Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) went 1-1 in legal challenges to his decision to widen the Buckeye State’s casino industry, including his permission of VLTs at the state’s racinos, a move that broke the Caesars Entertainment/Penn National Gaming duopoly on gambling in 
the state. Anti-gambling group Ohio Roundtable contended in vain that Kasich acted unconstitutionally by expanding gambling without putting the issue to a statewide vote. The Ohio Supreme Court ruled that the activist group lacked standing to sue. It opined that claims of gambling addiction and other social ills didn’t amount to a right to sue the state. “The negative effects of gambling that appellants allege do not constitute concrete injuries to appellants that are different in manner or degree from those caused to the general public, were not caused by the state’s conduct, and cannot be redressed by the requested relief,” opined the court Attacking the casino issue from a different angle, opponent Frederick Kinsey was deemed to have standing to sue. His beef isn’t with Kasich but with the original ballot initiative that created the Caesars/Penn duopoly. Kinsey, who may have casino aspirations of his own, “claims that the constitutional right of equal protection was violated because applying for an Ohio casino license was not available to everyone,” according to CardPlayer.com. The case has been remanded to Franklin County, where — among other things — Kinsey will have to prove that he had the wherewithal to build a casino, establishing the lack of equal protection that he claims.
Writing for the majority, Justice Judith French said a Kinsey victory would compel all of Ohio’s casino to close. It “would rescind the limited grant of authority for casino gaming rather than allow all potential operators.” But he has to demonstrate that he’s “able and ready to bid for a casino license.” If not, his case is liable to get tossed by the lower court. Frankly, unless Kinsey can produce a line of credit for hundreds of millions of dollars, plus a casino site, we don’t think he stands a snowball’s chance in Hell.
* While the Pennsylvania Legislature continues to grapple with online poker, slot routes and slots in the airports, the Keystone State’s casinos are doing quite well, up 9% last month. Although Sands Bethlehem continued to dominate table game revenue ($17.5 million, up 15%), the overall leader was Parx Casino, grossing $46 million for a 12% 
increase. Sands was next, with $42.5 million, up 14%. Other gainers were SugarHouse Casino, in Philadelphia ($25 million, +9%), Mohegan Sun Pocono ($22 million, +11%), The Meadows Casino ($21 million, +13%), Mount Airy Casino Resort ($15 million, +17%), Presque Isle Downs ($11 million, $18 %), Valley Forge Casino Resort ($9.5 million, 11%) and Lady Luck Casino Nemacolin ($3 million, +7%).
The saturation in the Philadelphia market only affected Harrah’s Philadelphia ($23 million, -3%) adversely. Varying degrees of flatness were experienced at Rivers Casino ($28.5 million) and Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course ($20.5 million). While we still disagree with the state’s decision to put yet another casino into Philly, there does seem to be some cream left to be skimmed in the Pennsylvania market.
