Louisana yesterday reported same-store growth of 0.5% from 2007. Like Iowa, it appears to have bottomed out for the time being.

Pinnacle Entertainment may want to entertain second thoughts about going into Baton Rouge, not only the sole market to retreat (-8%) in July, but revenue-negative for 18 of the last 19 months. Some of the problem there may be product-related, though: Penn National's Casino Rouge has recovered from terrible early-2007/2006 comparisons and is -1.5% for 2008 so far.

Time to man the pumps at Belle of Baton Rouge

That giant sucking sound is Columbia Sussex's Belle of Baton Rouge, -11% in July and -13% for the year. It's registered double-digit revenue declines for 16 of the last 19 months, and negative comparisons in a perfect 19 of 19. The same company's Amelia Belle was up slightly for the month, though, and continues to retain market share in New Orleans, so go figure.

Both Bossier City and Lake Charles were +4%, which -- in the case of the former -- suggests it may have weathered the storm that was the advent of Class III gambling in Oklahoma. Eldorado Resorts' riverboat, up 10%, continues to pull market share away from its competitors, which bodes well for the company's entry into the Evansville, Ind., market ... unless Tropicana Entertainment double-crosses it on that Casino Aztar deal, as it's threatening to do.

At least Eldorado's rivals are in the game, It's a one-sided battle in Lake Charles, where two Isle of Capri boats continue to post month after month after month of declines, while Pinnacle's L'Auberge du Lac resort gobbles up the business Isle sheds. Neither in Bossier City nor any other market did Boyd Gaming make a big noise, but it was one of July's winners, up 1% (Isle, Harrah's Entertainment and Penn National all registered overall declines), behind Pinnacle's +3%.

Speaking of Harrah's, its eponymous New Orleans casino was off July 2007's pace by $2.7 million. That's slightly more than relative newcomer Fair Grounds Race Course pulled in, total. With Boyd's Treasure Chest and ColSux's Amelia Belle standing their ground, and both Harrah's and Pinnacle's Boomtown New Orleans trending downward, it looks like Fair Grounds has found the latter two's customer bases ripe for the plucking.

Sources say ... that Elad Properties got a 6.3% interest rate on the extension of its $625 million loan (stemming from the $43 million/acre purchase of the New Frontier). If Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs are so sanguine, then it's way too early to be writing this project off.

I took another look at the most recent set of Hooters financials. Even with $2.2 million in cost reductions, the little casino would be looking at a $3 million-plus loss were it not for the non-recurring bonanza -- in the form of a $5.5 million breakup fee from the buyout that went bust. In other words, it's premature for management to be running any victory laps. The chances of profitable third- and fourth-quarters still seem quite remote.