Casino Revenue Grows in New Orleans, Unlike Las Vegas

Once again, local gambling venues that are strictly gambling and not multi-entertainment mega reasorts seem to be doing good business.

Casino business may be declining in some places, but in New Orleans it's picking up steam. The New Orleans-area casinos reported a thirty percent upswing in July in revenues over June, roughly equaling July of last year, before so many gambling venues saw hard times come knocking.

The Boomtown Casino, Treasure Chest, Harrah's New Orleans and the New Orleans Fair Grounds slots room totaled just under $60 million in business. Of the four, only Harrah's did less than last July, and that was only a slight dip; all did significantly better than June.

As far as patrons, the total visitors last month were 882,722, compared to 731,984 in June and 868,572 in July 2007.

The state of Louisiana was equally healthy, showing a July revenue total of $232 million for all thirteen riverboats, four racetrack casinos, and Harrah's. In June that total was $214 million, and last July revenue equalled $228 million.

The state has three Indian casinos, which are not required to report earnings.

Not included in the casino figures, but up significantly were the revenues collected from video gaming located at truck stops, bars, hotels, and off-track bettings facilities. These machines took in a whopping $56.3 million, up from $34.4 million in June and $33.9 million in July of '07.

Once again, local gambling venues that are strictly gambling and not multi-entertainment mega reasorts seem to be doing good business. Las Vegas and Atlantic City cannot say that gambling is no longer recession-proof; instead, the evidence behind the Bradley Theorem, as published by OCA, grows daily.