As the window for apples-to-oranges comparisons of Atlantic City casino revenue closes, so does the gap between same-store and outright gross-gaming revenues. In September, casinos were up 10% 
on a same-store basis (i.e., excluding the four closed ones from the comparison) and 9.5% higher on a straight up comparison. This is some of the best news the Boardwalk’s had in a while. A 17% increase in Internet play certainly didn’t hurt, contributing $12 million to the gross. Once Resorts Atlantic City integrates PokerStars into its offerings, its tail-end Charlie 8% market share will undoubtedly improve significantly, maybe even giving Borgata a run for its money.
Resorts has been operating for so long under the auspices of the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority that it comes as a jolt that only now has the tribe received New Jersey Casino Control Commission approval of its management contract (through 2019) and permission to buy 10% of the casino. An option to purchase an additional 15%, however, was scrubbed.
Overall, both slot handle and revenue were up 4% and table game revenue rose 29%, despite 7% less wagers being made. Borgata ($63 million) saw 14% higher slot revenue on 14% more coin-in. Its table revenue grew 18% although money wagered rose only 6.5%. Still, its performance was a template for the city as a whole.
Only two casinos experienced declines, including perpetual loser Trump Taj Mahal, down 5% ($17 million). The new, grind-joint branding of Bally’s just doesn’t seem to be taking hold, as that 
casino dipped 4% ($19 million). Resorts was up 32%, for a $15 million gross. As for the balance of the Caesars Entertainment trio, there was a 19% surge at Caesars Atlantic City ($31 million) and a tiny uptick (1%) at Harrah’s Resort, which grossed a healthy $32 million. The Golden Nugget experienced a 14% bounce, good for $17 million, while Tropicana Atlantic City was up by the same percentage, grossing $24 million. Labor Day weekend undoubtedly helped everybody but Trump and Bally’s, but this is the first month in which the numbers have lined up almost exactly with those preceding the condensation of the Atlantic City market.
* Good things come to he who waits, “he” being Tioga Downs owner Jeffrey Gural. Yesterday, Gural received Gaming Facility Location Board selection for the fourth and final upstate New York casino license. The Location Board smiled upon Gural’s plan to upsize his racino into a $425 million, 1,000-slot, 50-table (blackjack and roulette), 161-hotel room resort. The news was cause for 
celebration in the Empire State’s Southern Tier, which had been initially shut out of the casino-selection process. (An unimpressive, debt-heavy, initial bid by Gural didn’t help, but he put $138 million of equity into his final pitch.) It’s not such good news for New York racinos, which have seen a 3% revenue decline this year. It also gets Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D, right) out of the hot seat for not taking care of the Southern Tier, having chosen gaming over fracking.
* A Rhode Island casino plan for Tiverton looks like it is going to ‘play’ for both city officials and residents. At a thinly attended town council meeting, executives of Twin River Management Group presented two alternative designs for selection. City fathers gave the nod to one in which the casino would be built to resemble the Tiverton public library, crowned by a “widow’s walk.” A wetlands buffer would screen the casino and hotel from nearby residential neighborhoods. A countermeasure to Plainridge Park, in Massachusetts, and successor to Newport Grand, the project still has to be approved by the General Assembly, Rhode Island voters and Tiverton ones. So don’t exhale just yet.
* The Lamar Odom scandal is throwing a light on the declining fortunes of Nevada‘s legal brothels. With the Silver State courting prestige by hosting two presidential debates, could we see a movement to sweep the sex industry under the legislative carpet?
