The World Series of Poker is one of the gambling world’s best-loved events, benefitting from widespread coverage on mainstream sports channels. So, it would be easy to take the record-breaking 2023 WSOP as a measure of the gambling industry’s overall health.

the operator saw an adjusted loss of 9c per share

However, with the second quarter of 2023 now done, Caesars Entertainment has recorded a loss. The gambling giant is the owner of the WSOP brand and the properties that host the series, Horseshoe Las Vegas and Paris Las Vegas. Analysts expected Caesars to report a profit of 33c per share, but instead, the operator saw an adjusted loss of 9c per share.

Although revenue was mainly as expected at $2.87bn for the quarter, the company cited rising costs as the main cause of the losses. In particular, the company pointed to interest rates on its loans and the higher cost of energy and catering. Losses were smaller in the online gambling and sports betting arenas, which helped to partially mitigate the overall decline.

Even so, the news was bad enough to cause a one-day drop of 2.23% in Caesars’ share price, making for a decrease in market cap from $12.7bn on July 31 to $12.04bn on August 1.