B.R. casinos take less from gamblers in October

Baton Rouge’s two riverboat casinos together raked in $14.3 million in October, a 5.9% decline in winnings from the same month a year ago, according to figures compiled by the Louisiana State Police and released today to the state’s Gaming Control Board. Hollywood Casino fared much better than the Belle of Baton Rouge, though both casinos saw winnings decline. Hollywood Casino won $9.2 million—a 3% drop from last year—while the Belle of Baton Rouge saw its take drop 10.7% to $5.1 million. Robyn Ryan, Belle of Baton Rouge director of marketing, says the decline there is due to an ongoing $7 million renovation at the casino that kicked off in October and is expected to be complete by Christmas. “We are full-blown into our renovations, and that’s what you’re seeing reflected in the numbers,” Ryan says. “We’ve had entire sections of the casino that have been closed over the past month. We definitely expect to see some significant improvement (in the numbers) after the first of the year.” Collectively, Louisiana’s 13 riverboat casinos won $123.5 million in October—an 8.9% decrease from a year ago and a 7.9% decrease from a month ago. Harrah’s Casino in New Orleans, the state’s lone land-based casino, won $27 million in October—an 8.9% decline from a year ago and a 12.2% decline from September. —Steve Sanoski