Other Sites

777 Casino
online casino

Who Dat? It’s the Sweet Sound of Louisiana’s Casinos Doing Excellent Business in February

Well, OK, the Saints ain’t the Aints anymore. They the Super Bowl champs. But Louisiana has something else to crow about, folks.

Revenues.

Casino gambling is making a comeback and Louisiana is reaping the benefits.

Louisiana’s state-licensed casinos reported winning 10 percent morein February from gamblers than in January.

The 13 riverboat casinos, Harrah’s Entertainment Inc.’s New Orleans casino and the four race track casinos took in $208.7 million in February, up from $189.7 million in January, state police reported Tuesday.

In February, the riverboats won $145 million, up from $131.2 million in January. Harrah’s land casino won $29.2 million in February, a jump from January’s $27 million, and the track casinos tallied $34.5 million in winnings, up from $31.5 million in January.

Sound like solid numbers to you?

You betcha, to quote Ms. Sarah Palin.

The Carnival season, which fell entirely in February this year, is generally a boost to the casino business. For example, the New Orleans market — with two riverboats, Harrah’s and the Fair Ground track casino — recorded a 11.5 percent boost in winnings to $55.4 million from January to February. The two riverboats in Baton Rouge saw their winnings explode 22.2 percent in February to $17.7 million.

At the same time, there were signs of more overall travel. The Shreveport-Bossier City market, which is heavily dependent upon gamblers from Texas and other neighboring states, took in $68.2 million in February — an 11.3 percent jump from January.

The other market targeting Texas players — Lake Charles, with three riverboats and the Delta Downs casino — recorded a 4.4 percent month-to-month jump to $54.5 million.

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