Mo. casinos boast more revenue, patrons

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The state's casino industry continues to shrug off the nation's recession, posting both higher revenue and more patrons in February than during the same month a year ago, according to the Missouri Gaming Commission.

Those numbers, released Tuesday, were buoyed by a sharp rise in both categories at St. Louis' newest casino, Lumiere Place. Revenue there was 38 percent higher than in February 2008, and 54 percent more patrons walked through the doors, edging Lumiere past Harrah's North Kansas City as the state's fifth highest-grossing casino.

Growth at Lumiere Place, which opened in December 2007, continues to eat into revenue at the state's lowest-grossing casino, the President in St. Louis, which saw a 33 percent drop from the year-ago period. Both casinos are owned by Las Vegas-based Pinnacle Entertainment, which is working on a new development in St. Louis dubbed River City Casino and Hotel that is scheduled to open early next year.

Statewide, casino revenue for the month was up $5.1 million over February 2008. For the fiscal year that started July 1, revenue was $63.9 million higher than in the same span of the previous fiscal year.

"We're extremely pleased with the amount of play we're seeing here," said Troy Stremming, a vice president with Ameristar.

Stremming noted that both Las Vegas and Atlantic City are reporting double-digit declines in casino revenue while Missouri's casino revenue are growing.

"It's the combination of a lot of things," he said. "We don't rely on travel the way Las Vegas and Atlantic City do. There's removal of the loss limits, and people staying closer to home and not traveling long distances.

"The combination of all of them certainly is making the casino operators in the Midwest part of the country more attractive."

While patrons and admissions rose in the Kansas City market in February, revenue fell by about $426,000, or less than 1 percent, from the previous year. In the St. Louis market, revenue were up $4.1 million over February 2008.

Argosy posted the biggest gains in the Kansas City market, about $981,000 higher in February than in the same month last year, a 6 percent increase. Revenue at Kansas City's Isle of Capri was up 1 percent, while Ameristar was down 5 percent and Harrah's dropped 3 percent. But Harrah's and Ameristar also recorded increases in patronage.

In the St. Louis market, revenue at Ameristar was up 6 percent but down 3 percent at Harrah's for the period.

Overall, winnings at four of Missouri's five largest casinos dropped from January to February. Officials attributed the lower winnings to February being a shorter month with one less weekend than January.

As for the number of patrons, Stremming said Kansas City's new smoking ban likely played a part in the increases in that market.

In three of the city's four casinos, smoking is banned everywhere but on the casino floors, meaning people who come to the casinos solely for the restaurants and sports bars -- for instance, to watch a basketball game -- have to either go outside or into the casino to smoke.

Each time a person goes into the casino, even if it's just to smoke a cigarette, the state counts that as another patron and charges the casino $2.

Ameristar's St. Charles casino continues to be Missouri's most lucrative, winning about $25.8 million in February. Harrah's Maryland Heights is second at $23.1 million, followed by Ameristar Kansas City at $20.1 million and Argosy in Riverside at $17.06 million.

The state's six smallest casinos all saw higher revenue in February than in January, and other than the President, all were up over the same month a year ago.