The Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering's statistics for the current fiscal year, which began July 1 and runs through June 30, are up-to-date through February for the eight pari-mutuel casinos in South Florida.

    The picture in 2021 differs little from a decade ago, except for one major category. In years gone by, the Isle Casino at Pompano Park was perennially No. 1 in the amount  of nickels, dimes, quarters and dollars that were dropped into its slot machines. The reason was simple: Pompano is the first venue available for the affluent players from Palm Beach and West Palm Beach on their trip south to the land of gambling. 

    There is no reason for those players to continue down I-95 or the Turnpike to Dania, or Hollywood, or Miami, unless they have paid strict attention to the takeouts of each casino and decided to go for the better deal. As shown in the charts below, Flagler Dog Track has taken over the top spot in the "credits in" department, which is another term for money dipped into the slots. Flagler's total comes to $717,919,182 for the eight months, while Pompano has dropped to second with $675,572,777. This could be because players ARE now paying attention to the takeouts - an outrageous 9.36 percent at Pompano and 6.53 percent at Flagler. 

    All the casinos that have at least one road leading to them that is pretty much free of competition have fared the best in this important battle for the wagering dollar. It's the reason that Dania Jai Alai, Gulfstream Park and Hollywood Dog Track are the bottom three of the eight in relation to net slot revenue. They're just too close to each other.

    From Gulfstream it takes a couple of minutes to go north to Hollywood Dogs, and another five or so to reach Dania. Added to that it's a short hop west to the Hard Rock on Highway 441 and the problem of stiff competition is apparent. At the top of the success list is Pompano raking in $55 million, while Gulfstream brings up the rear with $23 million. 

    The other major problem stems from the state of Florida and its onerous 35 percent tax on the net slot revenue, while doing little to advance the pari-mutuel industry. So far in the fiscal year, the state has collected $97,383,494 from the pari-mutuels. And there's still four months to go. 

    Talk about Highway 27 robbery.      

 Following are the stats and the rankings for the 8 casinos through April 30:    

 AMOUNT WAGERED (Credits In)

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1. Magic City Casino (Flagler Dog Track) - $717,919,182.

2. Isle Casino & Racing (Pompano Park) - $675,572,777. 

3. Hialeah Park - $619,181,779. 

4. Miami Jai Alai - $530,606,392.

5. Calder Casino & Race Course - $478,511,934.

6. Casino at Dania Beach (Jai Alai) - $439,306,680.

7. Big Easy Casino (Hollywood Dog Track) - 388,586,073.

8. Gulfstream Park - $382,322,778.

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NET SLOT REVENUE (with payout percentage & takeout)

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1. Isle Casino & Racing (Pompano Park, 90.64%; 9.36%) - $55,525,402. 

2. Magic City Casino (Flagler Dog Track, 93.47%; 6.53%) - $43,685,091. 

3. Hialeah Park (93.50%; 6.50%) - $37,122,765. 

4. Miami Jai Alai (92.28%; 7.72%) - $34,599,717.

5. Calder Casino & Race Course (91.15%; 8.85%) - $34,146,704.

6. Casino at Dania Beach (92.08%; 7.92%) - $26,133,195.

7. Big Easy Casino (Hollywood Dog Track, 91.74%; 8.26%) - $23,843,570.

8. Gulfstream Park (91.46%; 8.54%) - $23,182,111.

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