Maryland weaker, Illinois stronger; Mickelson in denial

Even as playing levels normalize from last year, gambling revenues continue their upward tread. Maryland, for instance, was 4% higher in May than a year ago (and 17.5% above 2019). Had there not been one fewer weekend day than in 2021, that tally should have been more impressive still. However, the growth was generated almost entirely by MGM National Harbor, which banked $76 million, an 11% surge. Maryland Live was 2% higher, grossing $63 million. Everyone else found consumers curbing their spending habits. Horseshoe Baltimore brought home a weak $18 million, down 9.5%. Out west, Rocky Gap Resort grossed $6 million (-5.5%) while Hollywood Perryville, in the east, netted $8 million but slipped 3%. That left Ocean Downs, which dipped 1% to $8.5 million. Established brands have little to worry about, it would appear, but smaller fry have cause for concern going forward.

From a wide-angle view, all was well in Illinois, where gaming revenues were 9% higher than last year in May, or +5% when Hard Rock Rockford ($5 million) is subtracted from the mix. And for a refreshing change, the statewide haul of $116.5 million was achieved without the usual scenario of a couple of haves and a lot of have-nots. For instance, the aggregate of Caesars Entertainment‘s casinos was flat with 2021, despite the missing weekend day. Market leader Rivers Casino Des Plaines hauled in $46 million, for a 12% leap, while its next closest competitor was Grand Victoria, up 4% to $13 million. Harrah’s Joliet grossed $11 million (-3%) while Harrah’s Metropolis took in $5 million (-4%). The rebranding and revamping of Bally’s Quad Cities is finally paying dividends, as revenue vaulted 19% to $4.5 million.

Empress Joliet slipped 4% to $7.5 million while Hollywood Aurora was flat at $9 million. Par-A-Dice stumbled 5.5% to $5 million and Argosy Alton plunged 13% to $3 million, leaving DraftKings Casino Queen, which hopped 5.5% to $7 million. Little economic malaise to worry about in the Land of Lincoln, at least for the moment.

Hard Rock International broke out the heavy artillery in New Jersey, sending CEO Jim Allen to strong-arm Gov. Phil Murphy (D). “I don’t think I was trying to change the governor’s mind” about casino smoking, Allen said, in a statement that doesn’t pass the laugh test. “It was a general conversation about the economic challenges of a smoking ban and the impact it would have,” Allen backpedaled. He added, “When you look at markets where smoking has been banned, there have been significant double-digit declines,” further digging himself into a hole of non-credibility.

Murphy claimed to be unmoved but we shall see. As U.S. News & World Report noted, “Atlantic City’s casinos collectively saw their profitability increase in the first quarter of this year compared not only with a year earlier, but also to the pre-pandemic period.” Anti-smoking adovcate Chris Moyer was also quick to point out that Allen is vying for a casino in New York City, where smoking would be a no-go. As is mandatory for Atlantic City casino bosses, Allen has proven himself adept at talking out of both sides of his mouth simultaneously.

Speaking of New York, suspicion is hardening into certainty that Resorts World New York (above) and MGM Empire City will be fast-tracked into Class III licenses. Touting a “plug-and-play” policy, influential state Sen. Joseph Addabbo (D) predicted the two casinos could convert within a year whereas it would be as much as five years “from groundbreaking to ribbon cutting” for anybody. Due to their infrastructure investments to date, Genting Group and MGM Resorts International would pay less upfront for their licenses … but does Albany want a fair-sized chunk of money now or a king’s ransom five years hence? If ever there was a case of the bird in the hand being worth two in the bush, this is it. For instance, Resorts World NY had “the most gambling revenue of any casino property outside Nevada” last year, according to the New York Times. And that’s just with VLTs! Resorts World Catskills would surely be toast if Genting succeeds in its Big Apple play but that’s a price the conglomerate is clearly willing to pay.

America’s worst degenerate gambler, Phil Mickelson, is doing a round of mea culpas prior to his return to on-course action. Lefty (how apt a nickname) lost $40 million between 2010 and 2014, and God only knows how much since. While Mickelson says he “needed to address” his “reckless” and “embarrassing” addiction, he also sounds like an alcoholic in denial, as pathologies never fully go away. Still, he said, “Gambling has been part of my life ever since I can remember. But about a decade ago is when I would say it became reckless. It’s embarrassing. I don’t like that people know. The fact is I’ve been dealing with it for some time. Amy has been very supportive of it and with me and the process. We’re at place after many years where I feel comfortable with where that is. It isn’t a threat to me or my financial security. It was just a number of poor decisions.’’

Let’s unpack that statement a bit. Being a lifelong gambler is a red flag right up front. Having his spouse be “supportive of it” smacks of enabling and being “comfortable” with $40 million in losses should never be a state of existence. “A number of poor decisions”? There’s an understatement, by golly, and the assurance that the Mickelson family is financially safe is cool comfort. Mickelson’s apologia pro vita sua was a bit of ass-covering to defuse his involvement with the controversial, Saudi-backed LIV Golf tournament. Lefty claims the $200 million Arab payday has no connection to his gambling losses but doubts will always remain. And if you think Mickelson has kicked the habit, think again, as he boasts about still making bets during practice rounds, under the excuse of “creating competition.” He’d better watch it before he gets a visit from a different sort of Lefty.

