Economy ruins casinos’ luck
Written on October 12, 2008
You once could bet on casinos’ luck holding out even in tough economic times, but things are turning dicey now. St. Louis-area casinos saw a nearly 4 percent drop in business last month, according to figures released this week by Missouri and Illinois gambling regulators.
"This is the first time casinos have not been immune to an economic downturn," said Mike Knopfel, spokesman for the Ameristar Casino in St. Charles. "We’ve never been affected like we are now."
Local gamblers spent $80.1 million at the region’s six casinos in September, down from $83.3 million in the same month last year. This is the first overall decline since December 2007 when bad weather kept gamblers away.
In August, revenue was up 4.8 percent compared with the year ago period, but much of the gain was driven by the new Lumi
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