Casino revenue leapt 24% in Atlantic City from last April 2021, pulling in $253 million. Slot revenue rose 21% on 18% more coin-in, easily offsetting a 3% decline in table revenue on flat wagering. Borgata lapped the field, catapulting 60% to $61.5 million. A distant second was Hard Rock Atlantic City, up 15% to $40.5 million. (In a case of fixing what ain’t broken, Hard Rock Rewards is being phased out in favor of something called Hard Rock Unity. Go figure.) Ocean Casino Resort climbed 18.5% to $26 million. Revamping is doing wonders for Bally’s Atlantic City, vaulting 31% to $14.5 million.
Of the Caesars Entertainment threesome, Harrah’s Resort fared the best, up 12% to $23 million. Tropicana Atlantic City was close behind, +17% for $22.5 million. Caesars Atlantic City was up 7% to $20 million. Resorts Atlantic City gained 10.5% to $14 million while last place was occupied by the Golden Nugget (above), garnering $12 million, up 12%. It was either feast or famine at the Nugget. Our correspondent went there and reported that Friday night was “well attended” thanks to a Dionne Warwick show. But Saturday night was dead, with the lounge empty save for one very lonely performer—even the bartender had left. That’s cold.
Internet casinos chipped in another $137 million, led by Borgata with 29% of market share, then Golden Nugget Online (soon to be DraftKings) with 28%, Resorts Digital with 21%, Caesars with 13.5%, Hard Rock with 5%, Bally’s 2% (so much for the company’s greatly vaunted digital strategy) and Ocean with a paltry 1%. Sports-betting revenue fell 8% to $50 million on $927 million in handle, with low hold (6%) to blame. As Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli points out, since the launch of OSB in New York State, hold in New Jersey has been consistently sub-6%, a low hit only twice in the July 2020-December 2021 period.
Also enjoying a nice April bounce was Massachusetts, whose casinos rose 17% to $99 million. For once, nobody had cause to complain. Need it be said that Encore Boston Harbor dominated? It grossed $64 million, a 27% leap. MGM Springfield generated $22.5 million, a 3% gain, and Plainridge Park was up 3% to $13 million. Sports betting was—wait, Massachusetts doesn’t have it … still.
No such luck for Louisiana, which continues to slip, down 7% to $219 million. Sports betting was an abject failure: $3 million in revenue on 2% hold and only $186 million handle. Only the New Orleans market was revenue-positive, led by Harrah’s New Orleans‘ $27 million, up 7.5%. Boomtown New Orleans dipped 3% to $12.5 million. Treasure Chest bounced 8.5% upward to $9 million and Fair Grounds racino slid 17% to $4 million. In its last month as Caesars’ red-headed stepchild, Belle of Baton Rouge plunged 25% to a pathetic $1.4 million. New owner CQ Holdings has promised to build a new casino onshore and will start by hosting a limited number of slots and tables in the property’s atrium, on terra firma. Hollywood Baton Rouge, also destined for a land-based makeover, fell 20% to $5 million, while L’Auberge Baton Rouge wasn’t immune to the malaise, posting $17 million on a 7.5% decline.
Top honors in lucrative Lake Charles went to Golden Nugget and its $31 million (-3.5%). L’Auberge du Lac had to be content with $29.5 million on a 7% dip, while Delta Downs booked $16 million, off 4%. Outlying Boyd Gaming properties Amelia Belle and Evangeline Downs were off, with the former down 7.5% to $3.5 million and the latter tumbling 18.5% to $7 million. As for Shreveport/Bossier City, the best performance was Margaritaville‘s, flat at $20 million. Horseshoe Bossier City faded 7.5% to $15 million, while Boomtown Bossier slipped 5.5% to $5 million and Louisiana Downs‘ $4 million represented a 23% slide. That was nothing compared to the 37% collapse of Sam’s Town ($4 million) and the -35.5% debacle at Bally’s Shreveport ($8 million). Perhaps it’s a good thing for the market that unloved Diamond Jacks wasn’t compelled to reopen.
Barstool Sports CEO and professional jackass Dave Portnoy may be in trouble in Colorado. Professional bettor (and government official) James Salinas tried to place a george wager at Ameristar Black Hawk on Kayvon Thibodeuax to go high in the NFL draft. (It’s a bit complicated for us non-players.) Before printing Salinas’ ticket, Barstool lowered the odds and the amount Salinas could bid, in an obvious CYA move. Salinas would have won big had Barstool honored his original bet. A formal investigation has been opened by Colorado regulators, a problem that Barstool-conjoined Penn National Gaming needs like a hole in the head. With his usual class, Portnoy said of Salinas, “Fuck that guy,” implying that he was trying to cheat and closing with, “So they take his license, they see that he’s probably a sharp, and they want to limit him … He’s crying like a baby, but that happens everywhere.”
Replied Salinas, “There was no underlying covert action on my end … I don’t know anything about Dave Portnoy. This had nothing to do with him. I don’t know in what capacity he works for the sportsbook; now I’m learning more. I had no clue who he was. But then it became personal. This is different now. This was me against the sports book, now it’s me against some guy.” Indeed. What’s not different is the degree of variance between someone like Portnoy and ‘the boys’ who used to put a beatdown on those bettors who had the temerity to outplay the house. If you can’t take the action, Portnoy, get out of the sports book.
Jottings: Harrah’s Hoosier Park racino has broken ground on a $39 million expansion intended to make room for 150 more slots, 16 additional tables and “other amenities.” The project has been on hold since 2019 for obvious reasons … Sports bettors don’t have to go to the book anymore at Saracen Casino in Arkansas. The Pine Bluff property has incepted mobile wagering within the casino … While gambling halls rarely close (except for Covid-19), an electrical fire temporarily put paid to Michigan‘s Bay Mills Resort & Casino. The hotel reservation system got annihilated and “gaming, internet, phone, ATM, and credit card systems are non-operational” … Colombia is trying to instantly recreate the desert + casinos = Las Vegas equation, targeting arid La Guajira for an “exact copy” of Sin City. Rush Street Gaming is already sniffing around the project although “feasibility questionable” seems a bit of an understatement.
Dione Warwick performed on Saturday, May 14, so I think the correspondent may have been confused.
Sunday nights are often dead in most of AC b/c everyone heads back to NYC or Philadelphia or wherever. And, at Golden Nugget, the typical overnight customer ate at the Happy Hour lounge at Vic’s and had gone to bed.