NOVEMBER TOUGH ON RIVERBOATS

JEFFERSON CITY -- For the first time since riverboat gambling began in Missouri in May 1994, both monthly admissions and profit registered declines in November. Only one of the seven casinos in the state showed an increase in both categories.

A computer-generated analysis of November reports filed with the Missouri Gaming Commission shows admissions in November were 148,806 fewer than the year-to-date monthly average. And the casinos' monthly gross profit was down more than $2 million from the average monthly take since July 1.

The declines in both attendance and gross profit were the first to be registered by the casinos, although gross profit for the combined gambling operations at St. Charles showed an increased even as admissions registered a loss. Although statistics for the state's newest casino, Boyd's Sam's Town in Kansas City, were used in the analysis, the operation only has a 2 1/2-month record, making a five-month, year-to-date analysis for the operation impossible.

The state's gambling regulation agency has expanded reports on casino operations, including for the first time the amounts spent and won for table games -- blackjack, roulette, poker -- as well as the amount spent by gamblers and the profit retained by the companies for slot machines. Statistics for both operations show declines in the number of gamblers taking part but increases in the profit amounts realized by the casinos.

Gaming report totals show sizable losses in table game players at Argosy, Aztar, Riverside, Harrah's, President and Frontier, while player gains were recorded at St. Charles and Sam's Town. Despite the losses, all of the casinos, with the exception of Aztar, registered increases in the percentage of winnings taken by the gambling firms. The highest percentage -- 33.694 percent -- was taken at St. Joseph's Frontier casino.

For slot machine operations, all companies with the exception of the two at St. Charles recorded losses in players in November. The payout percentage, or the amount of money paid to customers, was lowered except at St. Charles, with only a fractional difference at Frontier.

The largest slot player decline was reported by North Kansas City's Harrahs, where the total amount spent by gamblers dropped from a high of $149.8 million in August to a low of $130.8 million in November.

State officials said they hadn't had an opportunity to analyze the changes in admissions and gross profit.