Maryland casino business continues to boom, up 5.5% last month. MGM National Harbor led the pack with $58 million. It will, however, be a source of dismay to ownership that play 
continues to trend toward highly taxed (60%) slots and away from low-tax table games. In July the split was $32 million/$26 million. Rival Maryland Live is even more reliant upon the one-armed bandits, $34 million/$14 million. Slot revenue was up 17% at National Harbor and tables jumped 13%, for an overall gain of 15%. Maryland Live was up only 2%, thanks to a 6% decline at the tables. National Harbor averaged $1.9 million per day, a boffo day by any measure and one MGM would love to achieve from any of its Las Vegas Strip casinos.
This prosperity is not rubbing off on Horseshoe Baltimore, falling 11% to $20.5 million. Hollywood Perryville slid 7% to $6 million while table games continue to power Ocean Downs, rocketing 34% up to $9 million. Out west, Rocky Gap Resort did a respectable 1.5% gain up to $5 million. Horseshoe is losing the war for market share, commanding only 14% compared to MGM’s 40% and Maryland Live’s 20%. Penn National Gaming had a little bit of good news in West Virginia, where its Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races gained a percentage point, a number that would have been better had table winnings not taken a 20% dive.
* Whatever ailed the Illinois economy last month wasn’t catching in Ohio, which reported a 3% increase in casino/racino revenues. Slots carried the ball, representing 86% of revenue, as table 
wagering fell 7.5%. Hollywood Toledo slipped 2% to $17 million while Hollywood Columbus grew 3.5% to $19.5 million. As for Penn’s outlying properties Hollywood Dayton rose 4% to $8.5 million ($271 win/slot/day) and Hollywood Mahoning Valley was up 5% to $10 million ($320 win/slot/day). To put the latter number in context, that level of slot win is usually associated with category killers like MGM National Harbor and Penn’s Plainridge Park.
Despite flat revenues, Hard Rock Rocksino led the state with $22.5 million. Scioto Downs leapt 7% to $15 million and Belterra Park was up 2.5% to $7.5 million. Privately held Miami Valley 
Gaming had a particularly impressive month at the slots, vaulting 13.5% to $14 million. Which leaves us with the Jack portfolio. Jack Cincinnati was up 2.5% to $17 million and Jack Thistledown gained 5.5% to $10 million. But Dan Gilbert just can’t figure out downtown Cleveland. Revenues fell 5.5% to $16 million. At that rate we’ll be mightily surprised if the permanent casino ever gets built.
* Gross gaming revenues from Macao are in and Galaxy Entertainment narrowly bested Sands China, $2.15 billion (a 30% jump) to $2.1 billion (up 21.5%). Sociedade de Jogos de 
Macau grossed $1.4 billion (a 10% gain), Melco Resorts & Entertainment logged $1.3 billion for a 3% uptick, Wynn Macau‘s 8.5% gain was good for almost $1.4 billion while MGM Resorts International brought up the rear with $656 million, albeit on a 24% surge. These numbersm barring further information, seem to bode better for MGM Cotai than Wynn Palace, while Parisian is obviously buoying Sheldon Adelson‘s always-strong portfolio. Given the amount of new product brought into the market by Melco, I’m surprised Lawrence Ho didn’t do better.
VIP gaming revenue was up 12% and mass-market revenue rose 20%. Sands may have underperformed, considering that enjoys 35% of industry cash flow compared to Galaxy’s 25%. Wynn has 
16%, Melco had 12%, MGM a mere 6% and fast-fading SJM 6% also. (A harsh blow for the company with the most casinos in Macao.) In terms of VIP play, Galaxy dominated with 30%, Wynn outperformed with 19%, SJM remained VIP-centric with 16%, Sands was close behind with 15%, equaled by Melco, while MGM eked out 6%. Those Cotai junket rooms can’t be ready soon enough.
