Tag: Hollywood Casino

Hollywood Casino in Wyandotte County reported gaming revenues of $10.57 million for January 2021, about $1.4 million less than revenue figures reported in January 2020.

The gaming revenues have improved when compared to December of 2020, when they were $9.2 million at Hollywood Casino, according to information from the Kansas Lottery.

It was the best January ever for some of the four Kansas state-owned casinos, according to Keith Kocher, director of program assurance and integrity for the Kansas Lottery, He gave a report on the revenues at the Kansas Lottery Commission meeting on Wednesday afternoon.

Kocher said January of 2021 had at least two good things going for it – it had five Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, and it also had pretty good weather.

Hollywood Casino in Wyandotte County, and Kansas Star Casino in Mulvane, Kansas, had their best revenue months since the COVID-19 restrictions started, Kocher said.

Overall, the state-owned casinos are down 14.7 percent for the fiscal year, he said.

Kocher said he was “guardedly optimistic” about the recovery at the casinos. Although one could attribute the gains to the calendar, nevertheless he is choosing to look at it as a very good month, he said.

The Unified Government receives 3 percent of the Hollywood Casino’s gaming revenues, which totaled $1.9 million in fiscal year 2021, according to Kansas Lottery figures. The state of Kansas received $14,312,484 from Hollywood Casino in fiscal year 2021 for gaming taxes, which are 22 percent of the gaming revenues.

Stephen Durrell, the Kansas Lottery’s executive director, said the casinos had a good month in January, which was encouraging for overall growth.

Now they are facing a rough weather week that could negatively affect February’s figures, he said. He added they have done a very good job of meeting the challenges during the past year. They have tried to maintain staff and keep staff and patrons safe, he said.

He said he is sometimes asked by legislators when the COVID-19 restrictions are going to be lifted at the casinos. Besides masking and distancing, the building capacity is limited. Durrell said he doesn’t know when the restrictions will be lifted, but a lot probably has to do with how the public in general responds to mask-wearing, social distancing and hand-washing to reduce the virus, and also how the vaccines roll out. The questions from legislators were probably aimed at determining future revenues for budget planning, Durrell agreed.

After some very high jackpots in lottery ticket games, Durrell also reported increases in ticket sales for many of the games in Kansas.

There are national changes that will make the Lucky 4 Life game a daily game, and there are other changes being discussed for Powerball and Mega Millions. Durrell said he hoped there would be another large jackpot run this year.

Durrell said the Kansas Senate has begun hearings on sports wagering legislation this week, with the state House planning hearings on it next week.

Hollywood Casino in Kansas City, Kansas, reported about $9.3 million in casino gaming revenue for October, according to figures from the Kansas Lottery.

The figure is about $3 million below that of October 2019, according to state records. The casino revenues were discussed at a Kansas Lottery Commission meeting Wednesday afternoon.

According to a written report to the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission, attendance was down 33 percent at Hollywood Casino during October. Because of the pandemic, the casino faced restrictions on the number of people allowed and the hours open, since last year.

The Hollywood Casino continues to have one of the most challenging markets of the four state-owned casinos, according to Keith Kocher, director of program assurance and integrity for the Kansas Lottery.

Kocher said the state’s casino revenues are continuing about the same level as recent months.

One of the state’s casinos, Boot Hill in Dodge City, Kansas, reported an increase compared to last October, but the other casinos were down, with Kansas Star off about 2.5 percent and Kansas Crossing down about 11 percent, he said.

However, they are trending in the right direction, Kocher said. In July and August the casinos were down about 18 percent collectively, then down 15 percent in September, and now down 14 percent collectively in October, he said. They are making progress, he said, but maybe not as fast as everyone would like.

Hollywood Casino has been under COVID-19 restrictions on the number of people who can be in the building, according to Kocher.

New restrictions came out in Wyandotte County and in the Dodge City area this week, and it remains to be seen what the revenues will do in the future, according to Kocher.

Stephen Durrell, the lottery’s executive director, said Boot Hill Casino will be adding mask mandates, something it didn’t have before.

He said the casinos continue to be very proactive in making sure the staff is aware of what might be occurring with COVID-19 infections.

He said most of the quarantines at the casinos seem to be coming from places other than the casinos, and that people have encountered outside of the workplace. Employees are screened and have temperatures taken before going into the casinos, he added.

The Unified Government receives 3 percent of the casino gaming revenues, while the state of Kansas receives 22 percent.

According to the report to the KRGC, Hollywood Casino has several special events planned in the upcoming weeks, including a VIP shopping spree on Nov. 21, a pie giveaway Nov. 25, a treasure chest Nov. 27, a wireless headphones giveaway on Dec. 4 and a VIP stuff your stockings promotion on Dec. 5.