Despite a nationwide economic slowdown, Louisiana’s state-licensed casinos won nearly USD 208 million from gamblers in October, an increase over the same period last year, state police reported Tuesday at a Louisiana Gaming Control Board meeting in Baton Rouge. Revenue was up for the year at all New Orleans-area casinos except Harrah’s New Orleans, the state’s only land-based casino.

Louisiana’s state-licensed casinos won nearly USD 218 million from gamblers in August, with USD 54.3 million of that generated in the New Orleans area alone, State Police reported Tuesday at the Louisiana Gaming Control Board meeting in Baton Rouge. The statewide figure represents a roughly 2.3 percent increase over the same month the year before, when revenue was USD 213 million.

Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. said Monday that Hurricane Ike damaged its Lake Charles, La., casino. The storm created a record-high storm surge, which damaged some of the entrance and exit ramps at the L’Auberge du Lac Casino Resort. Pinnacle’s construction team is working with structural engineers and marine experts to inspect and repair the ramps so the company can reopen the casino as quickly as possible, Pinnacle said.

New Orleans – A sluggish economy and record gasoline prices are keeping travelers closer to home and off the gambling floor at Southern casinos, an industry analyst said last week. Mississippi’s state-licensed casinos saw a 19.4 percent drop in winnings from March to April, while Louisiana’s state-licensed casinos recorded a 7.2 percent drop, according to state regulatory agencies.

Anti-gambling legislation that would have banned ATMs and any credit extensions from casinos narrowly failed this week. But state Senator Joe McPherson and other gambling critics did get one victory in committee with legislation forcing casinos to also advertise their revenue when touting their large payouts to customers. The issues quickly turned into a debate on the merits of gambling in Louisiana, with most of the discussions focused on the presence of automated teller machines in casinos in McPherson’s Senate Bill 41.

Louisiana’s state licensed casinos won a bit over USD 234 million from gamblers last month. That’s a sharp jump from the February 2006 figure of just over USD 212 million. A big jump was recorded by Harrah’s New Orleans land casino, which boosted its take by over USD 7 million. State gambling regulators were told that was due to the Mardi Gras season coming early, combined with the NBA All-Star game in the city last month.

New Orleans (AP) — Casino operator Columbia Sussex Corp. is considering a switch of its two Louisiana gambling riverboats in a move that would bring Baton Rouge a larger facility and send a smaller boat to the Morgan City area, a parish official said Tuesday. The St. Mary Parish Council is scheduled to vote Wednesday on a resolution stating that the parish has no objection to the switch of the Belle of Baton Rouge and the Amelia Belle, parish president Paul Naquin Jr. said.

Pinnacle Entertainment informed that voters in East Baton Rouge Parish approved the development and construction of Riviere, the company’s USD 250 million gaming entertainment complex that will be built on more than 222 hectares in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The gaming resort project will offer sweeping views of the Mississippi River similar to Pinnacle’s USD 507 million Lumiere Place casino and entertainment complex located by the river in downtown St. Louis.

Harrah’s Entertainment informed that it received approval from the Louisiana Gaming Control Board and the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission for the proposed acquisition of Harrah’s by affiliates of Apollo Management, L.P. and TPG Capital. The transaction remains subject to approval by other jurisdictions in which Harrah’s subsidiaries operate and other conditions to closing set forth in the agreement and plan of merger entered into on December 19, 2006.

Pinnacle Entertainment announced that the Louisiana Gaming Control Board has approved its plans for a hotel and gaming entertainment project on more than 222.5 hectares of land that the company owns or has under contract in Baton Rouge. The master-planned development requires various other approvals, including a local-option referendum in East Baton Rouge Parish, which the company will seek to put on the ballot in February 2008, and adherence to certain conditions imposed by the Louisiana Gaming Control Board.

By a vote of 7-0, the Metro Council voted Wednesday to file a lawsuit and use any legal means necessary to get information about the economic impact of Pinnacle Entertainment’s proposed riverboat casino project in south Baton Rouge. Pinnacle had released an economic impact study in May, but declined through its lawyers to release a revised study that it recently submitted to the Louisiana Gaming Control Board.

New Orleans (AP) — Buoyed by a record month from Harrah’s Entertainment Inc.’s downtown land casino in New Orleans, Louisiana’s state-licensed casinos won USD 220.5 million from gamblers in May, state police reported Wednesday. Harrah’s won USD 39.6 million last month, compared with USD 35.7 million in May 2006 when the state was enjoying reduced competition from casinos on the Mississippi Gulf Coast — all of which were wiped out by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.