Even if Congress beats the odds and passes another megabuck stimulus bill before the election, it won’t provide more than a short-term shot in the arm for gaming, which saw a bubble of increased discretionary spending but is now backsliding. Take Massachusetts. Gaming receipts were down 12% last month for an unimpressive gross of $70.5 million, thanks in part to constraints on attendance (one-third of capacity). Most of the money—$43 million—was won by Encore Boston Harbor, with slot win up 7% on 12% higher coin-in (those punters beat the house). Slot win was $23.5 million, as Encore had a good month at the tables, too: $4,553 win/table/day compared to MGM Springfield‘s anemic $933. (Table numbers at both should improve this month with the reintroduction of roulette.) However, Encore narrowly ceded the slot win/pay crown to Plainridge Park‘s $276-per-slot vs. Encore’s $247, with MGM at a subpar $184. Have you noticed that we’ve not heard about Connecticut‘s planned Tribal Winds casino in a long time? Have Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun decided that MGM is a paper lion?
UFO’s: I have a good clear photo of a Flying Saucer inside an airport hanger. It’s located @ The Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio. The placard stated it was “Made in Canada”. Since the Interstate highways weren’t built yet, I guess that it must have flown to Area 51 on its own. The tour guide stated that they weren’t very stable because the pilot had to balance all the engines (no computers) in order to fly correctly. He described the “hub cap” effect that caused crashes: an engine failure, or pilot error, and the craft would “wobble” out of control.