Ohio has matured rapidly as a casino market, bigger than Illinois, almost as large as Missouri but still a long way from Indiana‘s monthly grosses. Still, a 38% increase in 
casino revenue from last year is nothing at which to sneeze. But with two more racinos in operation comes the word “cannibalization,” as gaming winnings were down 9% on a same-store basis. Caesars Entertainment (-19%) had a particularly tough time of it, while Penn National Gaming rose a boffo 48.5%. Hollywood Toledo (+4%) did a most impressive $198/day/slot while Hollywood Columbus, down 1.5% from last year, sequentially improved its numbers to $165/slot/day, although it seems to have lost business to Scioto Downs, up 3%. Tables fared better in Columbus ($1,640/table/day) than in Toledo ($1,116/table/day).
Penn’s VLT revenues are off the charts at its Hollywood Dayton and Hollywood Austintown racinos — $200/slot/day is considered a strong industry average. Penn did $219 and $325, respectively. Alas, all that good fortune had to come at someone’s expense and Horseshoe Cleveland (-12%) seems to have been one of the victims, while Horseshoe Cincinnati (-23%) had an even worse time of it. Any hopes of recapturing that revenue at Thistledown Racetrack (-22%) were in vain. Hard Rock Rocksino is already already strongly outperforming Thistledown, $15.5 million to $10 million. Even taking cannibalization into account, it looks like the industry has finally found some underserved markets in the Buckeye State.
* Sheldon Adelson‘s next step toward world conquest could be a purchase of The New York Times. At the very least, it might spare us …
* … anti-casino stories like this one. Instead of profiling, say, Adelson’s top-of-the-market Sands Bethlehem, the Times has singled out underperforming Mt. Airy 
Casino Resort, which it implies is a precursor of things to come in the Catskills: “It has generated about half of the slot revenue forecast by Pennsylvania officials, and little economic spillover has occurred outside the resort. Expansion plans have long since been shelved. The much-heralded charitable foundation has raised a grand total of $1, federal filings show.”
With irresponsible hyperbole, former Pocono Mountains Vacation Bureau chief Robert Uguccioni says, “I don’t think there’s any casino in America that didn’t say they were going to have more of an impact than it did.” Never mind that Mt. Airy is in a crowded market niche, competing with Sands and Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. To hear the Times tell it, it’s already a lost cause: “ferocious and fast-evolving competition in a market where the novelty of new casinos often fades fast; and a dissonance between resort gambling and traditional family-friendly attractions.”
As grim a picture as the Times paints, it’s comparable to taking a few underperforming Las Vegas casinos and predicting doom and gloom for Sin City. Mt. Airy had the wrong ownership in the wrong place, and there’s not much Pennsylvania can do about that now.
* Belt-tightening at International Game Technology translated into higher profits on lower revenues. DoubleDown Casino continues to propel business, its $75 million in revenues representing a 22% increase.
