Louisiana News - Page 14

Harrah's New Orleans, Boyd Gaming Corp.'s Treasure Chest, and Pinnacle Entertainment's Boomtown New Orleans will voluntarily close indefinitely until further notice.

Fair Grounds Race Course will participate in mandatory evacuation for Isaac and move 700 horses.

Pinnacle postpone planned August 29 opening of its L'Auberge Casino & Hotel Baton Rouge project due to Isaac.

Boomtown Casino New Orleans announced a voluntary closure today as a precautionary measure as Tropical Storm Isaac approaches the Gulf Coast.

The Louisiana Gaming Control passed a resolution allowing the chairman to sign off on allowing gambling operations to begin August 29 provided the remaining certifications are approved.

Pinnacle said Wednesday its overall revenues in the quarter that ended June 30 were $298.3 million, mainly due to the company's flagship L'Auberge du Lac resort in Lake Charles, La., and its two St. Louis casinos.

The development at Boomtown New Orleans would mark the second construction for Las Vegas-based Pinnacle in Louisiana.

The new L'Auberge Casino opening date is expected to be revealed next week.

In a statement, Las Vegas-based Ameristar said it hoped to complete the 700-room Ameristar Lake Charles by the fall of 2014.

Louisiana on Thursday approved the $32.5 million acquisition by Ameristar Casinos of Creative Casinos, setting the stage for construction of a $500 million hotel-casino in Lake Charles.

Boyd Gaming will spend $1.45 billion to acquire the assets of Peninsula Gaming, giving the Las Vegas-based company a presence in Kansas, Iowa and a significant expansion in Louisiana, the company announced Wednesday.

The regional casino operator announced it had bought all of the equity interests of Creative Casinos, a company owned by longtime gaming executive Dan Lee, for $32.5 million.

New Orleans casinos enjoyed a happy February with all except Boomtown reporting increased revenue over Feb 2011 figures.

Construction has started on the Margaritaville Casino and Resort, which will include a 30,000 square foot gaming floor, hotel and other amenities.

Construction on the $197 million casino and hotel resort is expected to commence immediately and extend for approximately 16 months.

Isle of Capri Casinos completed a $15 million sale of a smallest of its two riverboat casinos in Lake Charles.

Caesars Entertainment is exploring options for its Grand Casino in Biloxi, which was damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Credit Suisse gaming analyst Joel Simkins said that a continued rebound in regional gaming markets will give the company a lift.

Overall attendance is up more than 25% over the same time last year through the first six stops of the 2011-2012 World Series of Poker Circuit Events.

Revenue down both locally in New Orleans and statewide for casinos compared to October 2010.