Louisiana Casinos Up 2% To $185m In October

The Louisiana Gaming Control Board has released its casino results for October revealing a 2% increase in revenue to $185 million compared to $181.4 million for the same month in 2011. However, the figures were 8% down on September’s revenue of $199.7 million.
Louisiana licensed its first casino back in 1993 and now boasts 18 casinos employing over 17,000 employees. In October, $126 million or 68% of the money spent gambling went on Louisiana’s 13 riverboat casinos, up from $123.5 million the year before.
Leading the way was Shreveport and Bossier City’s 5 stationary riverboat casinos, which generated nearly $45.1 million in revenue for October. Next came the Lake Charles area at $35.9 million; the Baton Rouge areat at $22.7 million; and the New Orleans riverboat market at $22.2 million. Additionally, Louisiana’s four racetrack casinos accounted for $30.1 million of the total revenue, $13.9 million of which came from Delta Downs, in Vinton. Next, Evangeline Downs generated a little over $7 million; Harrah’s $5.3 million and the Fair Grounds $3.9 million.
All told, October’s figures are steady and indicate that Louisiana’s casino industry seems to be holding up well in the face of the economic downturn. Last year, Louisiana casinos collectively generated $2.37 billion in revenue, almost identical to 2010’s tally. Furthermore, that figure doesn’t include the state’s three Indian reservation casinos which are not required to report their winnings.
Since 1993, Louisiana riverboats have now generated more than $2.59 billion in state and local taxes. The state’s annual gaming tax rate of 21.5% is also one of the highest across the US, with neighboring Mississippi’s tax rate just 8%, Nevada 6.75% and New Jersey 9.25%. The gaming taxes collected by the Louisiana riverboat casinos help fund essential state services, such as highway construction, schools, as well as fire and police protection.