Hoosier State comeback; Surprise contenders in Ohio

In light of all the gaming growth being experienced in Ohio, results in Indiana are not quite as roseate as in Illinois or Missouri, say. But they’re beating analyst expectations by impressive margins. Crunching the numbers, Deutsche Bank‘s Carlo Santarelli concludes that foot traffic is up 12% and gamblers are spending 2% more on average. In the state’s northern tier, only Majestic Star was down (-1%) while its sister vessel was up 28%. Pinnacle Entertainment‘s Ameristar East Chicago performed impressively enough ($17 million, +17%) but it was still doubled by Horseshoe Hammond (it’s not a casino, it’s a continent), which pulled in double the amount of money, for a 14% increase. Boyd Gaming also performed impressively aboard Blue Chip, growing revenue 26%.

With few exceptions, players didn’t stray far from the racinos, which both posted robust numbers: $17 million (+22%) at Indiana Downs and $14 million (+17%) at Hoosier Park. Horseshoe Southern Indiana was a star performer, grossing $21 million for a 13% gain. Except for Hollywood Casino Lawrenceburg (-3%), which continues to lag the market, it’s business as usual for most of the southern tier … and considerably more than that at Belterra, where business was up 29%. Perennial afterthought French Lick Casino even recorded a 20% increase.

* Conversely, Belterra Park continues to be underachiever of the Ohio casinos and racinos, pulling in a mere $120/VLT/day. Without last year’s adverse weather to chill results, casinos and racinos where same-store comparisons could be made generally fared well. I say
“generally” because Horseshoe Cincinnati was unaccountably 6% down (increasing competition? decreasing novelty?). Caesars Entertainment‘s Thistledown Racetrack was also down, albeit by only 1.5%. The latter is particularly strange because Thistledown’s VLTs are grossing an above-average $221/machine/day.

A positive month at Horseshoe Cleveland (+4.5%) wasn’t quite enough to pull Caesars’ year/year comparison into the positive. Penn National Gaming‘s two casinos generated average (for Ohio) numbers, which was good enough for a 17% increase in Columbus and a 24% one in Toledo. Although it posted middle-of-the-pack numbers, that was enough for a 12% gain at Scioto Downs.

Hard Rock Rocksino did a well-above-average $221/VLT, propelling it to a 22% and top-grossing status among the state’s racinos (almost double Thistledown’s haul). Up-and-comers include Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course, grossing an insane $257/VLT/day, and Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway, with an above-average $208/VLT/day.

* Casinos and vendors don’t often disclose the terms of litigation settlements. So we were pleasantly surprised by the candor of Boot Hill Casino & Resort, in Dodge City, Kansas. Boot Hill owner Butler National Corp. sued Bally Gaming over issues related to its systems equipment. After losing at trial, Bally was going to sue but agreed to pay Butler almost the full amount of the trial judgment — $1,323,542.27 — in return for which Bally gets all its “system-related equipment” back. Not a good day on Boot Hill for Bally.