Casino revenue on the Mississippi Gulf Coast improved in September, but the state’s gamblers lost less along the Mississippi River, dragging down overall receipts.

Statewide casino revenue fell 4.3 percent from September 2011, to $177.9 million, according to Mississippi Department of Revenue figures.

The 17 river casinos from Tunica to Natchez, including the four in Vicksburg, won $91.2 million, down 10 percent from the $101.6 million they won in September of last year.

On the Gulf Coast, casinos won $86.7 million from gamblers, up 2.8 percent from the $84.3 million they won in September 2011. The increase came despite competition from a new casino in Baton Rouge.

Revenue for the coastal casinos is down slightly over the last 12 months, while despite the recovery from 2011’s flood, revenue at the river casinos is up just more than 1 percent. Statewide, revenue over the last 12 months is up 0.33 percent.

Revenue taxes paid by the state’s 29 casinos was down for the month and from a year ago. The state collected $13.8 million in September, down nearly half from the $26.6 million in August and off about $8 million from September 2011.

Vicksburg and Warren County collected less in revenue-based taxes for the month, though fiscal year-end results for both and for the school district approached or surpassed last year.

The city, which collects a 65 percent share of a 3.2 percent revenue tax casinos pay the state, collected $298,239 in September, down more than half compared to August. For the fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, the city’s take totaled $6,327,325, off two-tenths of a percent from fiscal 2011.

The county, which collects 25 percent of the revenue tax, took in $145,671, down from $287,564 in August. For the fiscal year, the county’s take was $2.8 million, or about $260,000 more than fiscal 2011.

The Vicksburg Warren School District collects 10 percent of the tax. It took in $38,665 in September, down $40,000 for the month. For the year, the district collected $1.8 million, more than double last year’s $721,897.

Autumn is traditionally one of the weakest periods for Mississippi gambling halls, and some are adjusting by trimming the number of employees.

Last week, the Fitz Casino & Hotel in Tunica laid off an unspecified number of employees, citing a soft economy, seasonal fluctuations and increased competition.

Webster Franklin, CEO of the Tunica Convention & Visitors Bureau, said more than 3,500 workers have been laid off from the county’s nine casinos since 2007. He said the gambling halls were walloped by the recession, increasing competition from nearby states and the 2011 Mississippi River Flood.

“It’s just been kind of a triple whammy on us,” Franklin said.

Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville Casino & Restaurant Biloxi laid off about 50 full-time and 150 part-time workers at the beginning of September, saying it needed to slim down at the end of the summer tourist season.

Mississippi’s numbers exclude Choctaw Indian casinos, which aren’t required to report winnings to the state.

Next door, Louisiana’s state-licensed casinos won $199.7 million at state licensed facilities in September, up from $188 million for August and $196.6 million for September of last year.