The first quarter reports coming in from the American casino and casino resort industry continue to confirm what most already know. The country is still under the grips of a recession. There are some casino industry companies that are making headway, and even some that have managed to turn a small profit, but the over all feeling is that net losses are still the trend as America deals with getting back on its economic feet. One of America’s most notable casino resort companies, Harrah’s Entertainment, have released their report, and it confirms the trend of first quarter losses.

Harrah’s Entertainment owns some of the biggest casino resorts on the Las Vegas Strip including Harrah’s Las Vegas, Caesars Palace, Paris Las Vegas, Bally’s, and the newly acquired Planet Hollywood Resort. They also own several off-strip properties like the Rio and the Flamingo. All of this is tied in with casinos and casino hotel spread throughout the country in regional markets. Their report on the first three months of 2010 saw the casino resort company take a loss of close to $195.6 million. This was a staggering increase of 47.4 percent from the same quarter of the previous year. This includes a 13 percent drop in quarter on quarter revenues from $2.54 billion to $2.19 billion.

Several factors played into the Harrah’s Entertainment taking another loss this quarter. Of course, the biggest blame was put on the economic condition. It seems that Americans are not quite ready to spend their money traveling to and in the casinos yet. The lack of visitors forced most casino hotels in Las Vegas to lower room rates. Some blame is also being placed on the unseasonal harsh weather that hit the northeast and the midwest at the beginning of spring forcing people to stay close to home. Harrah’s Entertainment is also in the throngs of paying of debt. While the action is responsible and should be commended it is pulling cash away from their bottom line.

Tags: casino, gambling, online