Casino revenue in Illinois last year was down 1.5% from 2018—and 17% from 2012, the seventh consecutive year of declines. Despite this empirical evidence, Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) and his commissars for 
optimism remain hellbent on casino expansion, believing that there is more money to be made. It’s no mystery why casino revenue started nosing down in 2012; that’s the year the state started offering slot routes, sapping casinos (just ask Boyd Gaming). Taxed at 34%, the casinos forked over $455 million to Pritzker, who is “chasing losses” like a degenerate gambler. Casino-tax receipts have fallen 21% in nine years and can’t get back up. Some of that—$503 million—was made up by slot routes, whose 33,000 machines took in $1.7 billion … more than was made by all the state’s casinos combined.
Illogically, Pritzker argues that the strength of the slot routes bodes well for new casinos, despite the public’s obvious preference for Continue reading
refused to act, fearful in no small part of censure from Beijing. Thus, a critical period of several weeks passed that allowed the contagion to spread. The situation was made worse by the fact that, by the time the epidemic was officially acknowledged and the central government began to mobilize to treat and contain it, the weeklong Lunar New Year had arrived. It’s China’s busiest travel season, and it occurred as the contagion rapidly spread throughout Hubei [Province] and beyond.”
friendly state … but a 19% upsurge in revenue? In January, no less? Well, I suppose people have to go somewhere when it’s cold outside but the amount of discretionary dollars they have to spend is pretty impressive, especially when you consider that the out-of-season racinos did 20.5% better this year. Not even an extra weekend day (and there will be another in February) comes close to explaining it.
thought they had reached an accommodation with the Empire State. The state gaming commission is defying the court by continuing to maintain its position that DFS is a skill game. The ruling, nonetheless, makes New York one of six states where DFS is illegal. As Fox Business reports, “Some states, such as the gambling capital of America, Nevada, have no fantasy operations because it is seen as gambling and as a gambling operation, a company such as DraftKings would require a state gambling license.”
it or isn’t it? “Mohegan hasn’t been officially awarded the license because the appeal process needs to be completed. The government has yet to open the technical and financial offers. So no one, in fairness to Mohegan, has been confirmed as the winner at this time,” said Allen, trying to keep hope alive. He does allow that Hard Rock has been disqualified by the government, for reasons to which he takes umbrage, such as a lack of financial wherewithal, mainly because a bank guarantee was allowed to lapse, which Allen says Hard Rock self-reported.
Las Vegas was blamed on “soft Asian high end play,” so it’s going around everywhere. Encore Boston Harbor, though, was “a bit better than projected,” according to JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff. Coronavirus put a damper on what began as a strong 2020 in Macao. While Greff characterizes the epidemic’s impact as “temporary and transient,” we’re talking real money here: Wynn will burn through $2.5 million for each day that its Macanese casinos are closed. “While not a ton of details were given on Far East/China player visitation to Las Vegas, it doesn’t sound great, though it’s not nearly as bad as Macau,” Greff wrote.
the MBTA station across the Mystic River. Wynn had previously considered a footbridge connection but abandoned that idea. Permitting for the bridge continues to be sought but the smart money’s now on the prospect of Wynn switching its loyalty to the tram, at least if it’s required to subsidize something. Reports the Boston Globe, “Everett officials have long looked across the Mystic with envy at Somerville, where a vibrant community of shops, restaurants, apartments and offices sprouted up at Assembly Row, spurred in part by the T station’s opening in 2014. Commuter rail trains roll through Everett, meanwhile, but do not stop there.”
has had its fill of the visual pollution. The messages range from the sinful (“Asian Girls for You”) to the saintly (“Jesus Rose From the Dead for You”) and it’s irking the casinos that they’re blotting out attractions like the Mirage volcano. “We would like to see the county place a moratorium on new applications and study the operation of mobile billboards until such time as a study of the impacts and limitations can be established,” Nevada Resort Association President Virginia Valentine said.
leverage at a rate quicker than modeled, although the +24% stock-price euphoria that followed the Barstool Sports acquisition might be subsiding. Robust market segments were the South and West, offsetting challenges in the Upper Midwest and in the Northeast (read: Encore Boston Harbor … but still a cash cow, generating $621 million). Rent payments were a tad higher than anticipated and launching Penn’s sports-betting application incurred some one-time charges. On the plus side, sports betting is propelling higher table-game volume and 
down 2%. MGM had 40% market share to Maryland Live‘s 35.5%. The latter grossed $52 million for a 12% gain. Horseshoe Baltimore‘s decline softened, down only 4.5% with a $19 million gross. (But it was the only revenue-negative property in the state.) Everybody else had a big month. Ocean Downs was up 11% to $5 million, Hollywood Perryville hit the jackpot, gaining 12% to $6 million and Golden Entertainment‘s Rocky Gap Resort leapt 10.5% to $4.5 million. A 10% gain in slot play boosted West Virginia revenues 8%, with Charles Town Races ceding 6% at the tables but recouping 11% at the slots for a 7% uptick overall.
“To the world, he was a legend, an actor from the golden age of movies who lived well into his golden years, a humanitarian whose commitment to justice and the causes he believed in set a standard for all of us to aspire to.”—Michael Douglas, 
of the virus being reported in a Galaxy Entertainment employee, meaning it has penetrated the enclave’s signature industry. (A Sociedade de Jogos de Macau bus driver was also infected.) You can kiss February goodbye—Wall Street is predicting a 60% (you read that right) revenue plunge—and 1Q20 is probably toast as well. In an effort to contain the spread of the virus, the Macanese government has asked casino companies 
experience solid 2% to 3% [gross gaming revenue] growth and possesses the ability to harvest margin growth as well.” As for the elephant in the middle of the casino floor, “We think Palms [cash flow] expectations have come down to realistic levels, so profit drags from this property should be in the rear view mirror at this point, a statement we could/would not have made at any point last year with any conviction.” While plans for Durango Station, a hotel-less casino in Reno and a replacement for Days Inn at Wild Wild West went onto the back burner nearly a year ago, Greff expects Station’s next move to be to divest itself of 
billion, so it’s not like they were hearing crickets. However, February is shaping up to be just as bad, if not worse, kicking the narrative of strong gambling-revenue recovery in 2020 into a cocked hat. Declines of 30% are being bruited about, according to the New York Times, at least as long as authorities are curbing travel within the mainland. Lunar New Year has been extended through the weekend, not to promote tourism but to keep banks and other businesses closed. Macao has reported seven cases of coronavirus with a watching brief being kept on another 31 potentially affected people. To say that all this is “presenting significant headwinds” to the casino industry earns a prize for understatement.
couple of trips to the ATM necessitated negotiating the casino floor between apparent members of rival gangs, hurling heated imprecations at each other across the gaming tables. It was a miracle that the disputes weren’t settled by gunplay, which seemed imminent. Since then, Valentine’s Day has passed uneventfully on the Las Vegas Strip and WalletHub deems the fair city of LV to be the fifth-best place to celebrate the occasion. Pourquoi? Well, we’re tops in the number of attractions, fourth in restaurants (and gift-card stores) per capita, fifth in