Friday, Dec. 27, 2002 | 10:26 a.m.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Argosy Riverside Casino is winning the battle for Kansas City gamblers' hearts, but it's losing the war for their pocketbooks.
The suburban riverboat's market share for November dipped below 15 percent for the first time in more than four years, although it posted its 15th consecutive month as the local gambling venue with the market's highest-paying slots.
Ameristar Casino Hotel led the Kansas City market for the fifth consecutive month, posting $17.8 million in gross revenue, according to the latest Missouri Gaming Commission financial report.
Together, Kansas City's four casinos raked in $51.4 million in November, the sixth-largest month ever and up 7.2 percent from November 2001.
Statewide casino revenues were up 13.1 percent to $109 million, while admissions grew 11.3 percent.
Missouri's casino revenues, which comes from gamblers' losses, outpaced other casino jurisdictions in November, including Atlantic City, which was up 2.9 percent; Iowa, up 5.2 percent; and Illinois, down 4.2 percent.
The statewide admissions bump was a welcome development, said Gaming Commission analyst Jim Oberkirsch. For the past year he has tracked a troubling trend of increasing revenues amid flat or declining admissions at many casinos.
The change, Oberkirsch said, means that casinos may be reaching beyond their regular customers in a bid to attract more traffic off the street with new restaurants and other amenities, as well as cash giveaways such as the one that is fueling Ameristar's revenue surge this year.
Argosy was the only Kansas City casino to lose ground in November, with revenues off 11 percent from a year ago and admissions down 14 percent.
"It was a rough month for us," said Gary Johnson, Argosy general manager. "Construction is somewhat disruptive, but I don't know how to explain that drop."
Argosy is in the midst of a $105 million rebuilding project that is scheduled to last 12 more months before a new casino floor and other amenities open.
Serious construction disruption inside is set to begin Jan. 6, when the casino buffet will close for remodeling until April.
"Our venue is going to be in turmoil for a while," said Johnson, who took over the Riverside operation in July. He has been shaking up the casino's marketing effort since then.
Longtime marketing director Jack Bonar was fired last month, and Johnson wasn't gentle in explaining why.
"I don't know that we gave customers a reason to come here," he said. "We need to create some excitement around here."
Bonar might have been the most recognizable casino executive in Kansas City. His face adorned many Argosy ads, and his name was attached to numerous promotions, parties and other events at the casino.
"I came down to the players' level, and they enjoyed it," Bonar said. "It gave the management team more of a human approach, instead of coming down from the ivory tower."
Bonar was reluctant to discuss his dismissal or Johnson's criticisms.
"Management wanted to take the casino a different way," Bonar said. "I'm not sure what way it is."
Johnson promises to stage more "parties for players and giveaways ... things that haven't be executed around here for a while."
One new look at Argosy will be a test of pulsating strobe lamps for the casino's new exterior lighting scheme that apparently can be seen from long distances.
Johnson also intends to freshen up Argosy's advertising promoting its claim to the title of Kansas City's "loosest slots."
"You hear it so much, it doesn't register anymore," he said.
The phrase is industry jargon for slot machines with the highest percentage of jackpot payouts to players.
Argosy's nickel, quarter and $1 slot machines have traditionally been the market's loosest. In November the casino logged its 15th consecutive month sweeping the three most popular denominations, according to Kansas City Star research that has monitored payback levels since 1997.
Argosy's bad month was good news for the Isle of Capri Casino. It outpaced Argosy in market share for only the fifth time in two years, but it did so for a second consecutive month, the first time that has happened.
Argosy was the first casino to open in Kansas City, in 1994, giving it an early market edge, which it has now surrendered.
But if Argosy is the market's new cellar dweller, the condition may be temporary.
The Isle of Capri's resurgence started in March 2001 after extensive remodeling had knocked its market share down to single digits in late 2000.
The same "new casino" effect is reshaping the St. Louis marketplace this year.
Oberkirsch said the newly rebuilt Ameristar Casino in suburban St. Charles posted November revenue growth of 57.9 percent. At nearby Harrah's in Maryland Heights, admissions fell nearly 20 percent as revenues slid 12.8 percent.
Two of the three smaller casinos in the bistate St. Louis market also failed to match November 2001 revenues.
Argosy's ambitious rebuilding was announced in January. Construction started in the summer and is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter next year.
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