Colorado Casinos Behind in the Race
Colorado's casino industry continued to be penny ante compared to other gaming states in 2005, according to a recent American Gaming Association study.
Even though this state ranked relatively low last year in terms of casino jobs and revenue as well as customer spending at casinos, it did see increases in those areas.
The Colorado mountain town of Black Hawk made the study's list of top 20 U.S. casino markets by revenue, coming in at No. 17 with 2005 casino revenue of $531.88 million. No. 1 Las Vegas reported $6 billion in casino revenue.
Despite the challenges of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, this country's gaming industry as a whole grew in 2005, said the AGA's new "State of the States" study.
The country's 455 commercial casinos hit more than $30 billion in gross gaming revenue for the first time ever. Those revenues generated nearly $5 billion in gaming tax, a 5 percent increase from the previous year.
The "poker boom" that started in 2004 also continued last year, with 18 percent of U.S. adults saying they played poker in '05. Americans spent more than $207 million on organized poker, up 37 percent from '04.
The Washington, D.C.-based AGA's survey evaluated 11 states with commercial casinos, including Colorado, as well as nine states offering racetrack casinos.
June 15, 2006
Posted By Bob Hartman
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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