Regional gaming continues to be a gravy train. Maryland casinos grossed $168.5 million in August, up 9% from 2019. Just think how much better the take would have been had the month not been two weekend days shorter than August 2020. MGM National Harbor led the pack with $67.5 million, up 8%, while Maryland Live‘s 35% market share translated into $59.5 million in revenue, a 12% gain. Horseshoe Baltimore actually managed to lose ground, down 1.5% to $18 million. Ocean Downs neared $10 million, up 12%, while Hollywood Perryville grossed $8 million in a 21.5% leap. Rocky Gap Resort brought in $6 million for a 10% uptick.

Yesterday, Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli predicted a 19% upsurge in Ohio when August receipts were tallied. He overshot his mark … just barely. The Buckeye State rose 18% to gross $194 million. Wrote JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff, “We note that results for the full month indicate that rising delta variant infection rates have not yet negatively impacted visitation/revenue, consistent with recent commentary from operators.” Slots-only MGM Northfield Park led the state with $23 million, up 12% and edging Hollywood Columbus‘ $21 million (+10.5%). Hollywood Toledo made $19.5 million, up 13%, but Scioto Downs came on fast, +22%, to win $20 million. Even the smaller fry were prospering. Hollywood Dayton grossed $12.5 million, a 25% leap, Hollywood Mahoning Valley captured $13.5 million, hopping 21%, and Belterra Park gained 9% to $8 million.

As we await tomorrow’s reopening of Main Street Station, a set of projections comes from Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli that should have Las Vegas casino owners rubbing their hands with glee. Mind you, Santarelli might be erring on the side of caution: He expected Las Vegas Strip casino winnings to rise 5% in July and they vaulted 46.5%. Nevertheless, he foresees 26% Strip growth (up from a previous 14%) once last month’s earnings are tallied. Elsewhere he sees a deceleration in the fevered pace of gambling revenue. Vegas locals will be up, but by just 6.5%, Missouri should be up 7%, Indiana will gain 14% and Ohio will boom 19%. The one area of implosion will be Louisiana, down 19% and the explanation is quite simple—Hurricane Ida. “While July GGR trends, helped in part by a favorable calendar which included two extra weekend days, were robust across all markets in terms of their rate of change relative to 2019, we expect August trends, as the calendar dynamic reverses, to show a deceleration,” Santarelli explained.

The house that the late Kerry Packer built continues to go from bad to worse to downright awful under the all-thumbs leadership of heir James Packer. During the first half of this year Crown Resorts lost $191 million (on a 33% revenue decline), not to mention getting its Sydney casino license shelved, sparking a flurry of other investigations. Now Oaktree Capital is abandoning its $2.3 billion attempt to buy out Packer’s share, which is a dire turn of events, as authorities will continue to frown upon Crown as long as the younger Packer is around to screw things up. As Reuters put it, “The loss, which Crown had already flagged, and the failure of the Oaktree deal show the extent to which its future is being shaped by regulatory scrutiny as it struggles to rebuild its image amid multiple Royal Commission enquiries.”

Caesars Entertainment must have decided it was poor optics to be hosting a convention of anti-vaxxers at brand-new Caesars Forum as Coronavirus cases spike. Or maybe it blanched at the potential deep-cleaning costs after the event. Either way, QAnon-espousing “Patriot Double Down” will have to find somewhere else if it wants to play Vegas this October. (Have they called the Fertitta Brothers?) Event organizers must be scrambling for a new venue to infect, er, book. The Associated Press reported that it was presently unclear if the show “would be moved, postponed or canceled. Event officials did not immediately respond to telephone and email messages.” But with a top ticket of $3,000, we don’t expect Double Down to just fold its hand. There’s money to be made! Given QAnon followers’ eschatology, we’re frankly surprised they’d choose Sin City for their “Great Awakening” but so be it. (Good luck getting them to comply with mask mandates.) We’re talking about a city where Las Vegas Raiders fans would rather forfeit their tickets than get vaccinated. Nor does it seem like one can hold a public meeting in Clark County without being inundated with screaming anti-vaxxers. Las Vegas has so many already it scarcely needs to import more. Meanwhile, the number of Sin City vaccination mandates continues to grow, a laudable trend.

What will sports-betting advertising be like once football season starts? Our prediction is for overkill, followed by backlash. As though to prove our point, FanDuel is unleashing a national ad blitz with a minute-long TV spot called “Anthem.” It’s so over the top, so relentlessly in your face that a certain amount of revulsion is all but inevitable. Judge for yourself:

Shades of the inescapable DraftKings/FanDuel DFS commercials of a few years back. Fortunately, the market will probably be self-regulating, or at least heavily filtered. The first layer of filtration is sports leagues themselves. The NFL has already limited sports-betting puffery to six spots per game. Consumer reaction will also play a role and, if that and other forces don’t keep things to a reasonable level, state regulators can make their displeasure known. In Europe and the United Kingdom, sports leagues have seen governmental intervention when gambling advertisements were felt to have gone too far and become too ubiquitous. Nobody wants a repeat of that scenario stateside, least of all betting providers.