Schuler said Ohio casinos do not contribute as much revenue as VLT slots parlors.
Matthew Schuler, the Ohio Casino Control Commission‘s executive director, said in a recent interview with the Dayton Daily News that Ohio’s casino interests have not fulfilled the promises they made when the state approved land-based casino gambling. Ohio’s state legislature approved casino gambling in 2009, which led to 4 full casinos and 7 racinos in the state.
The OCCC’s director said the projections were inaccurate across the board. That includes the bill’s proponents, gaming executives, gaming analysts who made projections, and politicians who backed the measure.
Schuler said, “All of them (the early projections) were wrong. It wasn’t just the campaign (for the amendment) that overestimated.”
Not Enough Revenues for School System
Critics of Ohio’s casino industry note that the four casinos’ contribution to the state’s school system is negligable. While tax revenues from racetrack casinos (racinos) go directly to the Ohio school system, only about half of the revenues generated by Ohio casinos goes to education.
Even in a straight up comparison, the four casinos have disappointed. Last year, the casinos collected $818 million in revenues, while the seven racinos generated $987 million from their video lottery terminals (VLTs).
Class II and Class II Gaming Machines
While one might say that is a good record given it is four venues against seven, the racinos do not have the full range of gambling. In fact, they have VLTs, which are Class II gaming machines. Casinos like Jack Cleveland and Jack Cincinnati have Class III slots machines — better known as Las Vegas style slots.
Class II gaming machines use a lottery or bingo-style game mechanic to produce results. They are legal because they represent a player-versus-player game mechanic. Like a raffle or lottery, if someone wins on a VLT, it means that other players do not win. Each spin on a Class III slot machine is totally independent of every other spin, because the RNG is totally random.
VLT Revenues Contribute More
It might not sound like much of a difference. Many racino slots players do not even notice the bingo card or lottery drawing taking place in the corner of the screen each time a VLT spins the reels. Many do, though, and it should make slot machine gambling more profitable than VLT gambling.
Bob Tennenbaum on Ohio Casinos
Bob Tennenbaum, a spokesman for Penn National Gaming out of Wyomissing, Pennsylvania (which owns casinos in Ohio), disputed Matthew Schuler’s remarks. Tennenbaum said of the Ohio casino market, “We think this is an extremely healthy market. And we think it’s being well served.”
It makes sense that Penn National Gaming would promote a different view. Voters do not like it when they feel like they were sold a bill of goods. If the casino industry told Ohio residents their land-based casinos would improve the state of education and, nearly ten years out, they
