U.S. Economy Woes Hit Harrah’s and WPT Enterprises Hard.

The recent economic downturn in the U.S.A. has hit two of the biggest gambling companies in the industry particularly hard. Analysts knew revenue would be down for Harrah’s Entertainment and WPT Enterprises (home of the World Poker Tour), but they didn’t expect it to be down THIS much.

3rd quarter reports revealed that Harrah’s 2008 revenue was down over 19% compared to the same time in 2007. That calculates out to be nearly $130 million in losses the company has incurred due to the economical crisis the United States has experience in the past few months. Hundreds of layoffs are expected in the coming weeks, and with the slow season coming up for the casino industry, revenues are not expected to get better any time soon.

The same earnings reports also revealed that WPT Enterprises, home of the World Poker Tour, has been hit particularly hard as well from the U.S. financial disaster, with revenue dropping 39% alone in 2008. While it’s nowhere near the revenue-hit that Harrah’s experienced, it was still just another sign that the WPT is still not heading in the positive direction it had hoped to be heading in 2007, when revenue was on the up and up.