Illinois casinos have never recovered from the double-whammy of the Great Recession and a smoking band, and now they have to contend with slot routes. Last month they were 
down 2.5% statewide($108.5 million). Taking a closer look, two riverboats were responsible for most of the malaise: Hollywood Aurora ($9 million), down 9%, and Casino Queen in East St. Louis ($7.5 million), plummeting 11.5%. Top dog Rivers Casino was absolutely flat with last year, grossing $34 million and — reversing a long stretch of misfortune — Boyd Gaming‘s Par-A-Dice was up 3%, to gross $6 million. The Joliet market was solid, with Penn National Gaming‘s Empress Joliet ($9.5 million) up a percentage point, as was Harrah’s Joliet, grossing almost $15 million. MGM Resorts International‘s Grand Victoria grossed $12.5 million but fell nearly 5%.
Further south, Jumer’s Casino Rock Island took in $5.5 million, down 4%. Penn’s Argosy Belle lost 5%, grossing $3.5 million. Harrah’s Metropolis was off 2.5%, for $6 million, rounding out a rather “blah” month in the Land of Lincoln.
* Business was quite a bit better in Ohio, up 8% for a $142.5 million gross. Leading the pack was table-less Hard Rock Rocksino, up 8% to $19 million. Jack Cleveland had an unusually good month, up 8% to $17 million, but Thistledown was off 2.5%, for $9.5 
million. Dan Gilbert‘s other casino, in Cincinnati, rose 4.5% to $16 million. Eldorado Resorts‘ Scioto Downs vaulted 12% to $13 million while Miami Valley Gaming rose 8% to almost $12 million and Belterra Park grossed $6.5 million on a 12% ascent. As for the quartet of Penn National/GLPI properties, Hollywood Toledo jumped 10% to $16 million and Hollywood Columbus leapt was up 5.5%, to $17.5 million. Hollywood Dayton ($8 million, +15%) and Hollywood Austintown (9%, +12%) continue to outperform, generating $273/slot/day and $280/slot/day respectively.
* Add Johnstown to the list of Pennsylvania cities — including Reading — that will be vying for a satellite casino. City Councilwoman Marie Mock put the idea forward this week, saying, “Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I think Johnstown should do whatever it can to generate revenue. If it creates jobs, I’m for it. If it creates revenue, I’m for it. We have to try. We have to do something.” Hardly a ringing endorsement but at least it’s a starting place for discussion. Operators currently not in Pennsylvania won’t be able to bid until 
next Aug. 31, giving extant Keystone State casinos an eight-month free run at the new markets. (The two miniature resort-casinos would only have the month of July in which to bid.)
A bid of $7.5 million gets you 40 table games (valuable because of their lower tax rate), while you have to pony up another $2.5 million for slots. If you explicitly don’t want a casino in your back yard, your city has only until New Year’s Eve to disqualify itself. While Johnstown is mulling its bet, Reading, equidistant from Sands Bethlehem and Penn National Race Course is reported to be all in. Meanwhile, there’s been a stampede of 201 cities and towns to opt out of the casino-application process, which suggests the idea isn’t going over as well as hoped. City Councilman John Slifko (R) offered a more enthusiastic version of Mock’s rationale, saying, “With gambling facilities, there are always negatives but the positives far outweigh them. This is an opportunity to help with the revitalization of downtown. Gambling is going to go somewhere; we might as well have it here and reap some of the good aspects.” Amen to that.
* Score one for Caesars Entertainment CEO Mark Frissora: His purchase of Centaur Gaming took advantage of an obscure loophole in Indiana law, circumventing antitrust rules. Casino operators can own no more than two casinos — but racinos are exempt from the limit. Competitors must be gnashing their teeth and saying, “Why didn’t I think of that?”
* If MGM gets Connecticut solons to revisit tribal exclusivity, Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods Resort Casino want seats at the table … as well they might. Has it occurred to MGM CEO Jim Murren that he might be a catspaw of the Mohicans and Mashantucket Pequots, who would tolerate a breach of exclusivity if it got them out of their revenue-sharing obligations to the Nutmeg State?
* Casino CEOs, put Crete, Santorini and Mykonos on your itinerary: The government of Greece is looking at an expansion of gaming. You’ll have to beat off extant Grecian operators and, since the biggest current casino has only 700 slots, you’ve got a chance to ‘Wow’ legislators with your Vegas-style visions.
