Margaritaville ($10 million) was the difference between a positive (1.5%) and negative month in Louisiana, which was down 3% on a same-store basis. Isle of Capri Casinos had an exceptionally good month (+12%) but Pinnacle Entertainment (-3.5%), Boyd Gaming (-5%). Gaming & Leisure Properties (aka Penn National Gaming, -12%) and Caesars Entertainment (-1%) saw varying degrees of adversity. The month of February also saw a bit of whimsy, as market analyst Carlo Santarelli dubbed a pair of Pinnacle riverboats “The Boomtown Brothers.”
It was a rough month for the Shreveport/Bossier City market, where declines were in the double digits: Boomtown Bossier -26%; Sam’s Town -16%; El Dorado -13%; Horseshoe Bossier City -6.5%; Diamond Jacks -16%; Louisiana Downs (Caesars) -10%. Harrah’s New Orleans (+3%) led Big Easy casinos, while Churchill Downs‘ Fair Grounds racino (-4%), Boyd’s Treasure Chest (-7%) and Pinnacle’s Boomtown New Orleans (-14%) offered a variety of declines. Tropicana Entertainment‘s Belle of Baton Rouge (+16.5%) staged a comeback against market favorite L’Auberge Baton Rouge (+9%), which was more than GLPI’s Hollywood Baton Rouge (-12%) could do.
In the Lake Charles market, Boyd’s Delta Downs racino was flat, Isle had the good month noted previously and L’Auberge du Lac was up 2%. In outlying jurisdictions, Boyd’s Evangeline Downs racino was flat and its Amelia Belle riverboat was down 8%.
* If you’ve won big at the casino, be careful when driving through Humboldt County, or you may be the subject of a shakedown. That’s what happened to Tan Nguyen, whose fifty grand in winnings were seized, even though he was not charged with any crime. So egregious was this overreach by Sheriff’s Deputy Lee Dove that a court of law not only made the sheriff’s office return the money, it fined it $10,000 in court costs. But if you’ve just hit it big at the tables on slots, watch your speedometer, just in case.
* Taking a page from Nevada‘s book, New York State is looking to make a few extra bucks off of fliers. A bill that would put slot machines in John F. Kennedy and La Guardia airports is making its way through the state Senate.
* America’s biggest casino, in square gaming footage, is planning a name change. Potowatomi Bingo Casino, in Milwaukee, will become Potowatomi Hotel & Casino. The change of name signifies the addition of a $150 million, 381-r00m hotel tower to the Potowatomi casino, an amenity that is still in progress, scheduled for autumn completion. The logo reflects the Forest County Potawatomi‘s heritage as “Keepers of the Fire.” They also hope to continue being keepers of the gambling revenue, as they fight off a rival, Menominee Tribe project.