Despite being increasingly besieged by slot routes, Illinois casinos had a good February, up 5%. Foot traffic was 3% higher and customer spending rose 2%. 
Two operators had revenue-negative months, with MGM Resorts International off 1% at Grand Victoria Elgin, while Boyd Gaming dropped 6% at Par-A-Dice (a result that Boyd had hinted at with layoffs and curtailed hours). The two casinos grossed $13 million and $7 million respectively.
The operator with the best month was Gaming & Leisure Properties‘ Casino Queen ($10 million), up 11%. Neil Bluhm‘s Rivers Casino grossed $34 million, good for an 8.5% million increase. Also having a very good month was Caesars Entertainment, up 13% at Harrah’s Metropolis ($7 million) and 4% at Harrah’s Joliet ($14 million). Despite a 5% decline at Argosy Belle ($4 million), Penn National Gaming had a revenue-positive month, up 6% at Empress Joliet ($10 million) and 9% at Hollywood Aurora ($10 million). Competition seems to have worked in almost all the Chicagoland operators’ favor. To the west, independent Jumer’s Casino Rock Island was up 3%, for a $6 million haul.
* Palms Casino Resort may be back on the market after spending five years under the stewardship of TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners. With average daily room 
rates back at 2008 levels, this may be as good a time as any to peddle the Palms, hopefully to a casino-focused owner. Would George Maloof want to make a comeback? Does he have the capital? TPG and Green aren’t the only casino speculators who have properties with a “for sale” sign on them. Aliante Casino may get flipped again, as Apollo Management and TPG are reportedly exploring putting it up for grabs. And of course Carl Icahn is trying yet again to move Fontainebleau, putting CBRE Group to the task of finding a sucker, er, buyer to take F-blew off his hands.
* No surprise here. A ballot question to add a casino to Tiverton will go before Rhode Island voters in November. Legislators approved the language and sent it on to Gov. Gina Raimondo, who appended her signature to the legislation. Voters will be asked whether to put a 1,000-VLT, 32-table casino on the Massachusetts border, hoping to blunt the impact of Plainridge Park and a potential Region C casino in the Bay State. Said Raimondo, “we took action focused on keeping economic development and jobs here in Rhode Island, and protecting our state’s third-largest revenue source so that we can continue to invest in priorities like improving our schools, keeping college affordable, and creating jobs.”
* Steve Wynn‘s not exactly a pauper these days but his paycheck was 18% lighter last year, thanks to lower play at Wynn Macau. Its namesake took home only $20.7 million, the Wynn Resorts board having reduced some of his $17.5 million in bonuses. As we 
noted last week, Wynn Macau’s high exposure to high rollers has made it one of the bigger victims on recent plunges in business. “The VIP business cratered and the mass market waned as visitation from China turned negative,” was how Bloomberg Intelligence Director of Research Tim Craighead put it. In case you’re curious as to how the other half lives, Wynn continues to dwell in a high-roller villa Wynncore, for which he pays $560,000 a year.
To incentivize Wynn, the board cut his $4 million salary to $2.5 million and tied more of his pay packet to performance targets. Even with the cutbacks, Wynn’s living on Easy Street compared to Sheldon Adelson ($12 million) and Jim Murren ($10 million). Just as Adelson’s The Parisian is aping Paris-Las Vegas, Wynn is taking a page from Adelson’s book and deploying a fleet of gondoliers at in-progress Wynn Palace, a pitch to the mass market.
I am going to venture a wild guess that you might be able to purchase both the Palms and Aliante for less than what Carl is demanding for his 40% completed pile of rusting steel. Or, maybe not.
I still keep thinking that China is (secretly and silently) trying to put the Macau casino operators out of business so they can come in and take over the properties to own and operate themselves.