{"id":15173,"date":"2014-12-08T13:15:15","date_gmt":"2014-12-08T21:15:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=15173"},"modified":"2014-12-08T13:15:15","modified_gmt":"2014-12-08T21:15:15","slug":"illinois-disappoints-ohio-surprises-and-golden-nugget-opens-early","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/illinois-disappoints-ohio-surprises-and-golden-nugget-opens-early\/","title":{"rendered":"Illinois disappoints, Ohio surprises and Golden Nugget opens early"},"content":{"rendered":"

Except for a mild, 2% increase at Harrah’s Joliet<\/strong>, it was a very schizoid November\u00a0for Illinois<\/strong>, whose casinos came in 4% below last year. There was one less \"HarrahsJoliet\"<\/a>weekend day, which some will cite as an alibi … but then how does one explain the 17% upsurge at Harrah’s Metropolis<\/strong> or the 4% increase at Rivers Casino<\/strong>? Metropolis did almost as well in dollars grossed as GLPI<\/strong>‘s Casino Queen<\/strong> in East St. Louis<\/strong>, which spiraled 17% downwards. Others who suffered heavily were Argosy Alton<\/strong> (-14%), Boyd Gaming<\/strong>‘s Par-A-Dice<\/strong> (-12%) and MGM Resort International<\/strong>‘s\u00a0Grand Victoria<\/strong> (13%). Lesser declines were posted by Jumer’s Casino Rock Island<\/strong> (-5%) and Empress Joliet<\/strong> (-7%).<\/p>\n

A couple of states over, in Ohio<\/strong>, the proliferation of racinos contributed to a 30% growth in gambling revenue for November. The first thing one notices is that the Caesars Entertainment<\/strong> properties are having a much harder time holding onto players than are the Penn National Gaming<\/strong> ones. While Hollywood Columbus<\/strong> and Hollywood Toledo<\/strong> recorded only single-digit percentage declines, Horseshoe Cleveland<\/strong> was down 20%, Horseshoe Cincinnati<\/strong> slipped 10% and Thistledown Racetrack<\/strong> went into a -33% tailspin.<\/p>\n

Much of the Thistledown misfortune is undoubtedly attributable to nearby Hard Rock Rocksino<\/strong>, the dominant-grossing racino in the state. Penn’s Columbus<\/strong> competitor, Scioto Downs<\/strong>, slid 9%, so that particular market may be maxed out. Pinnacle Entertainment<\/strong>‘s Belterra Park<\/strong> continues to struggle ($105\/slot\/day), the lowest-grossing racino in the state, greatly disappointing J.P. Morgan<\/strong> analyst Joseph Greff<\/strong>, who expected it to do 50% better. All of the Penn properties missed Greff’s projections — but none anywhere near so badly. However, Penn’s Hollywood Austintown<\/strong> may be the Buckeye State’s gold-star overachiever, grossing $268\/slot\/day.<\/p>\n