Hollywood Casino Columbus tops in Ohio for January revenue

Hollywood Casino Columbus led all four casinos with adjusted gross revenue – what the house keeps after paying out winnings – of USD 17.9 million, up 17 percent from USD 15.3 million in January 2014, according to data released Monday by the Ohio Casino Control Commission.

Together, Hollywood casinos in Columbus and Toledo, along with Horseshoe casinos in Cincinnati and Cleveland generated $64.8 million in revenue last month, up 8.6 percent from $59.7 million a year earlier when single-digit temperatures and snow kept some gamblers away. "It was a good month," Hollywood Columbus spokesman Bob Tenenbaum told me. "It's hard to pin these (causes) down sometimes, but it's reasonably safe to assume the better weather did have some impact."

Central Ohio had an average temperature of 26 degrees last month and total snowfall of 8.4 inches, according to the National Weather Service. In January 2014, the average temperature was 23 degrees and snowfall had more than doubled to 17.7 inches. Himbert Sinopoli, general manager of the Columbus casino, acknowledged poor weather can have an appreciable effect on results.

"Anytime the temperature drops below 20 degrees, people just don't want to leave their house," he told me last month in an update on operations.

Horseshoe Casino Cleveland was No. 2 in revenue for January at $17.4 million, followed by Cincinnati, $15.2 million, and Toledo, $14.3 million.