{"id":27781,"date":"2020-08-18T09:05:17","date_gmt":"2020-08-18T17:05:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=27781"},"modified":"2020-08-19T06:56:59","modified_gmt":"2020-08-19T14:56:59","slug":"baby-steps-in-massachusetts-leaps-and-bounds-in-pennsylvania","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/baby-steps-in-massachusetts-leaps-and-bounds-in-pennsylvania\/","title":{"rendered":"Baby steps in Massachusetts, leaps and bounds in Pennsylvania"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Given that Plainridge Park<\/strong> didn’t reopen until July 8, and Encore Boston Harbor<\/strong> and MGM Springfield<\/strong> not for two more days after that, it’s wholly understandable that Massachusetts<\/strong> gambling revenue was down 44% last month. JP Morgan<\/strong> analyst Joseph Greff <\/strong>also blamed capacity restrictions. The gross was $45.5 million, most of that from Encore. Plainridge Park banked $8 million, down 38% (but with state-leading win\/slot\/day of $280), while MGM Springfield eked out $11 million, falling 48%. That left Encore and its $27 million (!) gross, a 45% drop. Wynn Resorts<\/strong> slots won $16 million and tables $11 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The action was better in Pennsylvania<\/strong>, where Internet gambling surged 9% to $54 million, despite casinos being open. Sports-betting handle was $165 million, which boiled down to $13.5 million in revenue. Leaders in the Internet-bet sphere were Rivers Philadelphia<\/strong> (28% of overall revenue) and Valley Forge Casino Resort<\/strong> (15%). While online sports-bet handle was two-thirds of the total last year at this time, it has surged to 94%. FanDuel<\/strong> at Valley Forge dominated market share with 34%, followed by Meadows\/DraftKings<\/strong>‘ 22% share.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Terrestrial casinos in the Keystone State were off only 21%, grossing $217.5 million. Slots dipped 17% but tables tumbled 32%. Parx Casino<\/strong> was flat but lapped the field with $51.5 million, followed at some considerable distance by Wind Creek Bethlehem<\/strong> ($28 million, -32%) and Harrah’s Chester Downs<\/strong>, enjoying an unusually good month with $25 million, a 26% gain. At the opposite end of the spectrum were Neil Bluhm<\/strong>‘s casinos. Rivers Philadelphia<\/strong> scraped together $8.5 million (-67.5%) and Rivers Pittsburgh<\/strong> did a bit better, its $16 million ‘only’ a 51% declivity. Having a good month was Mount Airy<\/strong> ($18.5 million), up 13%. In declining order of gross the rest of field was comprised of Hollywood Casino at Penn National<\/strong> ($17 million, -17%), Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs<\/strong> ($16.5 million, -13%), The Meadows<\/strong> ($16 million, -18.5%), Valley Forge ($9 million, -21.5%) Presque Isle Downs<\/strong> ($9 million, -19.5%) and Lady Luck Nemacolin<\/strong> ($2.5 million, -18%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The big news for analysts was the Internet and sports-betting bonanza. Sighed Dustin Gouke<\/strong>r, \u201cThere is no making up for what was lost during the shutdowns. But with online casinos sustaining incredible growth, major sports back in play, and retail casinos gradually reopening, the industry is thankfully moving forward.\u201d (Handle was only $89 million in June, prior to the resumption of major-league sports.) Added Gouker, \u201cAugust should be a huge month, with NBA<\/strong> and NHL<\/strong> playoffs drawing bets that aren\u2019t typical in the late summer. That should help Pennsylvania\u2019s sportsbooks make up a little of the revenue lost this spring.\u201d Sports betting was one area where Harrah’s, surprisingly, made little of a dent, less than $250K in handle. Also-rans included Rivers Philadelphia ($13 million), Mount Airy\/Fox Bet ($12 million), Rivers Pittsburgh ($10.5 million), Parx ($9 million) and Mohegan Sun ($2.5 million). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mount Airy also made its presence felt in i-poker, its Keystone State monopoly netting it $3 million. Stadium Casino<\/strong> and Wind Creek come online this month, although they’ve got a lot of catching up to do, aided by Covid-19<\/strong> confinement. Observed analyst Valerie Cross<\/strong>, \u201cThe pandemic has accelerated the maturity of Pennsylvania\u2019s online gaming market dramatically. By comparison, it took New Jersey<\/strong> more than six years to top $50 million of online gambling revenue in a month. Pennsylvania managed to do it in less than a year. That growth has been vital to the stability of Pennsylvania\u2019s gaming industry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just because you’re in Las Vegas<\/strong>, don’t assume that prostitution is legal\u2014or safe. One John found that out the hard way on July 4. Arizona<\/strong> resident Ronald Moore<\/strong> rang up GatorEscort.com<\/strong> for some female companionship whilst passing through Sin City. He rendezvoused with Talisha Ferguson<\/strong>, a known prostitute<\/a>, near the El Cortez<\/strong> and proceeded to the Westgate Las Vegas<\/strong> in hopes of doing the horizontal lambada. Being afflicted with stupidity in addition to carelessness (and the commission of a felony), Moore told Ferguson that he was in town to buy a house\u2014with cash. He even let her see the money. Feigning menstrual cramps, she stole away from Moore, $90K in hand. Ferguson has a court date this week but as for Moore, we all know what they say about a fool and his money …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Given that Plainridge Park didn’t reopen until July 8, and Encore Boston Harbor and MGM Springfield not for two more days after that, it’s wholly understandable that Massachusetts gambling revenue was down 44% last month. JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff … 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":[109,60,244,277,270,278,172,37,189,112,167,248,69,95,242,243,20,38,184,233],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27781"}],"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=27781"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27781\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27782,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27781\/revisions\/27782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}