In September, after hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Louisiana's casino business was down in the dumps, along with the rest of the state's economy. A few months later, other businesses should wish they were doing as well as gambling.
Last month, state-licensed casinos took in $184.4 million, up from $167.1 million in November 2004 — even though three of the state's 15 riverboat casinos, along with the downtown New Orleans casino, were shut because of storm damage.
Those who follow the business say there are likely a lot of reasons for this head-scratching scenario: displaced hurricane people — many armed with relief checks — trying their luck, an influx of out-of-state workers and wiped-out casinos on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
For those casinos that remained open, especially in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, there's been gold from those storms. For example, Baton Rouge's two riverboats saw their take jump more than 50 percent in October and November as the city served as refugee central for the New Orleans area.
Last month, the two open casinos in the New Orleans area — the Boomtown and Treasure Chest riverboats — scored $36.9 million in take, $14.2 million more than in November 2004. Mind you, Harrah's downtown casino was shuttered, along with another riverboat, likely meaning some money just got shifted around — along with some of the usual New Orleans take winding up in the Baton Rouge casinos.
But in a city where the population is only a fraction of pre-Katrina?
A Treasure Chest official told the Louisiana Gaming Control Board that the onslaught wasn't due to local residents, long the New Orleans riverboat market's chief customers. Instead, the casino was hosting construction workers "who are looking for something to do after hours," said Tom McPherson, an official with Boyd Gaming Corp.
At any rate, customers, on average, departed the Treasure Chest $131 lighter than when they went in — the largest such figure in the state last month, usually reserved for either the Horseshoe Casino in Bossier City or the Delta Downs track casino in Vinton — both of which host a lot of Texans.
The gambling boom in Louisiana is not limited to the casinos.
The New Orleans Fair Grounds, which is closed this winter because of storm damage, is staging a shortened, 37-day race meet at Louisiana Downs. Despite having only half its off-track betting system on line in New Orleans, enough bets went down for the Fair Grounds to boost its average daily racing purses 18 percent to $370,000.
With one more gambling outlet in business now than a year ago — Pinnacle Entertainment Inc.'s new casino resort in Lake Charles, which has been a hit with players since its opening in May — the overall growth may be not only temporary, but a statistical illusion.
"More casinos do not produce more revenues for the state," said longtime gambling critic, C.B. Forgotston, referring to a longtime pattern known as "splitting up the pie."
Forgotston, pointing out that tourism in the state has plunged since the storms, said he believed much of the extra money is coming from hurricane victims spending assistance money.
That view may be backed by the six-casino Shreveport-Bossier City market, the farthest from hurricane damage and heavily dependent upon tourists, which saw its winnings largely unchanged from November 2004 to November 2005.
Reece Middleton, executive director of the Louisiana Association on Compulsive Gambling, speculated that many relief workers are coming from states where gambling is not as readily available. And some players, not able to gamble now on the Gulf Coast, may be wandering over to Louisiana.
Middleton said that although assistance money is likely being spent now by some people who will need it later, a real problem will develop after Louisiana residents return home and those with gambling problems head for the casinos with thousands of dollars in insurance settlements.
"Many of them aren't here now," Middleton said.
Meanwhile, the wagering establishments are booming and the tax dollars are pouring in, but for how long, no one knows.