It has been revealed who the Daddy Warbucks behind the latest anti-gambling campaign in Missouri is … and it’s Caesars Entertainment. Yes, the Roman Empire has been sleeping with the enemy. Indeed, with $4 million of skin in this game, Caesars is the enemy. Last week, the company was exposed as the deep pockets behind ad campaigns which seek to defeat sports betting in the November election. If there’s going to be sports wagering in the Show-Me State, voters will have to pass it. The Lege is hopelessly dysfunctional on the issue, having deadlocked time and again. However …

Caesars not only chipped in bigly against the ballot campaign, it is also believed (not without reason) to have been pulling the strings of two political operatives (aka “whores”) who tried to get the constitutional amendment voided beforehand by the courts. Despite some dodgy petition signatures, the amendment question prevailed, at least to the extent of making it onto the November ballot. But, in a case of industry-on-industry violence, Caesars is going against DraftKings and FanDuel to get it voted down.

We couldn’t help but think of a much-hyped Global Gaming Expo speech many years ago by then-Caesars CEO Gary Loveman, PhD. The Love Doctor railed against precisely what Caesars is doing today: Inciting anti-gambling rhetoric for hypocritical business reasons. Boy, is the shoe on the other foot! Apparently it’s bad form when Penn Entertainment (or, as Loveman delicately put it, “one of our competitors”) is trying to jam it up your ass in Maryland. It’s quite another when you’re trying to commit sodomy yourself in Missouri. Double-standard much, guys?

Caesars’ motivations for trying to screw over the rest of the industry are somewhat arcane from the layman’s standpoint. Casino operators would have but one “skin” or online license apiece, should the amendment pass. Since Caesars has the flailing—if not failing—Caesars Sportsbook for its ostensible foreskin, er, skin, it wants to hedge its bet by hosting multiple OSB providers. Bottom line, the likes of CEO Tom Reeg (above) fear they’re going to be squashed like a bug by the big boys.

Cue hypocritical, pious concern that schools won’t get the OSB-tax revenues that proponents are hyping. Both sides are more than a little disingenuous, pretending that the amendment is about virtually everything except … sports betting. Maybe Caesars deserves just a bit more opprobrium for inveighing against “big out-of-state gambling corporations.” Oh, you mean like Caesars Entertainment, which calls Las Vegas home?

To give the devil momentary due, Missouri has screwed up at least one facet of Amendment 2. No agency is specified to collect the theoretical tax windfall. Absent such a functionary, the money goes lickety-split out of state. That should give voters pause. Also, are promotions tax-deductible, in whole or part? Amendment 2 sayeth not.

It may be a moot point. With impeccably bad timing, Caesars is closing the barn door after the horse has bolted. In June, Amendment 2 was polling at an anemic 38% support. Last week it was at 50% and now it’s at 52%. There are almost more undecided voters (23%) than opposition ones (25%) and the opposition number has faded badly. Even if opponents were to pick up every single undecided voter, they’d still lose in November. This particular ship sailed well before Caesars jumped off the pier.

Grosses are in from the commonwealth of Pennsylvania and August was moderately good compared to 2023, up 2% to $292 million. Measured against 2019, it was 14% off the mark, however. One of the relatively few revenue-negative properties was Parx Casino, down 4% to a state-best $48 million. Close behind was Wind Creek Bethlehem, up 5% to $47.5 million and continuing to eat the lunch of several New York State operators. Harrah’s Philadelphia, the casino that customers forgot, plunged 10% to $10 million, well behind little Valley Forge Resort‘s $11.5 million (+6%). In Philadelphia proper, Philadelphia Live decisively bested Rivers Philadelphia, vaulting 16.5% to $22.5 million, while the Rush Street Gaming rival had to settle for 3% less and $18.5 million.

Cordish Gaming also scored a win in the Pittsburgh area. Its Pittsburgh Live climbed 10% to $10 million, taking business from Rivers Pittsburgh ($28.5 million, -1.5%) and Hollywood Meadows ($15 million, -10.5%). Mohegan Pocono was the other behemoth in the Keystone State, up 6.5% to $18 million. It and all the remaining casinos were revenue-positive: Presque Isle Downs ($9 million, +4%), Mount Airy ($17 million, +4.5%), Hollywood Penn National ($14 million, +4.5%), Hollywood York ($8 million, +4.5%), Hollywood Morgantown ($6 million, +13.5%) and Parx Shippensburg ($3 million, +21%). And don’t forget tiny Lady Luck Nemacolin, banishing the ghosts of Churchill Downs with $2.5 million and a 26% surge. Well done.