At present, the Iowa Racing & Gaming Commission is mulling whether to put a casino in relatively isolated (see video) Jefferson. While 
they’re weighing that Wild Rose Entertainment project, here’s something else to ponder: The latest set of revenue numbers out of the Hawkeye State. It dropped 2%, with Penn Sioux City really phoning it in, down 15%. Horseshoe Casino slipped 7% but recently improved Harrah’s Council Bluffs rose 19%. Pinnacle Entertainment had a modestly better month (up 1%) at Ameristar Council Bluffs. Although it slid a percentage point, Prairie Meadows racetrack was the top grosser of May (which had one more weekend day this year), checking in at $16 million.
Positive and negative results at various Isle of Capri Casinos-branded properties canceled each other out for a flat month. Independent Riverside Casino Resort, which just staved off a casino bid by Cedar Rapids, was down 5% nonetheless, reinforcing the IRGC’s point about cannibalization in the Iowa market.
Meanwhile, over in Illinois, dogged by a poor economy, the ascendancy of slot routes and sundry other factors, casinos were down 6%. Rivers Casino defied the market, up 7% and grossing a state-leading $38 million. A distant second at $17 million, Harrah’s Joliet was 8.5% off while MGM Resorts International‘s Grand Victoria both grossed $15 million and fell 15%.
Penn National Gaming‘s two riverboats surpassed J.P. Morgan analyst 
Joseph Greff’s forecasts. Empress Joliet was only off 4% while Hollywood Aurora dropped 12%, grossing $11 million each. In the St. Louis area, Penn’s Argosy Casino (currently in the process of downsized) grossed a slim 5%, declining 11%. New GLPI/Penn acquisition Casino Queen suffered a calamitous month, falling 18% to $9 million. (Smart move there, GLPI.)
Elsewhere in the state, Jumer’s Casino Rock Island was up a percentage point, grossing $7 million. Boyd Gaming had a bad month aboard Par-A-Dice, falling 10.5% to $8 million and Harrah’s Metropolis dropped 11%, to 7%.
Memo to state Rep. Robert Rita (D): If you succeed in legalizing more casinos, you won’t be spreading the wealth but widening the misery.
