{"id":18670,"date":"2016-08-10T09:31:59","date_gmt":"2016-08-10T17:31:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=18670"},"modified":"2019-05-10T08:55:38","modified_gmt":"2019-05-10T16:55:38","slug":"missouri-is-doing-just-fine-thanks-cautious-hope-for-moulin-rouge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/missouri-is-doing-just-fine-thanks-cautious-hope-for-moulin-rouge\/","title":{"rendered":"Missouri is doing just fine, thanks; Cautious hope for Moulin Rouge"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pinnacle Entertainment<\/strong> did a masterful job of managing expectations in its quarterly earnings call, citing disruptive road work around Ameristar St. Charles<\/strong> as a potential \"Ameristarsetback from the property. Today, Missouri<\/strong> released its July gaming results and — surprise — Ameristar St. Charles<\/strong> was up 3.5%, to $24 million. Any Pinnacle customers who were<\/em> discouraged from visiting Ameristar seem to have gravitated to Pinnacle’s\u00a0River City<\/strong>, which pulled in $20 million, a 10% increase. The health of the St. Louis<\/strong> market was robust, with Tropicana Entertainment<\/strong>‘s Lumiere Place<\/strong>, still on the comeback trail, up 3.5% ($11.5 million) and Hollywood St. Louis<\/strong> increasing winnings 2%, for $21 million. Notable results among outstate casinos including a 15% jump at Isle of Capri Cape Girardeau<\/strong> ($6 million), a 7% increase at Isle of Capri Lady Luck<\/strong> ($3 million), in Caruthersville<\/strong>, and a 4% dip at Golden Entertainment<\/strong>‘s Mark Twain<\/strong> casino, which grossed $3 million.<\/p>\n

That leaves the Kansas City<\/strong> market, where Ameristar Kansas City<\/strong> led the competition with $17 million, despite a flat performance. Penn National Gaming<\/strong> also did well at Argosy Riverside<\/strong>, up 9% for a $14 million gross. Isle of Capri Kansas City<\/strong> (down 8%, $6 million) and Harrah’s North Kansas City<\/strong> (-4.5%, $14 million) weren’t as lucky.<\/p>\n

It looks like the end of the road<\/a> for sports betting in New Jersey<\/strong>. The U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals<\/strong>, by a 10-2 ruling, ashcanned New Jersey’s law<\/a> legalizing unregulated sports betting in the state. The court found it irreconcilable with the federal\u00a0Professional &\u00a0Amateur Sports Protection Act<\/strong>, writing,\u00a0\u201cBecause PASPA, by its terms, prohibits states from authorizing by law sports gambling, and because the 2014 law does exactly that, the 2014 law violates federal law.\u201d The ruling is a setback not only to the administration of Gov. Chris Christie<\/strong> (R), which has made sports betting a signature issue, it’s also a rebuke to Garden State voters, who approved sports betting in a 2011 referendum. Christie could take the issue to the Supreme Court<\/strong> again but it’s turned a deaf ear once already and would surely do so again.<\/p>\n

William Hill US<\/strong> CEO Joe Asher<\/strong> thundered of the ruling,\u00a0\u201cIt will be celebrated by illegal bookies all across New Jersey and the rest of America, as it keeps sports betting underground and on the black market for now. PASPA is clearly a failed law and more challenges to it are inevitable, both in the courts and in Congress.\u201d Las Vegas Review-Journal<\/em> sports columnist Matt Youmans<\/strong> said that, instead of further litigation, the casino industry should focus on trying to repeal PASPA<\/a> — but that could take at least three years to achieve. According to the American Gaming Association<\/strong>, former NBA<\/strong> Commissioner David Stern<\/strong> will be stumping in favor of legalized sports betting at the next Global Gaming Expo<\/strong> but I fear he’ll be preaching to the converted.<\/p>\n