Category: Casino News

As I write this, I’m off the coast of Florida, aboard the Icon of the Seas, presently undergoing a somewhat shaky shakedown cruise. Unfortunately, Yr. Humble Blogger has been stricken, not with mal de mer, but with the aftereffects of what was probably undercooked food, of unknown provenance. As such, I’m ill-positioned to provide any more industry news and analysis until we dock on Friday. Wednesday’s dinner was spent surrounded by loathsome, loudmouthed Wall Street fatcats. Now I now what Hell is like and really don’t want to go there. Perhaps that’s what made me ill.

Please disregard the headlines today whining about Atlantic City casino grosses for December. They are 8% higher than 2022 and 11.5% than 2019, before the Great Pandemic supposedly drove everyone home—and into the arms of these same casinos’ Web alternatives. The brick-and-mortar tally was $232.5 million. We often treat the three Caesars Entertainment casinos almost as an afterthought (as do customers), so we should give them pride of place when discussing December’s data. Tropicana Atlantic City (pictured) leapt 15% to $21 million and Caesars Atlantic City jumped 13% to $19 million. Harrah’s Resort couldn’t quite keep pace, up 3% but making $21 million.

It may be snowy this week in Chicago but the casino news is warm: Illinois gambling halls closed out 2023 with their best month of the year ($141 million). Much of this was driven by fresh product. They were up 3% from 2022 … and 14% down from 2019. But the latter number swung to -10% when adjusted to a same-store basis. Four new casinos in one year will do that.

Gaming pundits are finally getting off their hobbyhorse that the industry was due for a recession ANY DAY NOW! Yup. Recession. Any. Day. Now. <crickets> You feel sometimes like they’re rooting for bad economic news. They’ll certainly be at pains to explain Ohio‘s record November. The Buckeye State’s casinos and racinos grossed $186 million, 1% up over 2022 and 15% higher than in 2019. As usual, MGM Northfield Park was the leader with $23.5 million (+3%). Also up 3% were Jack Cleveland and Hollywood Columbus, in a statistical tie around $21.5 million apiece. Hard Rock Cincinnati was up 2% to $20 million and Hollywood Toledo gained 1% to $17.5 million. The latter, despite having table games, was outdone by slots-only Miami Valley Gaming ($19 million, +4%), while Scioto Downs faded 7% to a still-impressive $17 million. Jack Thistledown was up 3% to $14.5 million, Belterra Park slipped 3% to $6.5 million, Hollywood Dayton hopped 4% to $12 million, while Hollywood Mahoning Valley was flat at $12.5 million. Not a bad month at all, particularly for Penn Entertainment in a November that also …

Had the pre-race hype not been so inebriated, the Las Vegas Grand Prix would be counted an unqualified financial success. On the Las Vegas Strip (in what is traditionally the slowest month of the year), it spurred a 22.5% leap in winnings, to $821 million—still short of the high-water $835 million recorded last July. (Thanks to Howard Stutz for the historical context.) Very impressive … but we were told to expect ‘record gaming revenues!’ thanks to F-U, er F1. What’s Jeremy Aguero‘s spin going to be? Perhaps next November will be better: Dramatically scaled-back prices for hotel rooms and race tickets will leave customers with more money in their pockets for gambling.