Mark Twain Casino rebounded with some strong patronage and revenue numbers in February.

Figures released this week by the Missouri Gaming Commission show 38,883 patrons visited the LaGrange casino in February — up from 36,657 in January.

Revenue also bounced back strongly last month. MGC figures show the casino logged $2,267,651 in winnings, marking the casino's best month since March 2003.

The casino's winnings amounted to an average of $58.32 from each patron. The state average was $59.25.

Slot machines accounted for 90 percent of the total revenue. The MGC report shows the casino's 500 slots generated $2,042,289. That's the most monthly slot revenue ever generated at the casino since the facility opened in July 2001. The slot revenue represented a 9 percent gain from February 2003.

The casino's slot machine "hold" for the month was 8.4 percent. This means the casino kept 8.4 percent of the $24.4 million wagered in its machines. That hold percentage, which varies from month to month, was up from 8.2 percent in January. The rate was the second-highest among Missouri's 11 casinos. It was surpassed only by Casino Aztar in Caruthersville, which had a hold percentage of 10.6 percent in February. The state average was 7.5 percent.

Table game revenue amounted to $225,362 — a 23 percent drop from a year ago. The table game winnings amounted to 21.4 percent of the total table "drop." The drop is the amount of cash converted into chips by customers, which amounted to $1,053,625 in February.

The casino logged 87,895 "admissions" in February — up from 82,156 in January. An admission refers to anyone who happens to be on the gaming floor when the casino conducts its official count of patrons every two hours. Some patrons stay longer than two hours, so they are counted as admissions more than once.

The casino must pay $2 for every official admission. One-half of that goes to the city of LaGrange as the "home dock city." The other half goes to the MGC. This means the city received $87,895 from admission fees alone last month.

The city also gets 2 percent of the casino's adjusted gross revenue as its share of the state's gaming tax. This amounted to $45,353 last month.

In the 2002-03 fiscal year, which ended June 30, the city received a total of $1,598,841 from admission fees and gaming taxes. In 2001-02, LaGrange received $1,537,870.

Source: Quincy Herald-Whig