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November Wagers Total $66.9M at Austintown Racino
AUSTINTOWN, Ohio -- Wagers made on video lottery terminals in the Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course in November were down substantially from the month before, the latest monthly report from the Ohio Lottery Commission shows.
Cash and credits bet in the racino were $66.9 million, down from $79.8 million in October, its first full month of operation since it opened Sept. 17.
By comparison, credits played at the Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway, which opened in August, totaled $68.3 million, down from $73.1 million in October. Statewide, VLT revenue dropped to $670.9 million from $736.1 million in October.
Penn National Gaming Inc., the Wyomissing, Pa.-based company that owns both racinos, does not comment on month-by-month revenue numbers, said spokesman Bob Tenenbaum.
“However, it needs to be pointed out that this is only the second full month of operation at Mahoning Valley, and in our view it’s simply not useful to try to make comparisons with any gaming facility’s opening days and weeks,” Tenenbaum remarked.
“There’s always a dropoff after the initial excitement of the opening, when you get a lot of one-time visitors just checking the place out,” he added.
Any new gambling site takes at least two to three years before it approaches what Tenenbaum called “mature” status, and in the meantime Penn National builds its customer database and adjusts the mix of games on the floor as it learns more about customer preferences in a given market.
Month-to-month increases and decreases aren’t a good indicator of long-term trends, he cautioned. Monthly revenue is subject to a wide variety of variables, including the number of days in a month, the number of weekend days, whether there are holidays (and what holidays they are), and weather.
This year, November had five weekends, or 10 weekend days. The month also included Thanksgiving, Nov. 27, and the informal start of the holiday shopping season the day after, Black Friday, a potential competitor for consumers’ disposable income.
The month also included the start of thoroughbred racing Nov. 24 at the racino’s one-mile track.
VLT credits won in November totaled $59.5 million, compared with $70.9 million in October. Promotional play credits totaled $388,327, compared with $259,212 the month before. The percent payout was 89.57%, up slightly from 89.2% in October. The average win per VLT per day was $268 in November, down from $325 in October. The average number of VLTs operating was 866, up from 857 the month before.
Net win in November was $6.98 million, including the racino’s commission of $4.6 million, $2.34 million for the lottery commission and $23,191 to fund problem gambling services.
To date, bettors have wagered $199.5 million in cash and credits at the Austintown racino, winning $177.3 million since its opening. Net win to date is $21.3 million.
Copyright 2014 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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