Customers visited 8% in Indiana and spent 4% less. There were some salutary results. Pinnacle Entertainment‘s Ameristar East Chicago was up 2% and Boyd Gaming‘s Blue Chip saw revenues rise 3%. It was a big month for the racinos, with Hoosier Park reporting 15% higher grosses and Indiana Downs up a whopping 25%.
Other casinos took a whipping. In the north, Majestic Star II was down 
20%, while casinos in the greater Cincinnati area continued to suffer. Belterra posted an 18.5% decline and low-grossing Rising Star Casino Resort was practically wiped out, 26% off last year’s pace. Penn National Gaming‘s Hollywood Lawrenceburg was hammered, too, down 27%. Even Casino Aztar saw a rare (albeit small) revenue declivity. Caesars Entertainment didn’t have a great month, what with Horseshoe Hammond off its feed (-5%) and some incremental cannibalization in the south, at Horseshoe Southern Indiana (-4.5%). Indie French Lick took a licking though, down 15%.
Racinos are coming on strong next door in Ohio, where they represented $56 million of the total, $127 million gaming gross. Even so, Penn managed a 3% increase at Hollywood Toledo and a 9.5% boost at problem child Hollywood Columbus. Nearby rival Scioto Downs saw a 7% increase. Horseshoe Cleveland remained the state’s top-grossing casino, despite a 3% slippage, while Thistledown Racino fell 4%. However, the opening of Pinnacle’s Belterra Park racino seems to have complicated life for Horseshoe Cincinnati which fell a surprising 12.5%. The state’s racinos are on a steady upward curve, complicating life for the full-service casinos, of which only Horseshoe Cleveland is on an unequivocally upward trajectory.
Kennedy out, Isaacs in. A bit sooner than expected, Gavin Isaacs has 
taken the CEO’s chair at Scientific Games, displacing interim president David Kennedy. Wrote Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli, “the timing was a bit ahead of schedule given the SHFL non-compete implied a Fall appointment … we think Mr. Isaacs arrival is a net positive for the Company given his successful track record and respect amongst industry peers. However, we continue to see SGMS as a company with significant headwinds given equipment industry challenges” among other issues.
The stock has been on a steady downward march since an October apogee of $19.03, which may explain why Isaacs is taking the reins sooner than expected. Company Chairman Ronald Perelman called Isaacs “the ideal choice to lead our efforts to achieve greater profitability and increased cash flow.”
* Horseshoe Baltimore will be bringing a distinctively Vegas element when it opens with 14forty, a round-the-clock bar. Bottle service and a two-story video screen will be some of the Vegas-like amenities it offers. For those who prefer a local touch, B’More Beers will have 32 local brews on tap.
The idea is to inhibit the practice of buying expensive items then receiving the cash value rather than the item itself. “The Macau Monetary Authority ordered jewelry stores and pawnshops operating on casino floors to remove their UnionPay card terminals by July 1.” 