Bally’s flags; Midwest malaise; Boardwalk blotter

That novelty factor wore off quickly for Bally’s Casino in Chicago. The good news for Bally’s Corp. is that the Medinah Temple temporary won $7.5 million last month, good for (distant) fourth place in the state, far behind Rivers Des Plaines. The bad news is for the City of Chicago itself, as the Sun Times reports that the number is “well behind city tax revenue projections for Chicago’s desperately underfunded police and firefighter pensions,” and that the data showed a dropoff from September. There’s also been a 20% decline in visitors. We warned Chicagoans that then-mayor Lori Lightfoot had absurd numbers dancing in her head. If the rescue of those pension funds relies on one casino, they’re screwed, sad to say.

Riding past Bally’s Casino on the shank of a Tuesday evening, you wouldn’t even know a casino was there, were it not for the handful of players having a smoke break outside. In that sense, it has blended seamlessly into the fabric of the Near North Side. But Lightfoot’s notion that Bally’s was going to peel a significant number of players from Gary and Des Plaines always seemed like magical thinking. Sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the way in from O’Hare International AIrport, one senses that nobody in their right mind would drive into the heart of the city to play at Bally’s when there is so much competition in the suburbs.

Speaking of which … statewide, casino revenues of $129 million were up 11% from last year but down 6% when adjusted for new product and 3.5% off from 2019. So the momentum is slowing. Rivers was way out in front with $43 million (-7%), while newbie The Temporary at American Place did $7 million, also showing some sequential slowness from September, as Full House Resorts was quick to admit. Hollywood Aurora was down 7% but almost outdid Bally’s with $7.5 million. Harrah’s Joliet plunged 13% to $10 million and Grand Victoria was good for $12 million, after an 8% drop. An exception to the general declivity, Hard Rock Rockford leapt 17.5% to $6 million. Also up was Bally’s Quad Cities, jumping 9% to $5 million. Hollywood Joliet tumbled 9% to $7 million, cementing a subpar month for the City of Joliet. Elsewhere, Par-A-Dice (pictured) was down 5% to $5 million and Harrah’s Metropolis dropped 7% to $5 million. Debutantes Golden Nugget Danville and Walker’s Bluff Casino did $3 million and $2 million respectively. Argosy Belle slid 10% to $2.5 million and DraftKings Casino Queen slipped 5.5% to $6 million.

Next door, in Indiana, casinos grossed $182 million, down 10% from last year and -8% from 2019. Hard Rock Northern Indiana dropped 9% to $33 million, showing some attrition from Chicagoland. But Horseshoe Hammond took a veritable beating, down 19% to $23.5 million. Holding its ground best against new competition was Ameristar East Chicago, off 5% to $15 million. Blue Chip (below) was feeling especially blue, down 10.5% to $10 million. The only revenue-positive casino in the Hoosier State was little French Lick Resort, up 1% to almost $7 million. Even category killer Horseshoe Indianapolis dropped 4.5% to $23.5 million. Harrah’s Hoosier Park tumbled 12.5% to $15.5 million. Belterra Resort was down 6% to $7 million, Bally’s Evansville—adversely affected by slots in Kentucky—fell 10% to $13.5 million, Rising Star sank 6% to $3 million and Hollywood Lawrenceburg dropped 10% to $12 million. Even though Caesars Southern Indiana (tribal) made $19.5 million, that represented an 8% slippage.

High hold helped Hoosier sports betting engender $45 million revenue off of $430 million in handle. It was neck and neck between FanDuel ($18 million) and DraftKings ($17.5 million). The latter, by the way, is looking very bullish as it forecasts the next five years. Way behind were BetMGM ($4 million) and Caesars Sportsbook ($3 million).

Falling somewhere between Illinois and Indiana, casinos in Missouri grossed $150.5 million, a 2.5% dip from last year but 6% than they performed in 2019. A drop in slot revenue was to blame, as was a 4% slippage in foot traffic. Hollywood St. Louis held steady at $19.5 million but couldn’t catch up with nearby rival Ameristar St. Charles, off 3% to $24 million. River City booked $20 million (-6%) while Horseshoe St. Louis faded 10.5% to $11.5 million. Bally’s Kansas City, newly revamped, continues to gobble up market share, leaping 13% to $12 million. Also showing vitality was Harrah’s Kansas City, jumping 12% to $13.5 million. Less fortunate were Argosy Riverside, falling 12% to $13 million and, to a lesser extent, Ameristar Kansas City, down 2% to a market-best $16 million. In the boonies, Isle of Capri Boonville plunged 1% but still led outstate casinos with $6.5 million. However, Century Casinos ran it a close second in Cape Girardeau with $5 million (-5%), while Century Caruthersville jumped 10% to $4 million. Century is getting it turned around.

