Casino operator Caesars Entertainment Corp (CEC) very nearly reported some rare black ink on its books in the first quarter of 2018.

Last week, CEC announced its revenue had more than doubled to $1.97b in the three months ending March 31, although that surge was primarily accounting sleight-of-hand, reincorporating contributions from CEC’s formerly bankrupt main unit Caesars Entertainment Operating Co (CEOC) following a court-approved restructuring.

CEC’s adjusted earnings shot up a similarly outsized amount to $518m in Q1, while the company’s net loss for the quarter narrowed to $34m from $473m in the same period last year. CEC CEO Mark Frissora said the results “exceeded our expectations” despite dodgy weather keeping customers away and those who did show up playing luckier than usual.

However, on a ‘same-store’ basis, CEC’s revenue were down 2%, earnings were down 3.4% and revenue per room fell $2 to $142. Regardless, CEC optimistically announced a program to repurchase up to $500m of CEC’s common stock, with the caveat that the phrase ‘up to’ includes the number zero. CEC says it will finance this potentially phantom buyback with cash from operations.