Gaining 19% last month, Hard Rock Rocksino reclaimed its top spot in Ohio, grossing almost $19 million and edging aside Horseshoe Casino Cleveland by one decimal point. The latter saw an 11% slippage revenues, 
while ThistleDown Racino continues to look like a mistake, down 7% on an $8.5 million gross. Rock Gaming Caesars managed to save some face in the Queen City, where Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati rose 4% on an $18 million gross.
But the big story was Penn National Gaming, displaying success across the board. Hollywood Columbus, in its most competitive market, grossed 18% and was up 6%, despite slot revenues that were only average. It still managed to outperform analyst expectations, as did Hollywood Casino Toledo, where coin-in was up 10% and revenues rose 11% along with it ($214 win/slot/day). Table game revenue shot up an astonishing 21.5%, in what was a very lucky month for the house.
Penn’s two racinos still continue to generate win/slot/day that is far above average even through the grosses — $7.5 million at Hollywood Dayton, up 
11%, and $8 million at Hollywood Austintown, up 9% — are comparatively modest. Penn’s main competitor, Eldorado Resorts‘ Scioto Downs, was up 15% on a $13 million gross. Pinnacle Entertainment‘s Belterra Park, despite sub-average slot win, clawed back a 20% gain, perhaps at the expense of Pinnacle’s Indiana-based Belterra, for a $6 million gross. Privately held Miami Valley Gaming grossed $11 million, up 16%. Except for the underperformance of the Caesars Entertainment-managed properties, there was no bad news to be had.
* Sheldon Adelson promised “positive changes” to the Las Vegas Review-Journal and he made one yesterday, as it was announced that 30 vacant or newly created positions in the newsroom would be filled. Among the restorations, the copy-editing desk, whose elimination was a major blot on Stephens Media‘s former stewardship of the paper. Incidentally, as the R-J reported on Bill McBeath‘s recommendation for a gaming license, the headline writer couldn’t resist twigging the Nevada Gaming Control Board for taking so long to get around to it.
* Steve Wynn once proclaimed himself “the most powerful man in Nevada.” Steve, meet Paul Caudill, CEO of Nevada Power. It was Nevada Power’s enormous (the word seems inadequate to the sums involved) exit fees that sent Wynn Resorts, MGM Resorts International and Las Vegas Sands scurrying back under Nevada Power’s umbrella after an attempted jailbreak. Sands protested the fees to the Public Utilities Commission but was told they were necessary to “protect remaining captive ratepayers from harm caused by a large customer’s exercising its choice to exit bundled retail service.” That’s Caudill 1, Wynn 0 if you’re keep score at home.
