Four months into the state's pari-mutuel fiscal year, it has become readily apparent that there have been two major changes in the racino landscape in South Florida.

    The first is that Pompano Park has (maybe temporarily) lost its position as the No. 1 money-churner down south. Through Oct. 31, the "credits in" column at Pompano reached $444,981,563; Flagler dog track, the perennial second-place entity, checked in with $453,587,913. It's the first time that has happened since Flagler's slots parlor opened in mid-October of 2009.   

    It isn't so much that Flagler's business has ballooned; "credits in" from this period in 2017 reached $453.5 million, last year's was $435 million. But Pompano's business is way down - in July from $148 million to $129 million; August from $141 million to $114 million; September from $135 million to $90 million, and October from $139 million to $110 million. It's easy to see how Flagler took over the top spot.

    I don't know what has precipitated the change, but I will attempt to find out.  

    The second change down south is that when all the facilities closed down for anywhere from four to eight days due to the hurricane in September, Hollywood dog track (Mardi Gras) never reopened. It's reportedly to make renovations needed after extensive hurricane damage. The track that has benefited most is Gulfstream, Hollywood's nearest geographical competitor. Last year, Gulfstream's "credits in" from October totaled $57.6 million; this year it jumped to just under $72 million. 

    Finally, to put a stamp on just how much casino takeout affects slots payouts, digest this. Even though Pompano trailed Flagler in the "credits in" department, the trotting track's net slots revenue totaled $37,588,392 to $27,149,956 for Flagler. Why such a big disparity? Pompano's takeout rate is 9.64 percent; Flagler's is 6.42 percent. But factoring in Pompano's decline in business, maybe the slots fanciers are beginning to catch on.  

 

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