Nevada casino winnings drop 5.9 % in September

The report by the Nevada Gaming Control Board showed casinos statewide won us$ 864 million from gamblers, us$ 53.8 million less than they won in September 2010. Casinos in October paid us$ 51.4 million in taxes, down 8.9 %, based on winnings collected the previous month.

Mike Lawton, senior analyst with the control board, said a big decline in the play of baccarat, a volatile, high roller game favored by Asian players, was largely to blame for the overall statewide casino win results. Baccarat players wagered us$ 647.4 million in September, down us$ 344 million or 34.7 %. Of that, casinos won us$ 81.9 million, a decline of us$ 46.4 million or 36.2 %, Lawton said.

Excluding baccarat, overall statewide winnings fell less than 1 %, indicating the industry's main gambling revenue sources - card games, slot machines, roulette - are showing signs of recovery after years of double-digit plummets in the wake of the Great Recession. "That core business is showing strength," Lawton said.

The "casino win" is what was left in casino coffers after gamblers wagered us$ 11.5 billion on slot machines and table games. A breakdown shows the us$ 9 billion pumped into slot machines was up us$ 172.7 million, or 2 %, from September 2010. Bets on table games, including baccarat, was us$ 2.5 billion, down us$ 115 million or 4.4 %.

Gambling revenue on the Las Vegas Strip fell 5.7 % to us$ 490.9 million. Strip resorts generate about half of total statewide casino revenues. The game and table win on the Strip was us$ 247.1 million, down nearly 11 %.

"The key indicator on the Strip, without baccarat, total revenues were up 4.3 percent or $17 million, Lawton said. Lawton said the us$ 3.4 billion wagered in slot machines at Strip resorts was up us$ 184 million, or 5.8 %. "Six of the last seven months have shown increase slot volume on the Strip," he said.

Elsewhere around the state, casinos in Reno won us$ 48.9 million for a 2.6 % increase over September 2010. South Lake Tahoe casinos, which have struggled with the spread of Indian casinos in California and the recession, saw revenues drop 14.3 %.

Casino revenues were up 7.9 % in Elko County, but fell 2.5 % in the Carson Valley area that includes Carson City and the valley portion of Douglas County.