This week’s casino news is a mix of good and bad for casinos. Let’s take a closer look at the happenings in the casino world over the last week from Maryland to Las Vegas.
Maryland Casinos Reel In Record Revenues
The state of Maryland had a wonderful month of December in terms of its casino revenue. Reports indicated that December came in as the second-highest month in its history. Of course, MGM National Harbor led the way, as it has virtually every month since it opened. The six casinos in Maryland brought in around $141 million, which was just behind March 2017 when Maryland reported revenues of $141.2 million. The $141 million that they brought in was an increase of 5.7 percent from December 2016, which was the same month that MGM National Harbor opened. MGM National Harbor definitely stepped up on its birthday as it brought in around $56.6 million, which broke its previous record of $52.9 million set in August 2017. Maryland Live! Casino and Hotel is still hanging in there as it brought in $47.2 million, which would be huge in any other state that didn’t have the MGM National Harbor. Horseshoe Casino Baltimore brought in $24 million, which was down almost 20 percent from the previous year, while Hollywood Casino Perryville brought in $5.7 million, Rocky Gap reported $3.79 million and Ocean Downs was at $3.75 million, although they had to shut down some of their slots games in preparation for their table games.
Overall, the state of Maryland is doing very well. MGM National Harbor has cannibalized some of the business from other casinos but overall, it looks like the state has a stronger appetite for gambling than originally perceived.
Tax Reform Benefits South Point Employees
It seems like President Donald Trump can’t get a good headline to stick but there is some positive news out of Las Vegas. The South Point Casino has decided to do something nice for its employees as a direct result of the tax reform that was passed in December. Due to the new tax bill, the South Point Casino has said that it is going to increase employees’ bonuses by more than double to factor in for the increase in health-insurance costs. They’re not the only company to do this as the likes of Comcast, AT&T, Wells Fargo and Boeing have all announced that they’ll increase bonuses for their employees to help them out after this new bill. Michael Gaughan, who owns the South Point Casino, released a statement that said he believes this tax reform will have a big effect on the economy.
Lucky Dragon Taking A Break?
The Lucky Dragon Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas has shut its doors in their casino and restaurants. People can still stay in one of the hotel’s 200 rooms for now and while they say that the closing of the casino and restaurants is only temporary, it seems like the writing is on the wall. They are laying employees off and there is no indication when it’ll be reopened.
The Lucky Dragon opened in December 2016, but it hasn’t been the success that its owners hoped it would have been. It doesn’t look good for the casino and restaurants right now but maybe they are in fact retooling and not shutting down.