Maryland aside, gambling revenues continue to trend upward. Even in Iowa, where they nudged only 1% higher from last year (undoubtedly due to new competition from Nebraska) but were high heavens (+38%) over 2019, aka the good old days. Indiana’s gain was also a modest 1% from 2022 for a $199 million haul. Hard Rock Northern Indiana surged 9% to $34.5 million, while Horseshoe Hammond‘s decline slowed to 1.5%, bagging $28 million. Ameristar East Chicago slid 8% to $16.5 million and Blue Chip was up 4.5% to $11 million. To the south, Horseshoe Indianapolis galloped 8% faster, winning $26 million, while Harrah’s Hoosier Downs cantered +1.5% to $17.5 million.

Best of the non-racinos (other than Horseshoe Hammond) was Caesars Southern Indiana, grossing $21.5 million for a 9.5% gain. Bally’s Evansville peaked at $14 million and a couple of its competitors got hit hard. Rising Star fell 20.5% to $3 million and Hollywood Lawrenceburg tumbled 14% to $13 million. Belterra Resort rounded out the unfortunates, down 7.5% to $6.5 million. French Lick Resort climbed 8.5% to $6.5 million, enabling us to end on a positive note.

We tweeted after the opening of The Temporary at American Place (yes, that’s its cumbersome nomeclature) that it was “a hit.” We were wrong.

According to Full House Resorts CEO Dan Lee and CFO Lewis Fanger, The Temporary eked out just under $1.5 million in gaming revenues during its first two weeks of operation. (The State of Illinois says $3 million.) That’s $80 per gambler per day in the first week, $97 in the second, according to Lee. Full House is trying to spin these numbers as average for an Illinois casino. Trouble is, the company led us to believe The Temporary (and its eventual permanent successsor) would be above average, especially as it sits in prosperous Lake County, with outmoded, antediluvian riverboat casinos its nearest competitors. So you will forgive us if we are underwhelmed by its debut.

Stock boffins were treated to a fair amount of revisionist history by Full House. Now, for instance, opening without an Illinois database is realized to be a severe handicap. And we were told that Chicago denizens don’t drive to Lake County if they can help it. So why is Full House splurging on billboards along the expressway from downtown Chicago to O’Hare International Aiport? We’ve seen them.

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.

Lest we should get all warm and fuzzy about Blackstone Group, second-largest landowner on the Las Vegas Strip, here’s a bracing reminder of how it got to be where it is today.

Citing “very encouraging” trends in Macao, analyst Joseph Greff of J.P. Morgan gave Wynn Resorts a favorable notice today. Without getting too much into the minutiae, Wynn execs cited rapidly improving VIP business, 96% hotel occupancy and a 34% uptick in retail sales. Added Greff, “For the four-week period following the Chinese New Year, WYNN indicated that relative to 2019 levels, mass table drop was at 82%, direct VIP turnover was at 120%, and tenant sales were at 78%. Wow.” At those rates Macao will be back much, much sooner than expected.