CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Revenue from the state's four racetrack casinos is holding up in the face of new competition in Ohio and Maryland -- thanks to continued huge revenue numbers from Charles Town's Hollywood Casino.
According to revenue figures presented to the Lottery Commission Tuesday, overall June Lottery revenues of $112.8 million were 3.7 percent ahead of projections -- in part because an expected sharp decline in table games revenue did not occur.
"We're running a little ahead," Lottery Director John Musgrave said Tuesday. "Revenue is 4 percent ahead for the month of July."
Revenue from the racetracks' video lottery and table games had been expected to suffer a steep drop following the opening of a new casino in Cleveland and video slot facilities in Columbus and Maryland, but that drop did not materialize because of the continued strong performance at Charles Town.
For June, table games at Charles Town took in $12.9 million -- or more than 2 1/2 times the revenue of the state's three other tracks combined.
Blackjack alone brought in $2.96 million at Charles Town -- more than the total June gross receipts for Mountaineer ($1.99 million), Mardi Gras ($1.75 million) or the Wheeling Island ($1.08 million) casinos.
The state's fifth casino, in The Greenbrier resort, brought in $577,212 for the month.
The state's share of table games profits for June was $6.41 million -- with Charles Town accounting for $4.52 million of that total.
Maryland has opened two slots-only facilities this year, but neither is in the vicinity of the Charles Town casino.
However, Musgrave said he is concerned by plans to open a gaming facility in Baltimore's Inner Harbor. Meanwhile, construction of a casino in Columbus is underway, presenting new competition for the hard-hit Northern Panhandle casinos.
"As they keep adding facilities, we're going to see the impact," he said. "We expect it to have a major impact on our facilities in West Virginia."
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Revenue from the state's four racetrack casinos is holding up in the face of new competition in Ohio and Maryland -- thanks to continued huge revenue numbers from Charles Town's Hollywood Casino.
According to revenue figures presented to the Lottery Commission Tuesday, overall June Lottery revenues of $112.8 million were 3.7 percent ahead of projections -- in part because an expected sharp decline in table games revenue did not occur.
"We're running a little ahead," Lottery Director John Musgrave said Tuesday. "Revenue is 4 percent ahead for the month of July."
Revenue from the racetracks' video lottery and table games had been expected to suffer a steep drop following the opening of a new casino in Cleveland and video slot facilities in Columbus and Maryland, but that drop did not materialize because of the continued strong performance at Charles Town.
For June, table games at Charles Town took in $12.9 million -- or more than 2 1/2 times the revenue of the state's three other tracks combined.
Blackjack alone brought in $2.96 million at Charles Town -- more than the total June gross receipts for Mountaineer ($1.99 million), Mardi Gras ($1.75 million) or the Wheeling Island ($1.08 million) casinos.
The state's fifth casino, in The Greenbrier resort, brought in $577,212 for the month.
The state's share of table games profits for June was $6.41 million -- with Charles Town accounting for $4.52 million of that total.
Maryland has opened two slots-only facilities this year, but neither is in the vicinity of the Charles Town casino.
However, Musgrave said he is concerned by plans to open a gaming facility in Baltimore's Inner Harbor. Meanwhile, construction of a casino in Columbus is underway, presenting new competition for the hard-hit Northern Panhandle casinos.
"As they keep adding facilities, we're going to see the impact," he said. "We expect it to have a major impact on our facilities in West Virginia."
Also Tuesday:
Overall Lottery revenue for the 2011-12 budget year, which ended June 30, was $1.45 billion, nearly 10 percent above estimates, and about $67,000 ahead of fiscal 2010-11.The state's share of Lottery profits totals $651.7 million for the fiscal year.
Commissioners approved the transfer of $10 million of Lottery profits into the Racetrack Video Lottery Modernization Fund.Under legislation passed in 2011, the Lottery is to transfer up to $10 million each year into the fund, to provide matching funds to allow the racetrack casinos to upgrade their video slots gaming areas in hopes of competing with newer casinos in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Maryland.
Musgrave said the 8,215 video lottery machines at the state's casinos remained in operation following the June 29 derecho storm, for the most part. Phone lines to Nitro's Mardi Gras casino were knocked out of service in the storm, putting the track's 958 VLTs out of service for a few hours until phone service could be restored.Limited video lottery also remained in service, although many bars and clubs offering video slots were closed because of power outages.
Commissioners approved a rule change authorizing the Lottery to keep a cash balance of at least $200,000 in its bank account used to pay jackpot winners.From the Lottery's inception in 1985, the fund had been a zero-balance account in which the bank would pay the jackpot winners and give the Lottery a float until the appropriate funds could be transferred.
However, changes in federal banking laws prohibit such zero-balance accounts, requiring the Lottery to keep a cash balance or risk having the bank refuse to cash jackpot winners' checks for insufficient funds.
Musgrave said previously the $200,000 balance should be adequate, since the Lottery has sufficient advance notice in the event a winning Powerball or Mega Millions ticket is sold in the state to transfer funds before the winner comes forward to claim the jackpot.
Reach Phil Kabler at ph...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1220.
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