Las Vegas Strip revenues were down 3.5% last month but for once baccarat was blameless. Luck was with the casinos in the highly volatile game, which 
saw the house win 5.5% more on 17% higher wagering. Players avoided other table games, with wagering 10% lower and the house losing 13.5%. Slot handle and revenue were flat, for a total of $275 million, out of an overall Strip gross of $482 million. In locals markets, slot win was flat on 1.5% higher handle. Downtown nosed up 2% to $62 million, North Las Vegas was flat at $27 million, the Boulder Strip was also flat at $78 million, as was uncategorized Clark County at $102 million, while Laughlin slipped 3% to $45.5 million. Reno had a springlike 3% upswing ($49 million) but the bloom didn’t extend to Lake Tahoe, plunging 12.5% to $13 million. Elko and Carson Valley were flat at $25.5 million and $9 million respectively.
* Forty years pass in a whirlwind if you’re the El Cortez and it’s time to redo the 1980 hotel tower. $6 million has been budgeted to redo four floors comprising 64 rooms. Disruption begins early next month. Don’t say you weren’t warned.
* Having failed to beat Detroit through its Ohio casinos, Penn National Gaming will join them with a $1 billion bet on Greektown Casino-Hotel. Penn is picking up three-tenths of the tab, with landlord Vici Properties paying the 
rest. Penn is making all the right noises, promising “no drastic moves” and saying it will “talk with all the different departments and learn from anyone there.” Since Penn is new to the market, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel—or is there? Greektown has been mired in last place through several changes of ownership, even after its quaint original casino was superseded with a 21st century casino and hotel. We’ll see some capex on the gaming floor, where Penn traditionally replaces a seventh of its games every year. Floor employees’ jobs appear safe but corporate ones at Jack Entertainment (HQed in Motown) are soon to be rendered redundant, so there may be some fallout at the upper end.
* In a last-minute scurry, Illinois lawmakers are trying to make casino expansion a fait accompli by linking it to legalization of sports betting, a 
something-for-everyone move. So hastily drafted was the bill (by usual suspect state Sen. Robert Rita [D]) that a dry-land casino in Rockford was listed as a riverboat. Other vessels would go in two Chicago suburbs, one in Chicago proper, one in Danville and one in Williamson County. State Sen. Dave Syverson (R) predicts $300 million a year from new casinos, which seems rather optimistic. He dismissed opposition as existing casinos “who have monopolies [sic]. But enough is enough.” The bill, should it pass, is expected to receive Gov. Jay Pritzker‘s signature.
* Don’t appreciate the mechanical bartenders at MGM Springfield? Then take your drinking shoes over to Encore Boston Harbor, where cocktail stations are promised to be manned by “physical bartenders.” Besides, how is Encore to monitor alcohol dispensation between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. if it abdicates the task to androids? “I do understand international business. I do understand the need to compete with other casinos in the region, but I needed to be assured that everyone was taking this really seriously,” said gaming commissioner Gayle Cameron, although the competitive issue is perhaps overemphasized, given the geographical spread between Massachusetts‘ three casinos. As for Wynn Resorts’ hope that it could sell Encore to John Henry, baseball boss, Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria has a two-word message for Wynn: Nothing doing.
* Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than smart, as was the case with the Michigan man who parlayed a pay bonus into both a $300 casino jackpot and a $300,000 lottery win—in the same day. The lucky man’s reaction? “My house is paid for!” It’s good to see he’s got his priorities in order. Congratulations, sir.
* I’ve just gotten back from the doctor where I received the results of a pair of MRIs. I won’t bore you with the details other than to say I’ve been diagnosed with bone spurs. Finally Donald Trump and I have something in common.
