Author: David Mckee

Larry Flynt continues to be the de facto leader of California‘s card room industry. He’s fighting in court against a Golden State law that prevents card room owners from holding stakes in out-of-state casinos. (Flynt in Las Vegas? Imagine!) When Gov. Gavin Newsom‘s administration moved to dismiss Flynt’s suit, Judge John Mendez said ‘No.’ He also indicated that the law could contravene the interstate-commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution. Flynt has been waging this battle since 2016. He co-owns two card rooms, Hustler Casino (what else?) and Lady Luck, both in Commerce. The law Flynt is trying to overthrow was enacted in 1986, in an attempt to keep Mob influence out of California’s gaming industry. If so much as one slot machine went into Flynt’s Vegas-area strip club, he’d either have to sell the club or his card rooms. For Flynt, that is Sophie’s Choice.

Steve Wynn is back in the news again. His former attorney, L. Lin Wood, is suing Wynn for alleged defamation, the ex-casino mogul supposedly having told Donald Trump that Wood was several fries short of a Happy Meal. The falling out between Wood and Wynn came after a charity dinner, at which Wood extolled the superior virtues of Christianity to Wynn, a Buddhist by way of Judaism. Before that, Wynn was happy to have Wood doing his dirty work, whether it was trying to muzzle an attorney for victims of Wynn’s sexual harassment or sweeping aforesaid misconduct under the rug. Of one sexual assault Wynn said churlishly, blaming the victim, “Anybody who is over 10 years old and knows what goes on in the world knows what happens next. Along comes this gal who had a turn with me, obviously being advised on what to do. So, in this context, $7.5 million was not a significant number. And I paid it.”

As for Wood’s sanity, judge for yourself. He was banned from Twitter for calling for Vice President Mike Pence‘s execution by firing squad. He’s shilled for QAnon. He has insinuated that Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts is both a pedophile and somehow complicit in the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Oh, and sex-abuser Jeffrey Epstein is alive and thriving. A Delaware judge recently ruled that Wood’s in-court behavior “exhibited a toxic stew of mendacity, prevarication, and surprising incompetence.” And this is who Steve Wynn chose to handle his legal affairs? Pardon us but we don’t have a dog in this fight.

Casino revenues in Atlantic City plunged 29% last month. “Results for the month reflect the negative impact of higher new COVID-19 cases in recent weeks, capacity limits and restrictions on F&B offerings, similar to other regional markets,” writes JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff. The gross was $147 million, with slot revenues plummeting 34.5% and tables down 17%. As we’ll get to momentarily, there was some compensatory news on the cyber front, with i-gaming revenues shooting 102% higher than last year and sports betting skyrocketing 126%. As PlayUSA analyst Dustin Gouker put it, “The pandemic has had a diametrically opposite effect on New Jersey’s online and retail markets for both sports betting and casino games. But the growth of online betting was crucial in making up for at least some of the losses in revenue at Atlantic City casinos and certainly continue to steady the entire gaming industry.” But on to the brick-and-mortar stuff …

Borgata fell 28% $39.5 million as slots were down 31% and tables 28%. The Caesars Entertainment trio collapsed 41% on 46% less slot win, and tables were down 23%. Bally Corp. had a rough first month at its new, eponymous casino, spiraling 45% downward to $7 million. Caesars Atlantic City slipped 23% to $14 million, Harrah’s Resort was a calamitous -53% for $12 million and Tropicana Atlantic City dove 42% to $13.5 million. Only Hard Rock Atlantic City was revenue-positive, up 2% to $26 million. Ocean Resort stumbled 9% to $19 million, Resorts Atlantic City plummeted 42% to $7 million and Golden Nugget slid 43% to $8 million.

Now that the smartest man in the room has left the building permanently, we continue to wait for Wall Street‘s reaction to Sheldon Adelson‘s demise. Hearing none, we move on to varying degrees of decline in regional gaming, once thought impervious to the Covid-19 pandemic. It wasn’t so bad in Missouri, where revenues slipped 8.5%. Boyd Gaming properties held serve, flat year/year but Penn National Gaming took a 24% tumble, while Caesars Entertainment edged 3.5% down. The statewide gross was $134 million, with slots ($116 million) down 7.5% and table games ($18 million) off 13%. Statewide champ was Ameristar St. Charles, up 8.5% to $24 million. Neighboring Hollywood St. Louis plunged 25% to $15 million. Caesars did well at Lumiere Place, up 8% to $14 million. River City (Penn) crashed 29% to $14 million.

Over in Kansas City, only Bally Corp. was revenue-positive at Isle of Capri Kansas City, leaping 18% to $6.5 million. Ameristar Kansas City fell 10% to $14 million and Harrah’s North Kansas City was off 11.5% to $13 million. Penn was slightly more fortunate than in St. Louis, taking in $12.5 million at Argosy Riverside a -14.5% drop. Caesars slipped 8% at Isle of Capri Boonsville, to $6 million, and Century Casinos was 2% down in Caruthersville ($3.5 million) but 14.5% up in Cape Girardeau ($6 million). Independent St. Jo Frontier had an unfortunate month, falling 20.5% to $3 million but Mark Twain Casino jumped 19% to $3 million. Such are the vagaries of small-market gaming.

“The presidency is an act of faith. Nobody can do it.”—presidential historian and John F. Kennedy biographer Richard Reeves.