That labor action in Detroit is exacting a toll on casinos—and on strikers, who have been reduced to asking customers to boycott BetMGM, etc. Brick-and-mortar casinos took it on the nose last month, as revenues fell to $82 million, a 19% tumble and 29% worse than before the Great Pandemic. MGM Grand Detroit got walloped 19.5% to $37 million, Hollywood Greektown slipped 11.5% to $19.5 million, and MotorCity policed up the remaining $25.5 million. Frankly, we expected those numbers to be worse and it looks like the three casinos may be able to ride out the strike, unfortunate as that thought is.

It’s time to catch up again with our Atlantic City correspondent. And it looks as though Bally’s Atlantic City General Manager Michael Monty is giving an up-yours to disabled customers. In blatant violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Bally’s has been observed to be reserving handicapped-parking spaces for oversized vehicles instead. That’s what we call lese-majesté. Our man on the Boardwalk is less delicate. He wrote to Monty as follows …

Hi,~ we haven’t seen you lately. We will be at Guy Fieri’s for Wednesday dinner about 6:00 PM. Also, we plan on staying over Friday & Sat, Jay told us he would make the hotel reservation.

~ Last Saturday, your valet employee, don’t know his name, but he appears to be the only Asian employee,  told us: “the handicap parking spots are Not for the handicapped persons”, but are “Reserved for Oversize vehicles” And Bally’s would have their vehicles Towed ! Has he ever heard of the “American With Disabilities  Act”. (From the internet: “From voting to parking, the ADA is a law that protects people with disabilities“). 

~ Can you please help us … get one of these parking spots. She now has a ‘mobility machine’ that we need to unload at the valet area, and it’s a long walk for me to self park afterwards. ~ One of the standard parking spots near the former Casino Valet area would also work. (I was told by a ‘high roller’ the standard tip for one of these spots was $20), again, thanks for some help with this

Darlene & Mike

No answer has been received.

After the aforementioned booking at Bally’s, our man wrote, “this weekend we had the sense to not stay at Golden Nugget, but didn’t have the sense to not stay at Bally’s.” Why not? The above signage was posted in hotel rooms but not in the gambling areas (which are supposed to be mainly non-smoking). “Good luck with that,” our guy tersely noted. The good news is that Ocean Casino Resort was offering a Paul Anka concert shortly. The bad news is that the Illitch Family resort has succumbed to the clammy embrace of TicketMaster, entailing a hefty markup in Anka tickets. Oh, and Borgata, as well as the Caesars Entertainment threesome are all offering free credit monitoring to customers. Good on them, especially in light of recent events.

Back to Ocean: “When we booked last month, we didn’t realize it was Veteran’s Day weekend. It was quite crowded on the casino floor.  W saw Anka doing his ‘seven decades tour.’ He still has a very strong voice (unlike Wayne Newton). He’s an excellent entertainer and knows how to ‘work the crowd.’ Paul said in 1963 he moved to Italy for a few years, and started singing a song in Italian. A person in the front row started singing along with him and Paul came off stage to sing the whole song with him.” Further to Ocean’s credit, it has been quick to adopt the NFL-themed slots that made so much of a hit at Global Gaming Expo. Our correspondent liked them, writing, “It’s so different a slot machine where you can pick your favorite football team. I got a bonus and won $76 on a $0.75 bet. (The prior player on this machine was playing $3 and won a few hundred dollars).” With payouts like those, we’d be happy too.

In a case of mistaking a change of progress, Resorts Atlantic City has gone all-cashless in its parking garage. If you don’t have a credit or at least a base-level player’s card, you’re shit out of luck, pal. Our scribe hopes that Mohegan Sun has put up a big sign advertising the switcheroo.

Hard Rock no more? Is Bally’s Corp. ashamed of its Hard Rock affiliation in Biloxi? To access the casino on the latest e-mail blast from Bally’s Dover, you have to click on button for “Bally’s Biloxi.” An exercise in (re)branding perhaps? Getting rid of Hard Rock franchise fees would save Soo Kim beaucoup bucks, we surmise. The mailer also plays down—by dint of alphabetical ranking—the Tropicana Las Vegas in favor of the more prominent Bally’s Golf Links Ferry Point. Gotta make that $60 million purchase monetize, right? Meanwhile, at ever-happenin’ Bally’s Vicksburg, jewel in Kim’s crown, one could win a General Electric ice maker on Nov. 26, if you participate in Gift of the Month every Sunday. Way to sweep us off our feet, Soo.

They Are Who We Thought They Were Dept.: Returning to form, the Las Vegas Raiders eked out 16 points Sunday night, enough to beat a team as inept as the New York Jets. Aside from one Raider TD it was a stultifying spectacle of seven field goals, as two mediocre teams booted it back and forth. The NFL is so rancid this year that an 8-9 Raider finish still might get them into the playoffs and their defense is impressive … but an underachieving offense ought to be cause for concern. On to Miami.