Louisiana casino revenue up 10.9 percent

BATON ROUGE — Louisiana’s 15 riverboats, four racetrack slots casinos and Harrah’s land-based casino brought in more than $237.1 million in May, 10.9 percent better than the $213.9 million the gambling halls won the year before.

State police released the May figures on Monday.

The Baton Rouge riverboats’ combined winnings were nearly $25.4 million in May, compared with more than $25.1 million in May 2014.

Winnings in the New Orleans casino market were down 5.7 percent in May when compared with the year before. Harrah’s New Orleans Casino claims a new citywide smoking ban is to blame for a 16 percent decline in its revenue this month compared to a year ago.

Lake Charles saw its winnings increase by 46.7 percent from May 2014.

Shreveport-Bossier City was up 0.7 percent, with the six riverboat casinos and the slots at the Harrah’s racetrack bringing in nearly $66.8 million.

The Opelousas market, represented by the slots at Evangeline Downs, was up by 2.1 percent to $8.6 million.