Penn National Gaming reported 4Q19 revenues that aligned with Wall Street projections, with cash flow modestly higher than expected “on a combination of better operations and lower than forecast corporate expenses.” JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff said that Penn was reducing 
leverage at a rate quicker than modeled, although the +24% stock-price euphoria that followed the Barstool Sports acquisition might be subsiding. Robust market segments were the South and West, offsetting challenges in the Upper Midwest and in the Northeast (read: Encore Boston Harbor … but still a cash cow, generating $621 million). Rent payments were a tad higher than anticipated and launching Penn’s sports-betting application incurred some one-time charges. On the plus side, sports betting is propelling higher table-game volume and food-and-beverage spend. Also, Hollywood Casino York is slated for a late-2020 opening, with Hollywood Casino Morgantown penciled in for a November debut.
Penn invested $199 million in property maintenance and $127 million in capital improvements. Sales of the Tropicana Las Vegas and slot route Prairie State Gaming remain “potential,” which surprises us in the respect that we’d thought there’d have been ready takers for both. The Trop should be especially valuable, in that Penn holds part of a finite commodity—Las Vegas Strip land—and clearly knows it.
* Four former Miccosukee Gaming employees and their wives have a date with the slammer after being convicted of multiple felonies. The men were dinged for theft and computer fraud, the women for money laundering. The Florida scheme was outlined as follows, “they tampered with computers in electronic gaming machines, causing those machines to generate false and fraudulent credit vouchers or tickets. They then enlisted others to exchange the vouchers for cash at the casino. The money was turned over to the employees’ wives, who moved the cash between multiple bank accounts.” I hope they think it was worth it, a fateful decision they will now have plenty of time to mull.
* From the What the Hell Where You Thinking? File we present Danielle Skrogstad, convicted of contributing to the delinquency of a minor after she secreted her underage son onto the casino floor of Isle of Capri Bettendorf. Skrogstad really wanted her kid to gamble, as she was 
turned away twice, then distracted security, enabling Junior to slip past. When her ruse was discovered, Skrogstad tried to shake the casino down for a bribe. Nothing doing. While Iowa Racing & Gaming Commission member Jeff Lamberti said Iowa needs to weigh levying penalties on adults like Skrogstad, that hasn’t been done. Unfortunately, the IRGC hit Isle Bettendorf with a $10K fine. As a matter of principle, we understand, but isn’t this a situation where an exception to the rule should have been considered? (As opposed to what happened at Lakeside Casino, rightly fined 20 grand for not enforcing its own rules.)
* Leapfrogging state borders, the Circa Sports mobile application has landed in Colorado, where it will be deployed from Century Casinos-owned properties. “Colorado has proven to be an ideal place to mark the official expansion of Circa Sports outside of Nevada with its pro-growth regulatory environment. Furthermore, the Colorado Division of Gaming has done an excellent job to ensure a seamless application and launch process,” said Derek Stevens. The program is expected to be available for download when sports betting goes live on May 1. It will operate under the umbrella of the Century Casinos Cripple Creek license.
* Virginia‘s state Senate advanced legislation that would put casino-enabling propositions in the hands of voters this fall. In doing so, it stiff-armed an amendment to expand ‘historical racing’ in the state. This dismayed the horsey set, while a predictable shriek of outrage was heard from The Family Foundation, which tweeted that the committee’s action “will significantly expand gambling in Virginia beyond anything we could imagine. From casinos to sports betting, to online gambling, these bills will usher in an avalanche of gambling will exploit those who can least afford to lose.” Let’s hope the Lege isn’t listening.
