The Mississippi Gaming Commission releases quarterly reports that provide data on all of the non-reservation casinos. Although these reports do not release revenue data, the commission does release data on the number of employees, number of slot games, and number of table games for each casino. This brief examines these data for the Palace Casino, in the context of the Coastal Region Casinos.
Coastal Region Casinos
- Beau Rivage
- Boomtown
- Grand Casino
- Hard Rock Casino
- Hollywood Casino
- Imperial Palace
- Island View Casino
- Isle of Capri
- Palace Casino
- Sliver Slipper
- Treasure Bay
Methods
- Palace Casino data are examined for the number of employees, number of slot games, and number of table games for each Quarter from the First Quarter of 2006 to the 3rd Quarter of 2011
- Data are also examined for the total number of employees, number of slot games, and number of table games in the Coastal Region
- Given the seasonality of tourism and gaming, initial analyses focus on the 3rd Quarter for each year
- The New Palace Casino implemented their smoke-free policy in mid-June of 2011, and thus the 3rd Quarter 2011 data provide post-policy data
- Raw numbers of employees, slot games, and table games are provided for the New Palace Casino
- Percent of employees, slot games, and table games in the Coastal Region that are housed in the New Palace Casino are also provided
- These data provide illustrate the amount of the casino market in the Coastal Region that the New Palace Casino occupies
Results
- Data from the 3rd Quarter demonstrate that the Palace Casino experienced no reduction in the number of employees, slot games, or table games after implementing a smoke-free policy in June of 2011
- Data from the Coastal Region Casinos demonstrate no reduction in the Palace Casino market share of the region after implementing a smoke-free policy in June of 2011, as measured by the number of employees, slot games, or table games
- Although it is possible that the modest increases observed after the smoke-free policy are because the casino increased its square footage during the renovation preceding the smoke-free policy, there was no evidence of a reduction in workforce or the amount of gaming
- Based on the publicly available data from the Mississippi Gaming Commission, the implementation of a smoke-free policy did not harm the Palace Casino
- Cautionary note: Data are only available for one quarter after implementing a smoke-free policy. Data from subsequent quarters will be necessary to assess any long-term positive or negative trends in the number of employees, slot games, or table games
- Also, the number of employees, slot games, and table games serve as a proxy for revenue (because revenue data is not available) and may not perfectly correlate with revenue
