Wall Street analysts expressed disappointment with last month’s gaming revenues from Missouri. Even a 5% increase in spending couldn’t offset an 
8% decline in foot traffic. A bright spot was that, for the quarter, Pinnacle Entertainment beat J.P. Morgan analyst Joseph Greff‘s projections. However, St. Louis and Kansas City casinos came up short where September alone is concerned. For instance, Argosy Riverside was expected to come in at -2% but instead registered a 7% decline from 2013.
Bright spots included Harrah’s North Kansas City (up 1%), and both Isle of Capri Casinos‘ Lady Luck (3%) and Isle of Capri Cape Girardeau (3%). Otherwise, it was mostly adversity. Pinnacle’s Ameristar St. Charles came in flat, while River City was down 3% and Ameristar Kansas City was down 7%. The biggest disappointment had to be Penn National Gaming‘s Hollywood Casino St. Louis, off 10.5% and in serious danger of slipping to third place in the market. Tropicana Entertainment‘s Lumiere Place, a minor contributor, suffered a 4% stumble.
Penn fared better in Kansas City, losing only 6% of business, while Isle of Capri Kansas City suffered a 2% slippage, though its revenue base is by far the smallest in the market. It’s always frustrating to compile these numbers without the revenue data from Penn’s Kansas Speedway casino, over the border. It’s difficult to tell whether Kansas City customers are being lured in droves to the speedway or are simply suffering economic malaise.
* Wynn Resorts has been exonerated of any culpability in a dodgy transaction involving the land on which it will build its Everett, Massachusetts, casino-resort. The Massachusetts Gaming Commission undertook to look into last week’s indictment of three Boston 
businessmen, one of them a convicted felon, for allegedly committing wire fraud and sundry other crimes. Said Acting Chairman James McHugh, “The indictments reflect that the Wynn applicant had no role in the wrongdoing by the owners of the land and had no knowledge of wrongdoing before the investigation was completed.”
Suffolk Downs, never one to miss an opportunity, is trying to use the indictments as an excuse to strip Wynn of its casino license. Getting a bit 
ahead of itself, Suffolk Downs asserted that it had “grave doubts” about Wynn’s ability to close the land deal in the two months remaining. That’s mighty big of them. The MGC will humor Suffolk Downs’ concerns and is currently mulling a 22-page missive from the track which, among things, accused, “Recent developments have combined with existing circumstances to demonstrate that Wynn will not be able to develop its proposed casino while abiding by the Gaming Act and the commission’s standard and directives adopted in its implementation of the statute.”
* Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe can breathe a sigh of relief. Reports 
that the Diet would move to legalize tourist-only casinos turned out to be a one-day story. With 128 million potential customers within Japan itself, anyone who proposes keeping them out of the casinos is either stupid or has a death wish for the industry. However, much as is the case in Singapore, native punters can probably expect to pay an admission fee for the privilege of gambling.
