Casinos in Baton Rouge are going to have to stub out those cigarettes and get ready for a smoke-free existence. The Metropolitan Council of the City of Baton Rouge & Parish of East Baton Rouge voted to approve an ordinance banning smoking in public places. Fortunately 
for L’Auberge Baton Rouge and its two rivals, they have until June 18 to get ready, plenty of time to prepare outdoor smoking venues, possible even ones that have slots. (A task force commissioned by Gov. Bobby Jindal [R] is studying the feasibility.) What they shouldn’t do is follow the example of Harrah’s New Orleans, which wasted all the time leading up to New Orleans‘ smoking ban whining about it, then had some rough months while it suddenly adjusted to life after smoking. Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli is already downgrading Pinnacle Entertainment and Gaming & Leisure Properties earning projections but we are sanguine that both Pinnacle and GLPI will learn from Harrah’s negative example, and choose to switch rather than fight.
* Having one less weekend day in July certainly didn’t put a dent in Missouri‘s casino revenue, up 2% statewide (5% higher in Kansas City). In the St. Louis area, Ameristar St. Charles ($24 million) was flat whilst River City ($20 million) lost a percentage point. Hollywood Casino St. Louis was also flat but good for $21 million. Tropicana Entertainment did impressively well at Lumiere Place, up 9.5% to $12.5 million.
Ameristar Kansas City had a rough month, down 4% for a $16 million gross. Harrah’s North Kansas City zoomed past everybody, racing up 24% to $17 million, while Argosy Riverside just managed a 1% increase, to $14 million. Eldorado Resorts‘ quartet of Isle of Capri– and Lady Luck-branded riverboats were all revenue-negative, with Isle Cape Girardeau having the worst of it, down 6.5% to $6 million. Affinity Gaming‘s Mark Twain Casino lost 2% for a $3 million gross.
* Although Donald Trump‘s companies have filed four trademark applications in Macao, including one for casino operations, analysts at the Sanford C. Bernstein firm think it’s unlikely that The Donald will pursue an actual casino license. (They’ll start coming up for renewal around the end of his first term.) The applications aren’t 
exactly new: Identical trademarks were filed in 2006, then allowed to lapse. Wrote analysts Vitaly Umansky and Zhen Gong, “It is more likely that Trump is just protecting the use of his brand name rather than trying to get a casino licence in Macau (a prospect that we find to be impossible).” Why Umansky and Gong thought Trump would be unpalatable to Macanese authorities was unclear but they downplayed the registrations as simple intellectual-property protection. (It that the first time “Trump” and “intellectual” have coexisted in the same sentence?)
Fitch Ratings‘ Alex Bumazhny went a step farther, writing that “If Macau does look west, there are a handful of publicly traded gaming companies with more recent track records of developing and operating large-scale casino resorts.” Ouch! We still think the Trump Organization will endeavor to build a hotel in Macao but we’re optimistic that way.
* Sands Bethlehem may have the largest share of table-game revenue in Pennsylvania but that doesn’t mean the casino is resting on its laurels. It’s now added an electronic-blackjack stadium. “With 
the ability to play two games at once and a $5 minimum, this offering will give our guests an exciting new way to play one of the world’s most popular casino games,” enthused COO Brian Carr. Electronic table games generated $5.5 million for Sands in FY2016, an important number since table games are taxed at a sensible 16%, as opposed to the punitive 55% tax rate levied in slots. (Casino executives talk a good game about low-tax jurisdictions but, when it’s crunch time, they’ll pay anything for a slice of the action,)
