Growth in Maryland continued last month, if not at the spectacular rates we’ve seen previously. Gaming revenue rose 7% to $144 million. The leader, of course, was MGM National Harbor, jumping 10% to $54.5 
million, which translates to $1.8 million/day. Impressive, no question. Revenues continue to skew towards (heavily taxed) slots, with $30.5 million, and away from table games ($24 million). Maryland Live was up 7% to $50 million, while Horseshoe Baltimore continues to fade, down 1.5% to $21 million. The advantage of being near the Baltimore Ravens‘ stadium is not so great when you consider that it is in use only 10 days a year, plus playoffs.
Hollywood Perryville had one of its better months, up 6% to $6 million, while Oceans Downs zoomed up 14% to $7.5 million. Out west, Rocky Gap Resort was a bit off, down 1% to $4.5 million. West Virginia also had a good month, up 4%, mostly on powerful table play (17% higher winnings). Penn National Gaming had an exceptionally good month at Charles Town Races, up 7%, mostly on the strength of 21% higher table win.
Speaking of Penn National, Jamul Indian Village out in California is still reeling from the effects of its ill-fated partnership with Penn. However, it may be out of the frying pan and into the fire, since its new 
Ms. Fixit is Mary Cheeks, late of grossly underperforming Rivers Casino in Schenectady. At least Cheeks has some quality time at Harrah’s Resort in Atlantic City on her resumé, which is what Jamul is stressing its decision to hire her. Also coming aboard are a new CFO (Cathy Behen) and five new vice presidents. In a makeover move that may be too esoteric for the marketplace, the new casino logo is a conjoined water drop and “J,” alluding to the translation for “jam”: sweetwater. Do you think people will get it? I hope so.
* Congratulations to Michael Silberling, who has gone from CEO of Affinity Gaming to COO of Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment. Affinity revamped its image on Silberling’s watch and bringing him aboard is definitely a coup for Mohegan.
* Casinos might be a little less mellow about the use of cell phones on the gaming floor after a pair of young men filmed the actions of a Deal or No Deal machine, then replayed it in slow motion. Their study enabled them to beat the game. Somebody should offer them a job in slot development but, casinos being shortsighted by nature, they’ll probably just get 86’d.
* Ever wonder what happens to your hotel soap after you use it? (I actually have.) Even if your soap has gone unused — for shame! — it gets tossed. At least some of those make their way to Orlando-based Clean the World, which reconstitutes all those bars as new soap given to Third World countries. The process is called “rewatching” and Clean the World is the brainchild of Shawn Seipler, an entrepreneur who was appalled at the wasteful use of hotel soap and decided to do something about it. “After explaining the process to understandably concerned police who stopped by during the first cook session, Seipler got his company up and running,” reports Thrillist. As the company grown, it has added a plant in Las Vegas and another in Hong Kong (take note, Macao). Seipler has branched out into shampoo, conditioner and body wash. According to Thrillist, during the seven years that Clean the World has been active, a concurrent decline in the number of child deaths has occurred. But there’s still much to do in a world where 16,000 children under age 5 die on a daily basis. If that’s not a sobering statistic, it should be. Says Seipler, “Right now we’ve got 20 percent of all hotels in the U.S. That’s a lot of room to grow, and a lot of soap to make.”
* Judging by the Oakland Raiders 1-4 start, we hope that celebrity coach Jon Gruden hasn’t bought any real estate in Las Vegas. He needs to spend less time hanging out at Hooters and more drawing up plays.
