Missouri's 13 casinos post slight revenue drop in January amid call for crackdown on illegal machines

Missouri’s 13 casinos posted $145.4 million in revenue for the month of January, according to the Missouri Gaming Commission. The figure implies a 1.2% drop from a total of $147.3 million reported in January 2021 and is also down from $163.3 million posted in December.

The St. Louis market reported $72.7 million in total adjusted gaming revenue for the month, while the Kansas City market posted $50.7 million. The other casinos in the Show Me State reported a combined $22 million in gaming revenue.

Ameristar St. Charles in St. Louis 

Ameristar St. Charles in St. Louis placed first among all venues, delivering $24.3 million in gaming revenue, although the figure was 6.3% down from the same period last year. Hollywood Casino St. Louis ($18.9 million) and River City Casino in St. Louis ($18.8 million) placed second and third respectively.

Statewide total adjusted gaming revenue was mostly driven by slot revenue, at $122.6 million, although this figure presented a 4% drop from January 2021. Missouri’s 13 casinos reported a combined $22.5 million in table revenue, which was up 16.1% from last year.

Southeast Missouri takes a hit

Among casinos posting numbers down in January are those located in Southeast Missouri. The $140 million Century Casino Cape Girardeau casino saw its numbers drop 18.5% last month to $5.5 million in gaming revenue.

"I think [the drop] has to do with it being winter," City of Cape Girardeau Mayor Bob Fox said on Monday, according to Southeast Missourian. "When the weather is iffy, people just don't get out as much."

Lyle Randolph, Century Casino’s general manager, claims there was an unusual “dynamic” in January 2021 that inflated numbers at the time. "Last year, one of our competitors in Metropolis, Illinois, was shut down for part of the month due to COVID, which impacted us,” he said, according to the cited source. “Also a year ago, stimulus payments were still being received.”

Century Casino Caruthersville, the other gambling venue in Southeast Missouri, also reported figures down in January. Last month, the $66 million casino saw admissions down 25% to 47,300 patrons, and total gaming revenue dropped 15.9% to $3.4 million.

Missouri casinos call for stronger measures against “pre-reveal” gaming

On Wednesday, officials for Missouri’s 13 cities that have casinos called for a crackdown on “pre-reveal” gambling machines, which they describe as having flooded the Show Me State in recent years. The debate on the legality of these games has been a long-standing one, and bills seeking to ban them have been introduced in the last few years, and earlier this year as well. 

“Only Missouri’s voters can decide where gambling can take place legally in our state, and currently that is limited to our 13 state-licensed riverboat casinos,” said Maryland Heights Mayor Mike Moeller, president of the coalition, according to St. Louis Post Dispatch.

Maryland Heights Mayor Mike Moeller

Members of the Missouri Home Dock City Association are urging Attorney General Eric Schmitt, county prosecutors and law enforcement agencies to take a stronger approach to enforce laws prohibiting unregulated “pre-reveal” machines, present in convenience stores, bars and truck stops all across the state. 

Wildwood-based company Torch Electronics, which has placed as many as 14,000 machines in establishments such as gas stations, claims they are legal because players can find out if they will win the next game before they put any money, thus not making them “games of chance.” They operate in a gray area given their alleged “no chance gaming” features.