Louisiana casinos reported a 12% year-over-year gaming revenue increase in August. The casinos’ retail and mobile sports betting operations were most responsible for the surge.
The Louisiana Gaming Control Board (LGCB) revealed that commercial casino revenue totaled approximately $191.5 million last month. Gross gaming revenue (GGR) from slot machines and table games was $166.1 million, a 7.9% improvement, or an increase of $12.1 million.
Oddsmakers kept $25.4 million of the more than $234.5 million in bets that were wagered online and in person. The bulk of the action — $218 million — was facilitated online. The sports betting haul represented a 49.5% surge on August 2023. The sportsbook money propelled August’s statewide GGR upwards of roughly $20.5 million year over year.
August was much needed after state casino revenue was down year over year in April, June, and July.
Oddsmakers in Louisiana fared well last month, largely because of state bettors buying parlays. Parlays are when a bettor combines two or more bets into a single wager. The bets come with longer odds but also larger payouts.
Unfortunately for the public, last month went the house’s way. Sportsbooks reported that parlays accounted for more than $14.4 million of the $25.4 million that oddsmakers won.
Football accounted for $3.3 million and baseball bets generated GGR of $2.3 million. Basketball delivered revenue of just $208K.
Wagers on golf, boxing, and other sports were behind $4.5 million of the sportsbook revenue.
Each of Louisiana’s monitored gaming markets — Lake Charles, Shreveport/Bossier City, New Orleans, and Baton Rouge — saw GGR improve last month. The numbers below exclude sports betting and include revenue only from slots and tables.
Lake Charles, the state’s richest casino market, saw gaming win climb 2% to $57.3 million. L’Auberge led the rally with a GGR increase of almost 12% to $26 million.
The Penn Entertainment property managed to dethrone Golden Nugget in the western Louisiana casino town, which saw GGR climb 1.6% to $25.6 million. Caesars Entertainment’s Horseshoe continues to struggle in Lake Charles. GGR at the new land-based facility fell over 26% to just $5.7 million.
In Lake Charles, visitors from neighboring Texas predominantly stay at the Golden Nugget or L’Auberge, whether it be in the resorts’ hotel rooms or in the vast RV parking lots that the casinos share.
In Shreveport/Bossier, GGR climbed 13% to $45.7 million, a difference of $5.3 million. Horseshoe was the market’s leader at $15.6 million.
Shreveport/Bossier will get a sixth casino next year when Live! Casino & Hotel Louisiana opens. The Cordish Companies is investing $270 million to reimagine the former Diamond Jacks complex into a land-based casino resort.
The New Orleans market was third with GGR of $41.4 million, a 14% year-over-year increase. Harrah’s New Orleans, a brick-and-mortar property, experienced a 5% gain to $18.9 million. The city’s three riverboats — Amelia Belle, Boomtown, and Treasure Chest — reported a 29% jump to $23.6 million.
The newly minted land-based Treasure Chest that opened in Kenner in June fueled the Big Easy riverboat action, as the casino won almost $6.8 million, up 83%.
Baton Rouge’s three casinos won $20.6 million, up 8%. L’Auberge was the top property among the capital city’s three casinos at $13.2 million.
