Ohio's casinos, racinos crush revenue records with big March, free of overnight curfews and return of poker rooms

CLEVELAND — Ohio's gambling industry posted its biggest month ever in March, amid the reopening of poker rooms for the first time in a year, elimination of overnight curfews related to the coronavirus and with stimulus money in the pockets of thousands of Ohioans. Gambling revenue, which is the money kept by the house after paying out winnings, totaled $215.9 million in March, crushing the record of $184.2 million set in March 2019, according to monthly reports released by the state's casino control and lottery commissions. This included records at both the JACK Thistledown Racino in North Randall and MGM Northfield Park, and the best month in seven years for the JACK Cleveland Casino. Overall, the state's four casinos in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Toledo combined for $91.6 million in revenue, topping the mark of $86 million set in July, which was the first full month of operation after coronavirus state-ordered closings from mid-March to mid-June a year ago. The seven racinos, which are limited to slots-like machines known as video lottery terminals, took in $124.2 million in March, topping the record of $103.1 million set in March 2019. Business began to tick up in mid-February after round-the-clock operations returned with the lifting of Gov. Mike DeWine's overnight curfews. March marked the first full month without curfews. Plus, for the casinos, they were permitted to reopen poker rooms on March 13 for the first time in a year. "I think there's also a little bit of people getting vaccinated and feeling comfortable in getting out to do things they hadn't been doing," said Jessica Franks, spokeswoman for the Ohio Casino Control Commission. "And some other entertainment options are still curtailed, or not coming back yet." Historically, March has been a strong month for the casinos and racinos. Franks said part of that might be due to people deciding to spend money again after catching up on holiday bills, and the arrival of tax refunds. This year, March was also when most people received another round of stimulus checks. About a third of the gambling revenue, amounting to about $70 million for March, is turned over to the state in the form of taxes and fees. Mark Dunkeson, chief executive officer for JACK Entertainment in Cleveland, said he believed providing customer comfort amid coronavirus concerns has been a key. "Each aspect has been thought out to put our guests' health first," Dunkeson said. Hollywood Columbus Casino posted the biggest revenue among the casinos at $24.8 million, followed by Hollywood Toledo ($23.9 million), JACK Cleveland Casino ($22.2 million) and the former JACK property in Cincinnatinow operating as Hard Rock Cincinnati Casino ($20.7 million). Last month marked the best month for the downtown Cleveland casino since $24.5 million in March 2014 when operating as the Cleveland Horseshoe. The record of $26.1 million was set in June 2012, its first full month of operation. The $25.3 million in revenue for MGM Northfield Park last month led the seven Ohio racinos, and broke the Northfield Park record of $24.5 million set in March 2019, the last month before the branding switched from the Hard Rock Rocksino to MGM. Thistledown's $17.9 million topped its record of $14.7 million from last July. Rich Exner, data analysis editor for cleveland.com, writes about numbers on a variety of topics. Follow on Twitter @RichExner . Follow casino coverage at cleveland.com/casino. ©2021 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit cleveland.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.