Maryland officially hit the saturation point last month, as revenues dipped 1%. MGM National Harbor ($58 million) wasn’t hurting, up 6%—with slots and table games gaining 
equally—and with 40.5% market share. Maryland Live ($48 million) was second with 33.5% but it came at a price: a 5% decline in gaming revenue. Horseshoe Baltimore ($18.5 million) fell 1o%, Hollywood Perryville ($6 million) ceded 5% while Churchill Downs managed to eke out a flat month—and $7.5 million—at Ocean Downs. That left Rocky Gap out in the burbs, where Golden Entertainment gained 3% for $5 million. In West Virginia, gaming revenue was up 1% despite slots being off 1%. A table game surge of 15% made everything come out right. At Charles Town Races, the numbers were a magnified version of the state’s average: slots down 2%, tables up 18%, total revenues up 2%.
* Ohio is usually one of the more robust gaming jurisdictions, so we are surprised it only gained 2% last month (the same as sickly Illinois) on a gross of $155 million. Some of this may be attributed to waning racing season, as tracks gained less at their slots than did nice, indoor casinos. An unfavorable weekend calendar (one less day) played a role, too.
MGM Northfield Park has been in decline since Hard Rock International was turfed out as operator. Last month it took a 11.5% nosedive but still led the Buckeye State with a $19.5 million gross. Next up was Hollywood Columbus ($18.5 
million), gaining 6%. An improved Jack Cleveland grossed $17 million for a 4% climb, Hollywood Toledo was up 2% to come up just shy of $17 million and Hard-Rock-to-be Jack Cincinnati grossed $16 million, shedding 1%. As for the racinos, Scioto Downs was the best of the rest: $15 million and 3% up. Miami Valley Gaming came on strong, with $14 million and a 3% uptick, Jack Thistledown surged 14% to $12 million and Hollywood Mahoning Valley banked $10.5 million on a 6.5% ascent.
In the single digits were Hollywood Dayton with $9.5 million (+11%) and Belterra Park ($7 million), minus 3.5%. Boyd Gaming has its work cut out for it there.
* Illinois casinos grossed $111.5 million last month, so if casino applicants think they are inheriting a land of plenty, think again. At least in was better than September 2018’s near-
calamitous 7% falloff (with one extra weekend day to boot). Even with that low bar, a number of casinos failed to clear it. Hollywood Aurora ($9 million) ceded 6%, Grand Victoria ($12.5 million) was minus 5%, Argosy Belle ($4 million) slipped 3.5% and Par-A-Dice ($6 million) was 1.5% off. Jumer’s Casino Rock Island ($5 million) shed 3.5% and Harrah’s Metropolis ($6 million) tumbled 8%.
Not surprisingly, patrons flocked to Rivers Casino (+7.5%), which did a boffo $37 million. A rather distant-but-respectable second (+1%) went to Harrah’s Joliet, taking in $14.5 million. Casino Queen vaulted 18%, grossing $8 million. Empress Joliet gained 3% to $10 million and that was it for the Land of Lincoln. Better luck next September.
