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Rejected!

It’s been a rough winter for Peninsula Pacific. First it narrowly lost a plebiscite in Richmond, Virginia. Then, on Saturday, it got body-slammed by voters in Louisiana‘s St. Tammany Parish, who turned out in droves to vote down a proposed casino in a landslide, with 63% balloting “nay.” Peninsula Pacific, owner of the Diamond Jacks license from Shreveport, had made a very “george” offer, including a $352 million casino and lots of upfront money for the community. But they ill-judged the dynamics of the Slidell area, where the mayor and leading local officials wanted nothing to do with Peninsula Pacific.

One person who saw this coming a mile off was Full House Resorts CEO Dan Lee, he of the Silver Slipper in Biloxi: “Full House-commissioned polling, he said, showed Diamond Jacks losing ‘by a very wide margin.’ He said the Slidell area is very conservative and heavily Republican, filled with people who had fled New Orleans ‘to get away from things like casinos.'” The real winner in all this is not Full House, however, but Churchill Downs, whose Fair Grounds track is the nearest gaming facility to Slidell. They just dodged a bullet.

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Hard Rock, Caesars grapple; Trouble at Topgolf LV

There’s a battle royal in Indiana between Hard Rock Gary and Horseshoe Hammond. But before we get to that, let it be noted that—despite one less weekend than 2019—casino revenues were up 9.5% to $195 million. The two main combatants were just incrementally apart, with Hard Rock making $31 million versus Horseshoe Hammond’s $30.5 million (-4%). Third-place Ameristar East Chicago was well behind at $18 million, down 2%. The smallness of the declines supports the viewpoint of those who argued that the arrival of Hard Rock would grow business in the northern tier, not dilute it. Only Blue Chip (above) suffered, down 15% to $11 million. Indiana Grand racino continued to thrive with $24 million, up 3%, while Harrah’s Hoosier Downs galloped 11.5% faster to $20 million.

In the southern tier, Bally’s Evansville was flat at $12.5 million despite the new branding, while Caesars Southern Indiana remained a player favorite, grossing $18 million for a 6.5% gain. Belterra Resort slipped 7% to $7.5 million and little Rising Star booked $3 million, a 4% dip. French Lick Resort took a drubbing, off 23% to $6 million but Hollywood Lawrenceburg slipped only 2% to $14 million.

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Playing politics with sports betting … and casinos

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) has really put her foot in it this time. Not only are Windy City aldermen balking at five stadium-area sports books in addition to a billion-dollar casino, fearing cannibalization, but Lightfoot threw gasoline on the fire with the oh-so-casual remark that taxpayers would be footing the bill for the infrastructure needed for aforesaid sports books to operate. Spending public money to make already-rich people even richer would be a hard sell to voters, we’re sure. Also, Lightfoot’s much-touted 2% extra impost on sports books was derided as “paltry” after her office said it would bring in $400K-$500K a year, peanuts compared to the tax dollars a casino would pay. Back in the day (2009), Lightfoot said freestanding sports books had “the potential to undermine the viability of any Chicago-based casino.” Lightfoot 2.0 now deems them essential and is allied with the Lege in trying to strong-arm aldermen into going along.

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Trying to Go Back Again

From 1974 to 1980, I was involved full-time in backgammon — to the tune of 3,000 hours a year, including playing, studying, and for a brief while running a tournament. I went broke. While I had done well against new players, the backgammon craze waned, and the remaining players were superior to me. Playing against superior players is a prescription for bankruptcy.

Over the next decade, I played or studied perhaps 1,000 hours a year because I had to maintain a full-time job to support myself. And I managed to play for smaller stakes against weaker players. At the end, I was a fairly strong intermediate player, by the standards of the day. There were a number of much stronger players around. Try as I might, I just didn’t have the ability to evenly compete with them. And so I avoided playing them.

