An extra weekend day in Indiana was no help to casino revenues in Indiana, which were, on average, flat with 2018. The total gross was $186 
million. The saving grace, perhaps, was that August 2018 saw revenues grow 5% but then why did 2019, with its additional weekend day, display even a smidge of further growth? Beneath the calm surface some dramatic swings and roundabouts were taking place, though. This was especially true of the southern tier.
Horseshoe Southern Indiana got shellacked, down 12% to $18 million, still good enough for a comfortable first place in the region. Tropicana Evansville ($13 million) was flat but Belterra Resort lost 8.5% to finish at $10 million and Rising Sun was off 5.5% for a $4 million gross. Hollywood Lawrence gained 8% to $16 million and French Lick Resort was 5.5% up to $8.5 million. At the racinos, Indiana Grand was up 1% to $21 million and Hoosier Park cantered 6.5% to $16.5 million.
Horseshoe Hammond continued its dominance of the northern tier, with $33.5 million, a 3% gain. Blue Chip was the only other gainer, up 1.5% to $13.5 million. The two Majestic Star boats, living on borrowed time, grossed $7.5 million and $5 million respectively, the first flat and the second down 2%. That leaves Ameristar East Chicago, reporting $19.5 million for a 2% dip. Although we have not been able to quantify the impact of tribal Four Winds in South Bend, the sustained gains at Blue Chip strongly suggest a negligible effect.
* Did you know … that Las Vegas has the most pretzel shops per capita in the U.S. of A.? That’s one of the reasons it’s the sixth-best city in which to celebrate Oktoberfest. (Being the hometown of Siegfried & Roy probably helps.) Sin City is only 44th in percentage of German population but second in bar accessibility and 16th in breweries per capita. Unfortunately, we are also sixth in DUI-related fatalities per capita. Gotta work on bringing that last one down, even if it costs us some of our high ranking.
* Sheldon Adelson and Dr. Miriam Adelson, longtime BFFs of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are throwing Bibi and his wife, Sara, under the bus. They testified that the missus makes all 
the decisions and is “crazy.” “She would tell my wife that if Iran attacked it would all be her fault,” said Sheldon, “because we didn’t publish good pictures of her.” Mrs. Adelson piled on: “She chooses the workers, the people around him, the staff, his secretary. Then she knows everything that goes on.”
The Adelson testimony seems to be karmic payback. Netanyahu is accused of offering to undercut Adelson’s Israel Hayom (known to detractors as Bibiton, “The Voice of Bibi”) in return for favorable coverage in Yedioth Ahronoth. Netanyahu’s office dismissed the Adelsons’ testimony as “a pile of distorted and defamatory lies. Its entire aim is to harm Prime Minister Netanyahu and his wife on the eve of the election.” The testimony focused more on Mrs. Netanyahu than the prime minister, with Dr. Adelson saying, “As a doctor I have sympathy for people who are not healthy. I treat addicts [including her own husband]. She is not healthy.”
* What did the soon-to-be Las Vegas Raiders know about Antonio Brown that the New England Patriots didn’t? His latest run-in with human decency will be a cloud over the NFL season.
