{"id":18651,"date":"2016-08-09T09:19:47","date_gmt":"2016-08-09T17:19:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=18651"},"modified":"2016-08-10T10:27:23","modified_gmt":"2016-08-10T18:27:23","slug":"indiana-gamblers-visit-less-play-more-rude-surprise-at-seminole-hard-rock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/indiana-gamblers-visit-less-play-more-rude-surprise-at-seminole-hard-rock\/","title":{"rendered":"Indiana gamblers visit less, play more; Rude surprise at Seminole Hard Rock"},"content":{"rendered":"

Indiana<\/strong> casino customers visited less last month but more than made up for it with increased spending, keeping Hoosier State gaming revenues stable. That even-keel figure conceals some big swings and roundabouts at individual property. Horseshoe Hammond<\/strong> had an unaccountably poor month, down 10% to $34 million (still good \"Ameristarenough for #1 status), while nearby Ameristar East Chicago<\/strong>\u00a0(the victim of low table hold) was also down, -3%, grossing $20 million. Ownership blamed “incredibly lucky<\/a>” players and burgeoning\u00a0Illinois<\/strong> slot routes. Further along the shore, Majestic Star I<\/strong> had no such complaints, up 9% for an $8 million haul, while Majestic Star II<\/strong> (flat) made $6 million. At the racinos, Hoosier Park<\/strong> was flat but still managed an almost $19 million gross while Indiana Downs<\/strong> grossed $24 million, a 12% increase. French Lick Resort<\/strong> also enjoyed a sunny July, up 13% to $9 million. Boyd Gaming<\/strong>‘s Blue Chip<\/strong> riverboat was modestly higher (2%) but grossed a healthy $15 million.<\/p>\n

Along the rivers, plucky Tropicana Evansville<\/strong> was the star performer, up 10% for a $12 million gross — the sort of figures we can expect to see improve still farther when the onshore casino is finished. Penn National Gaming<\/strong>‘s Hollywood Lawrenceburg<\/strong> was flat but pulled in $15 million. Horseshoe Southern Indiana<\/strong> had a big month, hauling aboard $22 million, despite only a 1.5% uptick in business. Full House Resorts<\/strong>‘ Rising Sun<\/strong> didn’t rise, flat at $4.5 million, while Pinnacle Entertainment<\/strong>‘s Belterra<\/strong> clawed back some business from Ohio<\/strong>, up 4% on a $10 million gross. It’s understandable why Caesars Entertainment<\/strong> wouldn’t entertain a capital-intensive project at the moment but more perplexing why Pinnacle and Gaming & Leisure Properties<\/strong> (Hollywood Lawrenceburg) aren’t taking the opportunity to relocate their gambling to terra firma<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Pinnacle, incidentally, hit most of Wall Street<\/strong>‘s earnings targets in 2Q16. One impressive statistic among the many was an increase of 21% in cash flow at L’Auberge Baton Rouge on only a 4% revenue upsurge — a phenomenon Pinnacle attributed to more efficient operating practices.<\/p>\n

* While it has not spawned any emulators on the Las Vegas Strip<\/strong> (yet), MGM Resorts International<\/strong>‘s pay-for-parking regime is being emulated<\/a> by Hard Rock International<\/strong>. $10\u00a0parking charges were recently instituted at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino<\/strong>, in Tampa<\/strong>. The casino implies — but doesn’t come right out and say it — that the money’s needed for improving lighting in its parking garages and beefing up security. You’d think that with $2 billion in annual revenue, Hard Rock would have more than enough to pay for such improvements without socking it to the customer. They’ve already lost the play of George and Beverly Boyer<\/strong>, who will be going to Tampa Bay Downs<\/strong> for their weekly poker game now.<\/p>\n

The goal of the change, which has more loopholes than MGM’s, really seems to be to recapture free-play dollars, which can be cashed in for ‘free’ parking. If you spend $50 at casino amenities such as restaurants or stay at the hotel, you can also have your parking fee waived. Elite<\/strong> and X Card<\/strong> members are exempt. When queried on the policy change, Hard Rock cited the MGM shift and regurgitated some of the same talking points. So you could definitely say Jim Murren<\/strong> has started a trend. The question seems not to be whether this practice will pop up elsewhere but where?<\/p>\n

* Want to look like a Cirque du Soleil<\/strong> performer? You could start by emulating their diet<\/a>. The catered fare is almost predictably frou-frou … but maybe you like<\/em> prosciutto-wrapped asparagus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Indiana casino customers visited less last month but more than made up for it with increased spending, keeping Hoosier State gaming revenues stable. That even-keel figure conceals some big swings and roundabouts at individual property. Horseshoe Hammond had an unaccountably … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[40,60,80,18,36,198,190,165,7,58,68,11,69,30,111,200,92,100,21],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18651"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18651"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18651\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18681,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18651\/revisions\/18681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}