May 01, 2012--Tropicana Entertainment Inc. of Las Vegas on Tuesday said its first-quarter loss widened on weakness in the Nevada market and unlucky play in Atlantic City.

Tropicana Entertainment, investor Carl Icahn's hotel-casino company, said it lost $4.82 million compared to a loss of $1.46 million in the year-ago quarter.

Net revenue of $155.2 million was down from $156.9 million.

In Laughlin, where the company has two casinos, and in Lake Tahoe, with one property, combined net revenue of $32.5 million was down 2.2 percent.

"Net revenues and volumes in the West region continue to be negatively impacted by the deterioration of casino revenue in the Laughlin market resulting from the continuing poor economic conditions and reduced consumer discretionary spending," Tropicana said in its quarterly report.

The average daily room rate for the Nevada casinos was $39 during the quarter, up from $37 in 2011's first quarter.

In Atlantic City, the biggest market for Tropicana Entertainment, Tropicana Atlantic City generated quarterly net revenue of $59.9 million, down 6.5 percent from the year-ago period.

Tropicana cited a 6 percent marketwide decline in Atlantic City casino revenue during the quarter as well as a decline of 8.5 percentage points in table game win as the casino played unlucky.

The Atantic City casino is vulnerable to such win fluctuations because it targets high-end table games players to counter increased competition from Pennsylvania and other nearby markets.

Tropicana Entertainment does not have a casino in Las Vegas. The Tropicana Las Vegas hotel-casino was spun out of bankruptcy proceedings to a different group of investors.

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