Published: July 16, 2008 12:46 pm         

Casino games nab $3.28 billion for year

Baton Rouge — Gamblers lost $3.28 billion playing state-licensed casino games during Louisiana’s just-completed fiscal year.

According to state police figures released Tuesday, the games took in slightly more than during the 2006-07 state fiscal year when gambling establishments won $3.23 billion.

During the 2007-08 fiscal year that ended June 30, riverboat casinos won $1.8 billion, Harrah’s downtown land casino in New Orleans won $419.1 million and casinos at race tracks won another $384.4 million.

Gamblers lost another $674.1 million in video poker machines at off-track betting parlors, truck stops and bars.

The figures don’t include the three Indian reservation casinos in Louisiana. Those casinos don’t have to report their winnings to the public.