South Florida is awash in more than sunshine these days. The racinos and casinos are cranked up to beckon both natives and snowbirds alike. And from the looks of the crowds, most are succeeding.
The wide geographic locations of the (mainly) slot and poker parlors across the three counties makes for an interesting competitive landscape.
The big PGA and USTA tournament events make their annual tour stops in town shortly, which present some competition to the horses, dogs and slots (but also draw huge European and South American tourists who like to gamble).
Pitchers and catchers are in the state and the boys of summer and their fans are enthusiastically filling the coffers of hotels, restaurants, theme parks. They too visit the pari-mutuels and slot parlors.
Palm Beach Kennel Club, the venerable Rooney family-owned downtown dog track, is a natural for the next big racino conversion. Only problem is the State’s constitution just permits racinos in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties. There are well funded initiatives in Palm Beach and Pinellas (Derby Lane Dog Track-Tampa Bay Downs) Counties to expand that territory either by legislation or by state vote.
Then there’s the very gray area of quasi-legal "Internet cafes" which are cluttering up strip malls across Florida. These glorified mini penny ante slot parlors have threaded the needle through state gaming laws to entice mainly elderly players to play machines that walk like a slot, talk like a slot and pay like a slot…but technically (say the owners) are not. And to boot, they are not regulated or taxed like the racino machines.
After the defeat of the casino resort destination bill, it appears the legislators are attacking gaming on a piece by piece basis. A new bill is now floating through the House to eliminate these cafes (previously part of the destination resort bill). With the racinos, pari-mutuels, Indian gaming and anti-gambling forces supporting the legislation, it does have a chance of passing.
In Miami-Dade, especially, there’s also a myriad of illegal slot machines nestled in the back rooms of many bodegas and bars. In the past year, several times city police have raided these establishments and confiscated the machines.
Several times they’ve been met with apathetic legal reaction and next to no public feedback. Though the racinos would like to erase these untaxed, illegal machines, the pathway to do so is at best murky.
Of course, the bigger picture is being ignored. There still is no State Gaming Regulator office (also an integral part of the casino destination bill). All state gaming, excepting the lottery, is governed by the Department of State. Hence, the same office that is charged with chasing greyhounds around for urine samples is also deciding what the operating hours are for the slot parlors, and what constitutes a slot machine.
On the entertainment front Jay Leno, Diana Ross, the Doobie Brothers, Tony Bennett and many more are appearing at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Fort Lauderdale; Styx is at the Magic City Casino; Lenny Kravitz is at the Miami Beach Fillmore (previously the Jackie Gleason Theatre of Performing Arts).
Racino finances
With this interesting circumstance showing up, Magic City (Flagler Dog Track) has taken over with top average drop at $274/machine for January. It must be noted Magic City has 789 machines, the least of any south Florida racino. They decided to renovate the existing facility, which limited the size of the casino floor.
For gross revenue, Isle Casino, (Pompano Harness) is just short of the 11 million dollar amount for January. Isle built a separate building that has about 1,450 machines and all the amenities of any casino in any location. Isle built the largest and most lavish facility.
It will be interesting to see how the Isle business is impacted by the expanded Seminole Coconut Creek facility only a few miles away.
The newest facility to open in the south Florida area is Casino Miami Jai Ali. The renovated facility has opened to modest business with a drop of $135/machine over the first 14 days. They are getting good crowds and expect increases as players become more familiar with it.
For January, net slot revenue in Florida was up $3,034,856, a little over 9%. With another property joining the revenue stream, the outlook is bright.
Florida Gaming Report is written by Baird Thompson and William Hutchinson, Miami. www.casinodoctors.com.
GamingToday’s Micah Roberts went right back to the Oracle for a new Preakness pick and Jay Rood came up with his selection once he knew Union Rags was not headed to Pimlico.
An Internet gambling bill being considered by New Jersey lawmakers could allow Atlantic City’s casinos to take bets from people in other states or countries, although key details remain to be worked out.
The nation’s commercial casinos continued their slow-but-steady comeback from the recession last year, with revenues up 3 percent nationwide and jobs holding nearly steady, according to a report released Wednesday.
Revel, the $2.4 billion casino resort widely seen as Atlantic City’s best hope of survival, trailed most of its competition in its first month of operation, placing 8th out of the city’s 12 casinos.
New signs are up to direct visitors, the sidewalks have been power-washed, crosswalks have been freshly painted and 1,600 people have been hired to inaugurate the Horseshoe Casino Cleveland on Monday.
