Maryland dips; Boardwalk bulletin; Biden/BIA overreach

February was moderately unkind to Maryland casinos, which were down 3.5% from last year to reach $157 million. Top-grosser of course was MGM National Harbor, flat at $65.5 million. Reliable runner-up Maryland Live was close behind at $56 million, but suffered a 6% drop. Horseshoe Baltimore faded 8% to $16 million, which seems to be the floor but also very near the ceiling for this casino. The only revenue-positive casino was Ocean Downs, up 4% to $7 million, so owner Churchill Downs knows something everyone else doesn’t. Hollywood Perryville slid 7% to $7 million and Rocky Gap Resort was down 3% to $5 million. Are we entering a cooling-off period? It’s still too soon to say.

‘Low-roller joint’ will soon take on a new meaning at Bally’s Atlantic City, which has applied for a cannabis lounge at its Claridge Hotel, via High Rollers Dispensary. (Trust us, if they were high rollers, they wouldn’t be hanging out at Bally’s, unless they were high in a medicinal sense.) On another positive note, Bally’s General Manager Mike Monty is going to provide free food—munchies, anyone?–to players in the casino’s high-limit slot lounge. Writes our Boardwalk correspondent, “To my knowledge, it might be the first time food is offered while gambling in Atlantic City.” After all those spliffs, they’ll need it.

If it’s Tuesday it must be time for a different location of the “Chairman’s Lounge” at the apparently clueless Golden Nugget Atlantic City. Some days it’s in the Michael Patrick’s coffee shop, some days it’s … elsewhere, rotating between three different spots in the casino. As our spy reports, “Friday thru Sunday, the lounge is located upstairs in its usual location. Tuesday through Thursday, you go to the former buffet area 1:30 p.m.-8 p.m. Before 1:30, and after 8, you go to Michael Patrick’s ‘coffee shop. We were told that if there are no customers in the buffet area in the evening, they will close early. (How early do you ask?) No answer, it just ‘depends.'” Golden Nugget security also was seen 86-ing a woman who was playing the (mostly empty) slots and winning. Her misdeed? Having her suitcase next to her. She took her money and left—never to return?

It appears the Biden administration is doing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) an indirect favor. The Bureau of Indian Affairs is considering new rules that would effectively grandfather the controversial Seminole Tribe compact into legitimacy. The BIA proposes allowing tribes to have statewide Internet gambling, anywhere, that would be construed as “on tribal lands” so long as the servers are on the rez. That’s a gross distortion of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and as such really ought to be Congress’ remit, not that of the BIA.

We’re not unsympathetic to the indigenous peoples’ predicament. Or, as Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians Chairman Bo Mazzetti put it, in a letter to the feds, “Internet gaming is rapidly becoming the largest expansion of gaming in modern history and is quickly developing into a reality where tribes are on the outside looking in.” True that. But the BIA seeks to make an end run around the problem by regulatory fiat, which strikes us as a federal overreach. It’s certainly got Big Gaming hot and bothered.

So are 20 Republican attorneys general, who sent a letter of protest to the BIA. They’re also concerned about proposed new rules easing the land-into-trust process (currently a multi-year procedure), further eroding state oversight of tribal gaming. “The proposed regulations would authorize an unprecedented expansion of tribal casino gaming—and would achieve that outcome by unjustifiably restricting the ability of state governments to adopt and enforce their own policies on gaming matters,” said Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen. Unlike Knudsen, we don’t view expansion of tribal casinos as a bad thing, but we see his point.

Jottings: Thor Equities has revealed the name of its proposed Coney Island casino and it’s—wait for it—The Coney. Must’ve taken them a long time to think that one up. From what’s been seen of it so far, The Coney would be tacky even by the standards of the area. And with Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) suddenly slow-walking the casino-expansion process so none would open before 2026 at the earliest, there’s plenty of time to refine the rather crude Coney Island concept … It’ll only cost you $11,000 to watch the Las Vegas Grand Prix. That’s if you want to view it from the Bellagio bleachers (above). The good news is your food and drink will be comped … Another racino could come to Nebraska if the Bellevue city fathers get their way. They’re pitching a $150 million, 5,000-seat racing oval. Project leaders are cannily emphasizing horseracing, not slots … Casino gambling in the miniscule nation of Andorra may have been approved five years ago but it’s only becoming fact now. The new casino may offer only 155 gaming positions but it’s expected to draw 189,000 visitors a year … Boyd Gaming-managed Sky River Casino in California is doing so well that it’s already contemplating adding a hotel and event center. Tribal Chairman Jesus Tarango was noncommital but Boyd spokesman David Strow said, “Both Boyd and the tribe could not be happier with how Sky River has come out of the gate … it’s doing absolutely fantastic. I think it’s actually exceeding our expectations for what we expected from the property.”