Maryland good, Illinois becalmed, MGM furious

Maryland‘s casino industry showed continued health last month, up 5.5%. MGM National Harbor had 40.5% of market share while Maryland Live corralled 34.5% of trade. MGM grossed $62.5 million, with low-tax table games up 10% as opposed to only 4% for high-tax slots (in other words, just as MGM likes it). Horseshoe Baltimore fell 13% to $18 million and Hollywood Perryville was off 3% to $6.5 million. Maryland Live was up 13% to $53 million, while MGM recorded a 7% gain. Ocean Downs galloped ahead 6.5% to $9 million and Rocky Gap Resort leapt 6% to $5.5 million. In West Virginia, good luck at the table (+11%) made up for a lean August at the slots (-5%). Penn National Gaming‘s racino didn’t share in the good fortune, experiencing a -14% blowout at the tables.

Out in Illinois, the overall result was flat, even with an extra weekend day, perhaps the calm before the storm as racinos and temporary casinos loom on the horizon. The total tally was $118 million. Of that, $37.5 million (flat) was made at Rivers Casino Des Plaines. At Harrah’s Joliet, business was off 5%, to $15 million, and Eldorado Resorts seems to be getting a handle on Grand Victoria, up 3% to $14.5 million. Empress Joliet gained 2% to $10 million, as did Hollywood Aurora, symmetry at the two Penn riverboats.

Boyd Gaming took a hard hit at Par-A-Dice, tumbling 8.5% to $6 million. Jumer’s Casino Rock Island slipped 3% to $6 million and Harrah’s Metropolis $6 million gross represented the loss of a percentage point. Argosy Belle was flat at $4 million and Casino Queen gained 3% to finish at $9 million. Enjoy it while it lasts, fellas.

* Trade wars and civil unrest are finally making their mark on Macao gaming stocks. JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff downgraded the gaming group, citing the above mentioned factors, as well as a slowing Chinese economy and the ongoing probe into SunCity junketing. That’s quite a four-pack of setbacks. Greff sees business trending positively for slots, up 9% across the last two quarters, but rather woeful for VIP winnings, down 16% across the same time period. Greff lowered his price targets for four Macanese companies, with Las Vegas Sands (-$8) getting the worst of it.

However, a slowdown in gambling means a slackening of gaming-related crime. It’s an ill wind indeed that doesn’t blow some good. Wars between sex-trade gangs are still a problem but some malefactors were nabbed in mainland China through “collaborative efforts” with the Chinese police. And there we were, thinking crimes in Macao were unenforceable on the mainland. Hmmm.

* Having failed in court against Connecticut, frustrated MGM Resorts International is turning its lawyers—and its wrath—upon the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Interior Department. It wasn’t so long ago that MGM was besties with then-Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. But those things changed when the feds approved a third tribal casino in the Nutmeg State, which MGM says violates the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. It was only a matter of time before MGM deployed this line of attack. With luck, it will keep construction of Tribal Winds in abeyance and competition for MGM Springfield at a minimum.

* Has Eldorado board member James Hawkins been a bad boy? The SEC is investigating him, resulting in subpoenas for Eldorado CEO Tom Reeg and COO Anthony Carano. They’re to provide testimony on Hawkins’ activities with a non-Eldorado company. This is not even a hiccup in the course of Eldorado’s conquest of Caesars Entertainment, though.

* While Caesars has seemed like a lead-pipe cinch for the resort casino at Hellenikon in Greece, a monkey wrench has been thrown in the works by Hard Rock International, which has announced its intention to bid. “We want to develop an integrated tourism and entertainment complex that is much more than just a box with slot machines and gaming tables. Entertainment is at the heart of our philosophy,” said Hard Rock CEO James Allen, who pitched a $1.1 billion project, built with 60% debt and 40% equity, much of the latter coming from local partners. Environmentalists and archeologists, meanwhile, worry about the side effects of redeveloping Hellenikon, especially as the conservative government is accelerating the timetable for development. Bids must be in by Oct. 4. Another competitor is Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment, setting the stage for some tribe-on-tribe action.

* The question, ‘What if they gave a casino and nobody came?’ has been getting a lot of answers lately, especially as Pennsylvania nears the saturation point on gambling. The latest no-show was at an auction for a satellite casino that it would have cost only $7.5 million to get dibs upon. The whole process was over in less than a minute. However, Pennsylvania gaming regulators have to conduct this farce four more times this year, as legislators tug upon a dry udder in their thirst for gaming money.

Maybe when people have sports betting, Internet gaming, video gaming terminals in truck stops, and an interactive lottery they’ve got as much gambling as the market will sustain. Besides, so much of Pennsylvania has already been claimed by gaming interests, that leaves just a scattering of podunk towns that are evidently not worth the trouble that goes with building a casino. Gov. Tom Wolf (D) should be ashamed of himself for this latest money grab.

* Rushmore Casino in Rapid City has a big hole in its ceiling now that patron Sean Granlund climbed up into its crawl space to avoid police and the ceiling predictably was unable to support his weight (the incident was caught on camera). Ironically, while the constabulary was on hand performing a welfare check, Granlund wasn’t the person for whom they were looking. Said the cops, “Ceilings make a bad choice for evading the police, especially when the police aren’t even looking for you in the first place.” It also spares you have your plumber’s butt broadcast all over the Internet.

* As Jim Nantz says, the Monday of Week One in the NFL is the most over-analyzed day of the season. So all I’ll say is that those who set store by the Biblical precept that the last shall be first and vice versa have to derive consolation from the fact that the soon-to-be-Las Vegas Raiders will be the last team to take the field, late tonight. Oh, and Coach Jon Gruden made $5.97 in the time it took to type this sentence.