BY TANYA ALBERT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LAWRENCEBURG -- March was the best month ever for the Southeastern Indiana riverboat casino market.
More than 378,000 visitors dropped about $34.6 million at two riverboat casinos' slot machines and at blackjack, roulette, craps and other table games, according to statistics the Indiana Gaming Commission (IGC) released Monday.
About 228,000 gamblers left behind more than $20.4 million of that money at Argosy Casino in Lawrenceburg -- the most since the casino opened in December 1996.
That also was the best in the state this month. Empress Casino in northwest Indiana brought in about $18.5 million from slot machines and table games last month.
"We are pleased to see the total market continuing to grow," Argosy General Manager Arnold Block said in a press release Monday. But Argosy's big month didn't appear to hurt business at Grand Victoria Casino and Resort in Rising Sun.
The riverboat casino, about 40 minutes from Cincinnati, saw its best numbers since October. About 150,000 gamblers dropped nearly $14.2 million there in March.
The numbers also showed Argosy paid more than $5.6 million in city, county and state taxes. Grand Victoria paid more than $3.8 million.
