Southeast Indiana Casinos See January Rise

Unseasonably pleasant and balmy weather contributed to a strong uptick in January business for two of the three area riverboat casinos on the Indiana side of the Ohio River.

Compared to January 2005, the Argosy and Grand Victoria casinos – the two closest to Cincinnati – rung up revenue gains of 12 percent and 18 percent, respectively.

Lawrenceville-based Argosy, by far the largest of the casinos, achieved gross revenues of $39 million for the month. Grand Victoria, based in Rising Sun, had revenues of more than $13.6 million versus a little less than $11.5 million last year.

Switzerland County’s Belterra, the farthest of the three, saw revenue fall about 15 percent to $12.3 million for the month.

General manager Larry Buck attributed this to two things: first, there were simply more winners at the casino’s table games, meaning Belterra paid out about 17 percent more than average to winners.

Secondly, he said, Belterra capitalized on the closing for 10 days of Caesars casino near Louisville last January due to flooding. The additional business Belterra drew during that period resulted in a tough comparison for this year.

The same rainy, cold weather that caused the flooding last year held down profits for the other Indiana casinos then, accounting for a good chunk of this January’s gains. In addition to good weather, Grand Victoria’s results were aided by the casino opening 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the first time in mid-January.

Previously, the casino had been closed for several hours each morning on weekdays.

Bryce Kendrick, assistant director of marketing for Grand Victoria, also attributed some gains to enhancements to the casino’s Players Advantage Club and an expansion of promotional giveaways.

Revenue at the casinos tracked total admissions, which were up significantly at Argosy and Grand Victoria but were flat at Belterra.

Belterra recently announced plans to add another 250 hotel rooms to its existing 600, which would make it the largest hotel in Indiana.

Despite flatness in their results during much of the last half of 2005, all three area casinos have announced expansion plans of one form or another in recent months.