Twelve years after Louisiana’s first riverboat opened for gambling in New Orleans, the fifteenth and last allowed by state legislation is about to open at Lake Charles in southwestern Louisiana. Pinnacle Entertainment’s L’Auberge du Lac Hotel & Casino is adding the final touches for its May 26 launch at 10pm. The state-of-the-art gaming floor is on the largest single-deck riverboat in the United States, and the only single-decker in Louisiana.

In addition to the casino is a hotel tower of 26 storeys with over 700 rooms, a championship golf course, restaurants and retail shops, and a meeting centre, plus many other recreational and business facilities. The 227-acre property is hoping to entice resort and business travellers from other states, as well as local visitors to its always open casino with 60 table games and 1,600 slot machines.

Already at Lake Charles are the riverboats operated by Isle of Capri and Harrah’s. Last month’s gambling revenues were $40.3 million but the Lake Charles market is not an easy one. Isle of Capri has twice attempted to move its riverboat from the area, and there is further competition from slot machines at Delta Downs racetrack and an Indian land-based casino nearby.

Pinnacle Entertainment operates riverboat casinos at two other Louisiana sites as well as casinos in Indiana, Mississippi, Nevada and Argentina. Two major casino developments in the St Louis region of Missouri are awaiting approval from the Missouri Gaming Commission, and the property in Neuquén, Argentina is being replaced by a new casino facility. (E-05.24.05)

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