Horseshoe Casino Cleveland enjoys happy holidays; numbers up nearly 20 percent in December

CLEVELAND - Holidays at the Higbee turned into a money maker for the Horseshoe Casino Cleveland.

The casino posted an adjusted gross revenue figure of $24.5 million in December. That’s a 19.7-percent increase over November’s number and the second highest total since the casino opened in May -- behind June’s $26.1 million.

Horseshoe posted its largest single month when it came to table games, bringing in $9.3 million. The casino in November added an additional 22 tables to meet increased demand.

Slot revenue for December came in at $15.2 million, up 15.6 percent over November despite the fact the casino reduced the number of slots by 184 to accommodate the additional table games.

Throughout the month of December, the casino ran a “Holidays at the Higbee” promotion inviting customers to visit and see the work that was done to recreate the look and feel of the holidays at the old Higbee’s Department Store.

Arches sporting garland and lights were added to the casinos main floor similar to those that once graced the department store. In addition, the windows along Ontario Street were decorated with images of Christmas shopping at Higbee's through the year.

"December was a great month to round out 2012 and was one of our best months for gaming revenue," said Horseshoe General Manager Marcus Glover.  "We saw strong numbers in both Table Games and Slots. In our first full month of running additional table games, we also saw our highest Table Drop yet."

"We are excited to see so many people visiting and enjoying Downtown Cleveland. December’s admissions numbered more than 475,000 admissions during our first Holiday Season in Cleveland," he said. Since our May opening, we’ve welcomed total of 3.3 million visits to the Casino and have comped approximately 39,000 hotel room nights at our preferred hotel partners."

The state's two other casinos did not enjoy the same holiday boost with the Hollywood Toledo posting a 4.3-percent jump in adjusted gross revenue with $14.1 million. The newly-opened Hollywood Columbus casino is seeing an 11-percent drop in December with revenue of $17.9 million.

Overall, the state's three casinos posted their largest single monthly total though with adjusted gross revenue of $56.6 million, up 4.7 percent.