US (New Orleans) - Gamblers lose $199.7 million in November
NEW ORLEANS — The post-hurricane gambling boom in Louisiana more or less came to a stop in November as gamblers lost $199.7 million in state-licensed casinos.
The figure was up from $184.4 million in November 2005, but that included a time when Harrah’s New Orleans Casino was shuttered because of Hurricane Katrina. Harrah’s provided $32.6 million of the overall take last month, state police reported Tuesday.
Although last winter and spring provided the biggest numbers ever seen in Louisiana’s state-licensed casinos, the take has moved back to historically lower levels as casinos have begun reopening in Biloxi, Miss. _ all of which had been wiped out by Katrina.
The biggest drop-off was noted by the state’s 12 operating riverboat casinos. Those gambling halls won $157.4 million in November 2005, a figure that dropped to $138.3 million last month. The three slot machine casinos at race tracks won $28.7 million last month, a slight increase from $27 million in November 2005.
The Shreveport-Bossier City market, which has five riverboats and a slot casino at Louisiana Downs, won $65.4 million from gamblers in November, compared to the year-ago figure of $62.4 million.
The New Orleans market, consisting of Harrah’s and two riverboat casinos, won $55.2 million in November, up from $36.9 million in November 2005 _ sans Harrah’s downtown casino.
The Lake Charles market, which has three riverboat casinos and a slot casino at Delta Downs, took in $51.8 million last month, compared with $50.8 million in November 2005.
The Baton Rouge market, which has two riverboat casinos, won $18.9 million in November, compared to the year-ago figure $24.9 million _ a time when Baton Rouge was packed with hurricane refugees.
The other state-licensed casino, the slot machine gambling hall at Evangeline Downs in Opelousas, took in $8.3 million last month, up from $7.7 million in November 2005.
The figures do not include the state’s three Indian reservation casinos, which are not required to report their revenue figures publicly.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press.
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