Some states in the US have experienced a boost in sales in the gambling industry. Unfortunately, other states did not experience the same success and that includes Louisiana. The southern state saw a drop of revenue during the first month of this year.
There are thirteen riverboat casinos in Louisiana. Their cumulative revenue dropped from $153.2 million in January 2009 to $131.2 million last month. Harrah’s land casino also saw a drop of $4.3 million in its income.
Last month’s figures came as a surprise to analysts considering that at the same time last year, the US economy was deep into recession. Even with the slow recovery, Louisiana still managed to lose more money on casinos.
Top gambling locations in the US, Las Vegas and Atlantic City, have reported revenue drops recently. Nevada’s gambling decreased by $6.8 billion for 2009 while New Jersey saw an income reduction of 8.5 percent in its casinos last month.
Partly blamed for these are the tougher competitors in some states that try to enhance their casino industry to compensate for the economic crisis. Pennsylvania lawmakers have made an effort to expand its gambling business which was just recently legalized and Florida and Delaware may soon follow suit.
Louisiana has been stricken with so much bad luck recently. It took a long time for the state to recover from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. However, just right when they thought they were already back on their feet, the recession came.
