 1,511 bars had video poker in June 2004, but that number fell to 1,458 by June 2005.

Truck stops with video poker have steadily increased over the past decade and now number far more than before voters decided to shut off the machines in 33 parishes in 1996. When the games were turned off in those parishes in 1999, the number of truck stop casinos fell from 110 to 88.

During the last fiscal year, truck stops had 5,905 of the machines and accounted for $323.7 million of video poker's winnings from players.

Some local governments have attempted to stymie the growing number of truck stops through zoning. St. Bernard Parish in southeastern Louisiana is considering a 180-day moratorium on new truck stops to give the parish council a chance to tighten local laws.

Longtime Louisiana gambling critic C.B. Forgotston said the growth of gambling truck stops points to the failure of the 1996 parish-by-parish referendums on legal wagering.