March casino winnings up 5.8 % in Louisiana

That's a 5.8 percent gain from us$ 215.4 million won in March 2011 and follows an 8.7 percent increase recorded in February compared with February 2011. "Most jurisdictions would be happy with a 5.8 percent growth, especially at a time when people aren't feeling good about their finances," said Joe Weinert, a casino analyst with Spectrum Gaming Group in Linwood.

The riverboats won us$ 154.1 million, Harrah's took in us$ 35.8 million and the track casinos won us$ 38 million last month. All of the state's casino markets recorded year-to-year gains.

In February, the casinos won us$ 217.2 million with an early Mardi Gras season and an extra day because of the leap year. March is typically one of the big months for the casino business as income tax refund checks are issued. Analysts also say wagering has benefited at least somewhat from the slowly improving economy.

But more outlets will be competing for the wagering dollars in the future. Three additional riverboat casinos are in the works for Lake Charles, Baton Rouge and Shreveport-Bossier City.

Weinert said it's difficult to predict how much additional wagering the new outlets will attract and how much will be taken from the existing casinos. "It varies market by market, property by property," Weinert said. "There will be some cannibalization, and some expansion of the market, but there's no tried and true predictor."

In March, Pennsylvania slot machines won us$ 233.1 million an all-time high since casinos went into the state in 2006. In neighboring New Jersey, which has struggled since casinos came to Pennsylvania, the take at Atlantic City was down 5.5 percent last month as compared with March 2011. But Nevada saw a 5.7 percent increase in the February-to-February comparison, a gain that state regulators said was across the board for most casinos.

Mississippi has been dealing with competition from Florida Indian reservation casinos and the recent addition of slot machines at two Arkansas race tracks. The February-to-February take rose 2.6 percent in Mississippi only the second time in a year that the state's 30 casinos have shown a gain.