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Cordish cashes in; Scare tactics in Atlantic City; Illinois slumps

Succumbing to the siren song of REITmania, Cordish Gaming has sold the real estate of three of its casinos to Gaming & Leisure Properties Inc. for a grand total of $1.8 billion. The affected casinos are Philadelphia Live, Pittsburgh Live and Maryland Live. The latter is the real prize, Philadelphia Live (pictured) being somewhat of an underachiever. Reported JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff, “the deal also includes a binding partnership on future Cordish casino developments and potential financing partnerships between GLPI and Cordish in other parts of Cordish’s businesses … We also like that GPLI is adding a new and reputable real estate/gaming partner that potentially could lead to future accretive transactions.” The newfound wealth could also empower Cordish to take on new projects elsewhere. “They’re raising capital without having to get the loan or do some kind of stock offering, because Cordish is still a private company and is more limited,” gaming analyst Jason Karmel observed.

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MGM resurgent in Maryland; More Mega-Jottings

November was another terrific month for Maryland casinos, as revenues picked up a bit from October, accumulating 14% more than in November 2019.. (If inflation is so bad, where do Marylanders find all this money with which to gamble, one wonders? But anyway … ) After a month out of the top spot, MGM National Harbor was back at #1, grossing $68 million, a 26% leap by the lion. Maryland Live was not quite so buoyant, up 10% to $58 million. Horseshoe Baltimore tumbled 15% to $16 million, remaining the problem child of Caesars Entertainment. Business was slightly slower at Rocky Gap Resort, up 11.5% to $5 million, while Ocean Downs cantered +22.5% to $6.5 million and Hollywood Perryville gained 22% to $7 million. Despite flat slot revenues, West Virginia casinos garnered 3% more last month, on the strength of robust (+18%) table win. Hollywood Charles Town Races was particularly fortunate, climbing 4% at the slots and 32% at the tables.

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Special Edition: Rumblings from around Big Gaming

Update: The Seminole Tribe has finally, grudgingly stopped taking sports bets, effective yesterday.

At the risk of using the Seminole Tribe as a punching bag, we have to observe that it clearly doesn’t understanding the meaning of the word “no,” especially when it comes to online sports betting. Judge Dabney Friedrich (pictured) ruled that the Seminoles couldn’t have OSB. But they kept taking bets. Then Judge Friedrich nixed their request for a stay. And they kept taking wagers. Now a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals said no, you have to shut it down. And, as far as we know, the Seminoles are still accepting bets. The only commitment Seminole mealy-mouthpiece Gary Bitner would make is “The Seminole Tribe is aware of today’s Appeals Court decision and is carefully considering the steps it will take as a result,” which probably include continued defiance. Which raises the question, if the Seminoles won’t abide by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (at least when it’s not to their convenience) why in the bloody blue blazes should anyone else?

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Off-topic: Medical update

Forgive me if I get personal for a moment. Yesterday, in a fit of depression brought on by an impending medical procedure, I mentioned “life-threatening surgery.” Well, the surgical procedures for which I was scheduled (which involved removal of a vertebra, and the insertion of many rods and screws) is life-threatening but no longer imminent. After an agonizing risk/benefit analysis, I concluded that the former outweighed the latter and the status quo could be maintained for another six months or year, or maybe more. (The prospect of having my neck largely immobilized for life weighed heavily against the surgery.) From this I have drawn a few lessons …

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Mega-Jottings

Hollywood Morgantown will open Dec. 22, just in time to capture a share of end-of-year business. The $111 million Penn National Gaming facility will feature 750 slots, 30 table games and cashless betting … The Seminole Tribe continues to offer sports betting, in defiance of a federal court order. Clearly the Seminoles think there’s one set of rules for them and another for everybody else. Wrote the plaintiffs’ attorneys, “the compact creates a gambling scheme that violates state and federal laws and makes unwitting bettors into accomplices in the violations of those laws.” Incidentally, aforesaid compact included a severability clause for OSB, a clear indication that the tribe and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) knew it probably wouldn’t pass muster … Speaking of legal troubles, junket operator Suncity has closed its VIP rooms in Macao (wiping out half the VIP market in town) following the arrest of CEO Alvin Chau for money laundering and other offenses. Casino stocks have been sliding on the Hong Kong bourse, with Wynn Macau down 18% …

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