VLT Play Up 1.3% in Austintown, 8.8% in Dayton

AUSTINTOWN, Ohio — Betting on video lottery terminals last month at the Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course was up about 1.3% from January, newly released monthly reports show.

The report, posted on the Ohio Lottery’s website, shows wagers totaling $65.50 million were placed on VLT’s here in February, up $864,988 from the $64.64 million placed the month before.

Bettors won credits totaling $58.22 million at the Austintown racino, up from $57.42 million last month. Percent payout was 89.54% in February, up from 89.34% in January. The average win per VLT per day was $283 last month, up from $257 the month before.

Officials with Penn National Gaming Inc., the Wyomissing, Pa. company that owns Mahoning Valley Gaming at Hollywood Race Course, are pleased with the “slight increase” in February’s play over January, despite the “severe weather” last month and February having three fewer days than the month before, says Penn National spokesman Bob Tenenbaum.

Scheduled thoroughbred racing was cancelled due to the frigid temperatures on three days — Feb. 2, 23 and 24 — and for part of the Feb. 3 racing program.

“That said, it’s still too early in the process to make any long-term judgments or attach too much significance to any single month’s performance,” Tenenbaum cautions.

The increase at the Austintown racino was far less than the 8.8% gain Mahoning Valley Gaming at Dayton Raceway in Dayton, which opened in August, the month before the Austintown racino. In February, $73.09 million credits were played at Dayton, up $5.92 million from January’s $67.17 million.

Statewide, wagers dropped from $683.64 million in January to about $671 million last month.

Since the racino’s opening in September, bettors at Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course have played wagers totaling $398.57 million and won $354.11 million.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.