The Massachusetts Gaming Commission released the November revenue totals for gaming venues in the state this week, revealing that the Encore Boston Harbor saw a comeback from record lows the previous month, while two other casinos hit rock bottom.
The Encore Boston Harbor is the newest casino in the state, offering players a wide variety of gaming options. The venue reported $47.3 million in November, which was a whopping $1.5 million or so better than the record low from October.
The gains for the Encore came from both slots and table games. The slot revenue increased by $500,000 with $22.8 million in earnings last month. The total was the best for the venue since they opened in June. While the revenue totals were high, the slot handle had decreased with only just over $286 million wagered.
Table games came in at $24.5 million, which is around $1 million more than the previous month. While the figures are better than October, it was a low for the brand, the second-lowest totals for the property since opening.
It is interesting to note that the table game revenue increase comes at a time when the property decided to lower the betting limit for table games. In the middle of November, Wynn Resorts announced that the Encore Boston Harbor would be cutting the minimum to $15 which is quite less than the previous $50 minimum.
Because of this price slash, we should see table games continue to bring in more revenues as players are more open to enjoying the games.
All-Time Lows
While the Encore Boston Harbor saw a nice uptick in revenues, the MGM Springfield and Plainridge Park Casino were not so lucky. MGM reported $19.9 million which is just over $1 million less than October. It is the lowest earnings ever for the venue since opening. The table games were the problem, despite the slot machines of the property seeing modest gains.
For Plainridge Park Casino, the slots-only facility saw revenues coming in just under the $5.4 million mark. This was a 14.8% decrease from November of last year and it is the fourth consecutive month that the brand has seen a drop in revenues under the $6 million mark.
Executives of Plainridge Park have shown concern over the impact of their business from the Encore Boston Harbor. It seems that the Encore has affected the venue more than anticipated and the brand’s returns have caused the venue to fail in meeting Q3 earnings projections.
For Plainridge, they will have to come up with some type of adjustment plan in order to recover from the challenge of operating now that the Encore Boston Harbor is in business. What the property can do is anyone’s guess, but the newer, larger property seems to be taking business from everywhere, causing their competitors to see a significant drop in revenue earnings every month.
