Las Vegas Advisor

Posted on March 10, 2022September 14, 2023 by David Mckee — 2 Comments

Bounty in Missouri, penury in Macao

Customer bucks continued flowing big-time in Missouri casinos last month, up 19% over 2021. The total gross was $146 million as customers spent 2.5% more per visit and came in 16% greater numbers. Almost casinos were revenue-positive (some spectacularly so) with two Caesars Entertainment exceptions, including Lumiere Place, down 3% to $11 million. Let’s hope that the Horseshoe rebranding comes with some capex reinvestment. Ameristar St. Charles (pictured) easily remained the top dog, up 5% to $23 million. Hollywood St. Louis leapt 47% to $17.5 million while sibling property River City jumped 46% to $19.5 million.

Posted on March 8, 2022August 24, 2023 by Bob Dancer — 6 Comments

Is It Worth It?

I was playing a very nice $5 progressive at Circa. It was on the 165-foot bar at the west end of their casino’s lower level. In addition to containing slots and blackjack, the machines have numerous video poker denominations from 25¢ to $5, and each denomination has numerous games all connected to the same progressives. The progressives on these machines are linked to similar machines at the Golden Gate (directly across Fremont Street) and the D (also on Fremont Street, but two blocks east).

When I started play on Valentine’s Day, the progressive was at $38,800 and the best game to play was 8/6 Bonus Poker Deluxe. I’d been tipped off by a friend. I know the 9/6 non-progressive version of this game very well, and practiced at this progressive level for a bit before I drove to the casino.

Posted on March 8, 2022September 14, 2023 by David Mckee — 1 Comment

Ohio, Illinois ebullient; MGM expects good things; Scandal in NFL

Ohio casino revenues were up 13% from 2021, yielding $179 million in player losses. Slots-only MGM Northfield Park posted a $22.5 million haul, up 17%, while Jack Cleveland vastly expanded its table game inventory and saw table play rise 24.5%. The downtown casino grossed $20 million, a 10% gain, while Jack Thistledown inched up 6% to $14.5 million. Hollywood Toledo made $18 million, a 3% nudge, and Hollywood Columbus crept up 5% to $18.5 million. Hard Rock Cincinnati leapt 31% to $19 million, Scioto Downs climbed 13% to $18 million and Miami Valley Gaming vaulted 29% to $17.5 million. Belterra Park was up 5% to $7 million, while other outlying racinos prospered even more. Hollywood Dayton gained 7% to $12 million while Hollywood Mahoning Valley‘s 13% jump was good for $12.5 million.

Posted on March 7, 2022September 14, 2023 by David Mckee — 1 Comment

Almost everyone prospers in Maryland; Broader revival continues

There’s no sign of “normalization” of gaming revenues in Maryland, where February yielded $163 million, a 19% gain over 2019. Horseshoe Baltimore continued to be somewhat sickly, down 14% to $18 million while everyone else climbed. The silver lining was that it was 10% above last year and $3 million ahead of Deutsche Bank expectations. MGM National Harbor led with $66 million, up 22%, while Maryland Live, not to be outdone, grossed $59.5 million, a 29% leap. Hollywood Perryville jumped 30% to $8 million and Ocean Downs galloped 15% ahead to $6.5 million. Out west, Rocky Gap Resort hopped 27% to $5.5 million.

Posted on March 4, 2022September 14, 2023 by David Mckee — Leave a comment

DraftKings flexes its biceps; New names, same players

Probably in reaction to a precipitous plunge in DKNG shares, DraftKings hosted an investor day in which it told Wall Street analysts that everything is coming up roses. Its lead point was that its ‘total addressable market’ (translation: potential bettors) is $26 billion, up from $22 billion a year, that Internet gambling is now worth $48 billion rather than last year’s $40 billion and that Canada is a $6 billion market. As Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli discreetly pointed out, these figures are way out of whack with what online sports betting and i-gaming are actually realizing in terms of revenue. True, DraftKings has greatly increased its Internet-casino market share—especially in New Jersey—but by dint of purchasing Golden Nugget Online. Santarelli headlined his report, “If It’s All Like New Jersey; It’s All Good… We Doubt it Will Be.”

