Miami Valley Gaming sets revenue record in May

Miami Valley Gaming had its best month ever in May, reporting more than $12.2 million in revenue.

The record month for the racino near Monroe coincided with another huge haul for Ohio’s seven racinos. Together, they surpassed $78 million for the third straight month and outpaced the state’s four casinos by nearly $12 million.

MVG opened in December 2013 and offers more than 1,600 slot machines, also called video lottery terminals. It broke its previous revenue record, set in March, by $56,000.

Racino revenue — what’s left after paying out winnings and free play to customers — is taxed at 33.5 percent, which means MVG sent $4.1 million to the Lottery Commission’s education fund last month. The racinos offer only slot machines while casinos offer slots and table games.

MVG handed out $3 million in promotional free play in May, the first time it has hit that mark.

“It was a great month in a string of great months that we have been enjoying,” MVG director of marketing Jerry Abner said. “We had some great promotions in May, especially our $1 million Luckiest Draw promos every Friday and two car giveaways that patrons really responded to.

“We also capped a very successful third live harness racing season in early May.”

Meanwhile, Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway recorded net revenue of $7.65 million in May. That marked the fourth straight month that the north Dayton racino surpassed $7 million in revenue.

The racino, which opened in August 2014, had 994 slot machines in play last month. It has failed to reach the $7 million mark just two times in the past 11 months.

While the state’s racinos turned in another strong month, Ohio’s four casinos recorded their worst May since all four properties came online in 2013. The casinos’ total revenue last month was $66.5 million, down $4.5 million from May 2015. The Hollywood Columbus brought in the most revenue at $17.8 million.

The downtown Cleveland casino had the lowest revenue total of the casinos — $16 million — but it was closed for 40 hours while being rebranded as the Jack Cleveland Casino.

That transition included new names/logos on 400,000 casino chips, 1,800 pairs of dice and 30,000 fresh decks of cards.

The Horseshoe Cincinnati has been closed this week during its transition to the Jack brand. It is scheduled to reopen at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

The downtown Cincinnati casino totaled $16.2 million in revenue last month, its worst May showing since opening in 2013.

The single-month record for casino revenue in Ohio is $84,287,426 in March 2013 — the month that the Cincinnati casino opened.

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