Finally, there was good news for saturated gaming markets. Missouri was up 2% last month, although the result was a bit lopsided. The St. Louis market rose 3% while the 
Kansas City area slipped 2%. The latter appears to be losing business to Hollywood Casino at the Kansas Speedway. Taking it on the chin was Harrah’s North Kansas City, down 6.5%. Ameristar Kansas City slid a bit, too, down 2%. However, Penn National Gaming posted win-win numbers, with Argosy Riverside up 3%. Isle of Capri may have been flat in K.C. but it boasted some sensational numbers outstate, with Lady Luck Caruthersville up 11% and Isle Cape Girardeau rising 21%.
As for St. Louis, Wall Street expectations were happily defied. Only Tropicana Entertainment‘s Lumiere Place lost business, down 4.5%. Pinnacle Entertainment‘s River City crept up 2% and its Ameristar St. Charles added 5%. Penn enjoyed the biggest increase, 5.5% at Hollywood Casino St. Louis. Foot traffic was still down 1% but spend-per-visitor was up 3%.
* Considering the proliferation of slot routes in Illinois, a 2% decline at the casinos seems like a triumph. Admissions were down an alarming 8%, meaning players spent 
6% more apiece. Harrah’s Joliet posted a 5% gain and GLPI‘s Casino Queen was incrementally higher than last year, while Rivers Casino was flat, though by bar the highest grosser in the state ($36 million to Harrah’s Joliet’s $16 million). MGM Resorts International‘s Grand Victoria was down a percentage point, while Empress Joliet was off 1.5% and Hollywood Aurora was down 6.5%.
It was a tougher month for some of the smaller riverboats in the state. Argosy Alton sank 9% and Boyd Gaming‘s Par-A-Dice took a whopping 16% hit. With foot traffic straying to slot routes, Illinois had best hope that their fewer customers keep up those “george” spending habits.
* Ohio seems to have done as much harm to Indiana as it could. Admissions were down 6% last month and spending up 2%. In the most-affected southern tier, Rising Sun is still down 25% and Hollywood Lawrenceburg took a 20% dive. However, 
Belterra is up 5%, not the least bit damaged by Belterra Park across the state line. Further to the west, Horseshoe Southern Indiana was down a bit (4%) while Tropicana Evansville continued its winning ways, up 10%.
Ameristar East Chicago was the headline item up north, increasing its revenue 14.5%, while Horseshoe Hammond slipped 10%. The latter still dominates the former, $37 million to $19 million, but the revenue shift was too dramatic not to note. Boyd also had a good month at Blue Chip, up 4%, but life was rough for the two Majestic Star boats, down 12% and 14% respectively. (Is the second Majestic Star boat hexed by once having been owned by Donald Trump?)