Posted on March 3, 2022September 26, 2023 by David Mckee — 1 Comment

Boardwalk bulletin; George gesture from Apollo

Pressure to end smoking in New Jersey casinos continues to ramp up on legislators. Said former governor Richard Codey (now a state senator), “When I was governor, we passed smoke-free legislation that covered almost all of our state. Restaurants complained their businesses would suffer, but, in fact, the opposite happened — customers loved the smoke-free environment. The same will happen with the casinos.” The latter, of course, are resorting to Chicken Little tactics that have little basis in reality. Heck, industry publisher Roger Gros will be happy to tell you how much gaming executive complain (privately) about the costs, especially in wear and tear on their properties, caused by smoking. But in public they tie themselves to the mast of a sinking ship.

Posted on March 1, 2022August 24, 2023 by Bob Dancer — 9 Comments

The Last Thing I Would Do

The Las Vegas Advisor solicits “Questions of the Day” and some of the ones related to video poker are passed along to me. I answer, on average, one or two of these a month.

On February 9, there was a QOD about hitting a jackpot while using someone else’s slot club card.

Posted on March 1, 2022September 14, 2023 by David Mckee — 1 Comment

IGT: Biz as usual; Borgata ups the ante; Mega-Jottings

Wall Street analysts were rather ho-hum about International Game Technology‘s 4Q21 earnings announcement. The company’s cash flow from lotteries were almost exactly as predicted ($335.5 million, revenue of $687 million) while gaming brought in $66 million (on revenues of $321 million). The digital segment was a relative disappointment: $9 million instead of the predicted $16 million in EBITDA, while corporate costs overshot the mark, $24 million rather than the expected $19 million. Yawned Credit Suisse analyst Ben Chaiken, “We think 4Q numbers are likely good enough, with important segments (Lotto and Gaming) inline, and we think the miss on digital and corporate should be looked over.” Management continues to project as much as $4.3 billion in 2022 revenues—and why not? By and large they’re hitting their numbers. Chaiken did think it imperative that “new CEO Vincent Sadusky … establish a narrative of extrapolating hidden/underappreciated value in IGT.”

Posted on February 28, 2022September 14, 2023 by David Mckee — 2 Comments

Twin Spires collapse; The Great Buffet Battle

Online sports betting has claimed its second victim. First it was Wynn Interactive. Now it’s Churchill Downs subsidiary Twin Spires. Too much competition and too little profitability were the reasons cited by CEO Bill Carstanjen. CHDN will also cease its Internet-casino operations. It will, however, retain its four retail sports books, including Rivers Casino Des Plaines, as they are all performing in the black. “We had high hopes for the potential to build a profitable business in this space … We have profitable retail sports books in four of our casinos. However, the online sports betting and online casino space is highly competitive, with an ever-increasing number of participants that the states have licensed,” Carstanjen said, adding that he did not see a path to profitability in OSB “for at least several years.” Which was too much red ink for Churchill Downs to stomach.

Posted on February 25, 2022September 26, 2023 by David Mckee — 2 Comments

Mega-January on the Strip; Much ado about Caesars

January’s Nevada gambling-revenue numbers are out and the Silver State topped $1 billion yet again, a 41.5% boost over last year. However, some jurisdictions manifested slight declines, a sign that casino activity may be “normalizing” after a heated 2021. To get that out of the way, the Elko area was flat, with Wendover ($21.5 million) down 2%, while Lake Tahoe dipped 4% to $17 million. Nearby Reno gained 8% to $74 million. The Las Vegas Strip vaulted 76.5% to $587 million while Downtown climbed 38.5% to $68 million. Strip numbers were clearly aided by a 109% increase in passengers passing through Reid International Airport, some 3 million strong. International travel, while slim (94K passengers) was up 337.5%. North Las Vegas eked out a 6% gain to $22 million and the Boulder Strip jumped 28.5% to $85 million. As for drive-in (or would that be ‘drive by’?) markets, Laughlin made $42 million (+26%) and Mesquite was up 11% to $14.5 million, while miscellaneous Clark County brought in $130 million, a 15% uptick.

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