Blame it on brutal weather or whatever your like but Midwest casino revenues have been dismal in December and it’s my doleful duty to report them. Missouri dipped 11%. Positive performers, like Pinnacle 
Entertainment‘s River City (+6%) were few. Of two properties that are in the process of changing hands, Ameristar St. Charles plunged 13% while Lumiere Place fell 10%. Hollywood Casino St. Louis is having difficulty finding traction under its new brand, yielding 11% from last year’s performance. Penn National Gaming’s Argosy Riverside had it even worse, -13%. So did Pinnacle Entertainment‘s Ameristar Kansas City, down 14%. Isle of Capri Kansas City also had a 13% drop while Harrah’s North Kansas City did just slightly better, -12%. Isle was down 13% statewide, with Isle of Capri Cape Girardeau continuing to disappoint, down 15%.
To the north, Iowa had a less-dismal month, down just 8%. Some properties got hit extra hard through, like Argosy Sioux City, off 18.5%. Ameristar Council Bluffs managed to stay flat with last year and Harrah’s Council Bluffs, formerly the leper of the Caesars Entertainment colony, posted a 2% increase. Congratulations. Isle of Capri’s fortunes, however, were much as in Missouri — down 11%, I’m afraid. (Most of Iowa’s casinos and tracks are such penny-ante properties that they’re subject to highly volatile revenue swings, not worth reporting.)
Indiana had an absolutely dreadful December, down 16%. Considering that Northern Indiana (-18%) had it worse than Southern Indiana (15%), I am forced to conclude that players are just staying home, even allowing for new competition in Ohio. Even besieged by Horseshoe Casino Cleveland, 
Pinnacle’s Belterra revenues were only off 12% for 4Q13, not the 14% expected by J.P. Morgan analyst Joseph Greff. However, the former Ameristar East Chicago went down 12.5% in 4Q13, not Greff’s projected 5%. December comparisons included Horseshoe Hammond (-17%), Ameristar East Chicago (-20.5%) and Boyd Gaming‘s Blue Chip (-18%). Only Tropicana Entertainment‘s Casino Aztar and racino Indiana Live were revenue-positive for the month. Independent Rising Sun (-34%) and Penn National’s Hollywood Casino Lawrenceburg (-42%) were walloped by new competition, with Rising Sun having sunken to the lowest-grossing position in the state. Belterra was down 9% for the month and French Lick took a 15% licking.
Sorry for all the bad news, folks, but it’s cold out there.
There is a reason why so many Midwestern casinos saw declines and it’s not the weather or the slowly recovering economy. These places get people in the door but give them few reasons to come back. Lousy odds, so-so food, tepid entertainment – usually only on weekends, car dependent locations and the lack of free or even discounted drinks add up to a boring experience with little bang for the entertainment buck.
I’m starting to wonder whether the use of Chantix to quit smoking is also making people less likely to gamble. We know that smokers are more likely to gamble, and that both activities reward the pleasure center of their brains. Chantix shuts down that reward mechanism. Just a thought.