We're feeling it like everybody else.'Ī decrease in casino revenue can have a direct impact on the approximately 1,500-member Forest County Potawatomi tribe, which pays each of its members a dividend of approximately $70,000 annually. 'There may have been a perception out there that the casino industry was recession-proof,' Amundson said. Now that the shine is fading, the business is feeling the effect of the economy. 'The expansion piqued the curiosity of people,' said Ryan Amundson, spokesman for the gambling hall that has about 3,100 slot machines. That increase was largely attributed to the $240 million expansion of the casino that was mostly completed by June 2008. That's a sharp reversal from the previous fiscal year, when the casino bucked the industry and posted an increase of 9.5% in net win, bringing it up to $369.8 million. The nation's first off-reservation casino posted a net win - the amount gamblers lose at the casino - of about $350 million in the 12-month period, down from $370 million the previous fiscal year, the figures show. The casino industry's slump finally hit the Menomonee Valley as gambling revenue at the Potawatomi Bingo Casino fell 5.4% in the fiscal year that ended June 30, new figures show.
