Maryland casinos set a new all-time gaming revenue record in October, despite only four of the state’s six venues posting year-on-year increases.
Figures released Tuesday by the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Agency show the state’s casino operators generated gaming revenue of just under $158m in October, an 18.6% rise over the same month last year. October’s tally also eclipsed the state’s previous gaming revenue high-water mark of $156.5m set in May 2018.
Statewide slots revenue was up $5m from last year to $88.2m, while the state’s table games gained nearly $20m, rising from $50m in October 2017 to $69.7m last month.
Maryland’s newest and flashiest casino, MGM Resorts’ National Harbor, reported an astonishing $73.4m in revenue in October, a whopping 41.4% year-on-year increase and demolishing the property’s previous best monthly total of $62.3m.
National Harbor, which will celebrate its second birthday in December, was almost wholly responsible for the table game surge, as its gaming tables reported revenue of over $43.4m versus just $24.8m in October 2017. National Harbor’s slots also had a good month, rising nearly $3m to $30m.
Cordish Gaming’s Live! Casino & Hotel held on to its traditional second-place spot on October’s revenue chart, but its $47m total was up only 2.6% from the same month last year. The property could thank its slots for that minor gain, as its table revenue was down $2.3m to $14.2m for the month.
Horseshoe Casino Baltimore had a decent month, rising 7.6% to $21m as its table gains compensated for its slots decline. Churchill Downs Inc’s Ocean Downs Casino was also in positive territory, rising 15.8% to $6.1m thanks to an extra $742k from the gaming tables it launched last December.
The month’s two decliners were Hollywood Casino Perryville, which fell 1.4% to $5.85m, and Rocky Gap Casino Resort, which slipped 3.8% to a little less than $4.5m.