What kind of players does DraftKings want? Dupes, in essence, according to CEO Jason Robins, who’d like to raise hold and get rid of ‘sharps,’ those players canny enough to beat the house. Of course, if you were running a company as badly as Robins is, you’d want to rig the rules in your favor, too. With astonishing candor, Robins said, “We’re trying to get smart in eliminating the sharp action or limiting it at least. Then trying to make sure we have a high parlay mix because people do like that.” As for ripping punters off with higher hold, quoth Robins, “In DFS, our margins got substantially higher as the market matured because we just decided to make them higher. You can do that. The tricky part is how you do that at the right time, in the right way, without degrading the customer experience.” Or, as he put it earlier, “People who are doing this for profit are not the players we want.” No, you want to build your business on suckers, Jason. Maybe that’s why FanDuel is eating your lunch.

Players aren’t the only people Robins is looking to screw. “Making sure compensation is going towards top performers and getting more aggressive with bottom performers. Making sure the people skating by as B players, that’s not enough any more,” he said of his employees. “That doesn’t mean mass layoffs, but it might mean we pay them less than the market. And if someone else recruits them away, we’re going to be OK with that because we’re going to focus on retaining our top people.” So if you work for Jason Robins, don’t get too comfortable in your desk chair.

In other comments, Robins accused competitors of “undisciplined behaviors,” although it’s unclear whether any of the assembled investors laughed at the irony of that comment. He also complained of heavy bettors continuing to place their wagers offshore. Given that Robins views his customers as marks, it’s difficult to blame them for not trusting him. As for his forward-looking remarks, Robins only had old news to offer, so tedious we won’t rehearse it here. Of course he’s making sweet love to California, where a controversy has blown up around tribal opposition to an industry-backed sports-betting ballot initiative. A tribally produced TV campaign warns balefully that, if Big Gaming’s rival initiative passes, “every cellphone, laptop, tablet, and even video game console into a gambling device [if the initiative passes], opening up online gambling to anyone, anywhere, anytime. That could lead to more addiction, financial ruin, and homelessness, while exposing millions of children to online gambling.”

We’ve heard that old wives’ tale before and the tribes involved are not exactly disinterested parties, as they covet sports betting exclusively for themselves and horse tracks. Explaining the fearmongering, campaign spokeswoman Kathy Fairbanks asserted, “In our case, our coalition thinks [online sports betting] is harmful. So how do you communicate that to voters?” By hurling heaps of B.S., evidently. “As someone who’s been involved in battles in California dating back to 2008, these are some of the same old myths that have been perpetuated about online gaming for more than a decade,” says i-gaming advocate John Pappas. He adds that regulated online gambling is no worse a hazard than the current black market.

“Legalized, regulated online gambling in the U.S. has done a very good job of protecting underage kids from accessing sites,” agreed Keith Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling and no industry apologist. He warns the tribes, “Whenever an industry vertical uses problem gaming to attack another segment or another operator or another state, they ought to make sure they have absolutely no responsible gaming issues themselves and make sure 100% their customers have treatment on demand.”

Fairbanks admitted to being uninformed on the issue but was unbowed: “He didn’t say it was 100% foolproof, so that doesn’t mean there are no problems … Some kids could slip through. That’s of concern to voters, so we’re going to point that out.” And go for a piece of the action themselves.

Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small (D) is finally making himself useful. According to our East Coast bureau, “He stated a small portion of Atlantic City residents will get jobs in the construction trades. A company doing work there is going to train local residents in plumbing, electrical, etc. After two months they will be able to get entry-level jobs in their new trade.” Sounds like a step forward to us.

Circus Circus‘ days as the ghetto of the Las Vegas Strip may be ending. Owner Phil Ruffin has announced a $30 million capex initiative to bring the clown house back to “its heyday,” if perhaps not the craziness of the Jay Sarno era. According to Circus Circus veep of operations Shana Gerety, Ruffin “is fantastic and he really puts a lot of effort and energy into making Circus Circus better.” So far the place has been repainted, had its elevators redone and a new air-conditioning system installed. Also, the pool has been doubled in size and rides have been added to Adventuredome—and Ruffin isn’t done yet. Selling the place to him was the best thing MGM Resorts International ever did for it.

Jottings: In a laudable move, Hard Rock Bristol in Virginia is offering base salaries of $15 to $17/hour for new hires. It’s high time Big Gaming caught up with the cost of living and kudos to Hard Rock International for doing so. Other casinos are struggling to fill jobs. We wonder why … Racinos in Nebraska have begun submitting license applications. Licenses costs$5 million over five years and if an application isn’t up to snuff the first million is forfeit to the state … “Casinos are not unambiguously a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for local governments to raise money,” warns economist Brett Theodos, with regard to Bally’s Tribune in Chicago. Adds Northwestern University political scientist Jaime Dominguez, “the extent to which those job opportunities mirror the demographics of the city, that’s what I’m interested in—and in seeing, going forward, whether or not that actually plays out” … In a victory for sanity, Ohio has relaxed its same-day tax payment requirement for sports books. One that will benefit is the oncoming Barstool Sports-branded book at Hollywood Toledo, slated for a Jan. 1 debut … Tribal Snoqualmie Casino in Washington State is enlarging its gambling floor, as well as adding a 215-room hotel and a convention center. At present, Snoqualmie has 1,700 slots and 55 table games.