Patrons, profits decline at area casinos
SPRINGFIELD - Suburban casinos were visited by fewer gamblers who lost less money last month compared to August 2008, new state reports show.
The Grand Victoria Casino in Elgin continues to be the top grossing casino in the state, recording revenues of nearly $24.7 million last month, but that was down 13.25 percent from the same month last year.
The number of patrons visiting the casino also fell, to 184,773 last month from 193,026 in August 2008, a 4.28 percent drop.
Casinos in Joliet and Aurora also reported drops over the same period.
Revenue from gamblers dropped 14.77 percent to $14 million while the number of gamblers dropped 11.28 percent to 137,184 at the Empress Joliet.
At the nearby Harrah's Joliet Casino the nearly $22.4 million August take from gamblers was off 13.36 percent. Head count was down just 1.19 percent at 217,566 patrons for August.
Hollywood Casino Aurora reported gambling revenues of $15.4 million, down 18.57 percent and a 3.17 percent drop in attendance to 133,507 gamblers last month.
The trend was generally reflected statewide as total revenues from Illinois' nine casinos were down 9.75 percent at $122 million for this August compared to last August.
The drop has been blamed on a lagging economy and a new state law that bans smoking inside the casinos.