Atlantic City is weathering the winter months about as well as can realistically be hoped. Same-store revenues were down 8% last month but up 9% overall. Ocean Resort ($12.5 
million) actually crept past Bally’s ($12 million) and up on Resorts Atlantic City (just under $13 million). Resorts, however, was the only revenue-positive casino, up 9%. Bally’s was down 5%. Borgata hauled in $50.5 million, a 5% dip, while Caesars Atlantic City got bushwhacked, down 21% to $17 million. Harrah’s Resort slid 8.5% but still booked $21.5 million. Things do not look as good for Hard Rock Atlantic City, down to $15.5 million for the month and a long way from target Tropicana Atlantic City ($21 million, -8.5%). However, it bested the Golden Nugget, down 9.5% to $14.5 million.
Slot revenues were up 15% (down 3% same store) while table games slipped Continue reading
tandem with other supportive measures, such as reducing the reserve requirement and cutting taxes,” he wrote. But he doesn’t think the credit-growth benefit will kick into Macao until early next year or maybe March 2020. He also warns that credit escalation is “very volatile.” In the meantime, Beijing is cracking down on the “shadow banks” that finance gamblers. VIP and premium-mass (the demographic of choice) could find life a little leaner. China’s desire to minimize capital flight remains as strong as ever. Adds McKnight, “If macro conditions worsen and/or the US/China trade dispute heats up, capital controls could be tightened – and this new policy enforced more strictly.” Chinese exports were up 9% but home prices are slackening, two important economic indicators moving in opposite directions.
revealed that Fertitta paid 
suggests an answer in the affirmative. Eight casinos saw lower gross receipts last year and foot traffic was down in all 10. Also, the pool of players is aging. Even so, most Chicago mayoral candidates are pushing for a casino as a curative to the Windy City’s financial problems. “Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Missouri are home to 51 commercial casinos, while there are another 95 tribal gaming operations in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan,” reports the State Journal-Register, which warns, “Gambling in Illinois and the Midwest is undergoing some of the same market, demographic and technological stress that long ago killed off Blockbuster Video.”
Hill to make his $700 million casino project in reality. To put that in perspective, it makes Rush Street Gaming the third-highest-paying supplicant in the capital last year. Only Partners HealthCare and MassBio 
million. Full House Resorts had a bad month at Rising Sun, sinking 9% to $3 million. Boyd Gaming and Eldorado Resorts were stagnant at Belterra and Tropicana Evansville respectively, grossing $7.5 million and $11 million. Hollywood Lawrenceburg lost a percentage point to bring home $12 million while Hoosier Park slipped 2.5% to $13 million and Indiana Downs gained 2% to finish at $18.5 million. French Lick Resort gained 9% to finish near $7 million. Northward, the effects of severe cold weather are hard to measure. Both Horseshoe Hammond ($28.5 million) and Ameristar East Chicago ($16 million) were battered, shedding 15% and 12.5% respectively. However, Majestic Star I lost only a percentage point, finishing with $6.5 million. Majestic Star II grossed $4 million, a 6% decline and Blue Chip dipped 5% to finish at $10 million.
is apparently even worse off. We say this because of a special deal announced today: Show your Monorail ticket and get freebies or discounts at Born & Raised Craft Pub (“20 percent off specialty drinks in souvenir drinkware”), Giordano’s (“Free Cheese Bread with purchase of an entrée pizza”), Exotics Racing (“One free lap with every five-lap driving experience [up to $110 value]”) and Ben & Jerry’s (“Buy a waffle cone with two flavors and get a second one just like it”). The press release touts the Bally’s Monorail stop as “a convenient way to 
Maryland Live‘s 34% market share translated into a gross of $46 million. Horseshoe Baltimore was flat, with a 15% market share and $20 million gross. The only revenue-negative casino was Hollywood Perryville, down 4% to $5.5 million. JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff estimates it will remain flat for the rest of the quarter, Golden Entertainment and Churchill Downs had good Januarys. Rocky Gap Casino was up 9% to $4 million and Ocean Downs climbed 6% to $5 million.
the work force. The bad news? Hiring remains otherwise stagnant, with Hard Rock and Ocean Resort both trimming their work forces by about 15% as the year wore on. Economic analyst Jim Kennedy, late of the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority cautioned that all the hiring has not translated into a wider economic benefit, such as housing starts or non-casino jobs. “When you hire the numbers of employees that we’ve seen at the two new casinos, there are usually secondary benefits. None of that has happened,” Kennedy told The Press of Atlantic City.
the Department of the Interior for not signing off on the project, which 
(three). Early money favored the Rams by a point but an influx of sharps bets moved the line in New England’s favor. However, sports books missed big time in the projection of 57 total points scored. Whoops. Oddsmaker Pete Prisco gets a nod for