MGM National Harbor has emerged as a leading player in the East Coast table games market.
Of the $300 million the new casino has grossed on its gaming floor since opening in December, slot machines have accounted for 53 percent, a far smaller ratio than the Maryland average of 61 percent and significantly below the 64 percent averaged at Maryland Live!, MGM’s primary competitor.
Likewise, in nearby states, casinos rely far more on slots as their principal earner. Pennsylvania’s percentage was at 73-27 slots-to-tables in May. New Jersey has been in the low 70s range over the past 12 months; Ohio has trended in the high 60s.
“When you walk through MGM National Harbor and you see blackjack games at 10 a.m. with $25 limits, you can see that there’s just a lot of excitement,” said Alex Alvarado, vice president of Slot Operations at the property. “There’s a lot of not really seasoned gamers but just people looking for entertainment.”
The Washington, D.C.-area casino features 126 banked and 39 non-banked table games, which have combined to produce $136 million in gross revenue to date. The property’s 3,237 slot machines have grossed $152 million since opening. But the pit has been more profitable, accounting for 62 percent of earnings after taxes.
Maryland’s tax structure has a lot to do with that. Slots are taxed at an aggregate rate of 57 percent, while tables are taxed at 20 percent.
So MGM has netted $67 million from slot revenue but $109 million from tables.
Since last December, Maryland Live! has netted $101 million in slot revenues (though it keeps 49 percent compared to MGM’s 44 percent) against $92 million from tables. Similarly, Caesars Entertainment’s Horseshoe Baltimore has averaged $8.6 million in net table revenues per month against $6.3 million in slot revenues.
“Astute operators are going to look at that and say ‘OK, so suddenly this business, in a way, has been turned in a way on its head,” Alvarado said.
“When you think about it from an operator perspective, it’s tough to wrap your head around,” he continued. “How can all this labor that you put into a manual game and the speed that is semi-dictated by a player outperform a machine that you just brainlessly stuff money into, hit a button and it eats your money and gives you nothing back? Everywhere else I’ve ever been it’s the inverse of that.”
