By EDWARD HUSAR

Herald-Whig Staff Writer

LaGRANGE, Mo. -- While casinos in New Jersey and Las Vegas reported big revenue drops in recent weeks because of the economic slowdown, Terrible's Mark Twain Casino and other Missouri casinos continue to fare well.

Figures released by the Missouri Gaming Commission show the LaGrange, Mo., casino reported $2,796,764 in revenue during September -- 4 percent increase from a year ago. Gambling revenue statewide in September totaled $128.8 million -- just a hair shy of the $129.1 million logged a year earlier.

Bloomberg magazine, meanwhile, reported that casino revenue in Atlantic City, N.J., tumbled 15 percent in September -- its biggest monthly decline since gambling started there in 1978.

Bloomberg said the drop-off occurred "because soaring fuel and food costs left U.S. consumers with less money for entertainment."

The magazine also said Atlantic City's economic problems were compounded by slot-machine competition from neighboring states and rainy weather.

Bloomberg also reported that Las Vegas casinos posted a 7.4 percent revenue decline in August -- the most recent monthly figure available -- "as consumers struggling with higher gasoline prices, falling home values and mounting job losses pare entertainment spending."

Bob Thursby, general manager of Mark Twain Casino, said his own casino and others in Missouri aren't always as severely impacted by economic conditions as in other parts of the country. This is borne out by Gaming Commission figures showing the LaGrange casino had revenue increases of 5 percent in August and 14 percent in July. Casinos statewide showed 10 percent and 7 percent gains during the same months.

"We don't see the huge increases in housing prices and that kind of stuff that they do on the two coasts," he said. "We're just a bonafide, stable, conservative Midwest area. We don't go as high or as low on the roller coaster."

A partial smoking ban in Atlantic City also had something to do with the casino revenue decline in Atlantic City, Thursby said. "It hurt them -- just like it did (with casinos) in Illinois," he said.

Bloomberg reported that in an effort to stem the revenue declines, Atlantic City's council voted Oct. 8 to postpone a full smoking ban on casino floors that was due to take effect Oct. 15. This decision faces a final reading next week. The city currently allows smoking on only 25 percent of casino floors.

Thursby said the economic downtown affecting the country could eventually have a bigger impact on the LaGrange casino.

"I have some concerns," he said. "I think it's going to hurt all of us. It's certainly hurt our 401Ks and IRAs and that sort of thing."

The local farm economy appears to be strong, and "I think prices are pretty good for the commodities we're bringing in out of the fields now," Thursby said.

"So I'm pretty optimistic that we're not going to get giant declines. It's just going to be tougher to compete for that entertainment dollar here in the next year."

-- ehusar@whig.com/221-3378