us$ 847.2 million

Nevada gaming revenues decline 4.7 % in May

2010-07-13
Reading time 2:29 min

Meanwhile, Strip casinos saw gaming revenues fall 6.4 %. According to figures released last week by the Gaming Control Board, gaming revenues statewide were almost us$ 847.2 million in May, compared with nearly us$ 889.2 million casinos collected in May 2009.

On the Strip, casino revenues were us$ 450.2 million in May, a decline of almost 6.4 %t compared with us$ 480.8 million a year ago. However, if results from baccarat are backed out of the equation, Nevada gaming revenues would have been off just 1 % while the Strip would have reported a monthly increase of almost 1.4 %.

"Baccarat has been a big positive for Nevada, but not in May," said Frank Streshley, the Gaming Control Board's chief of the tax and license division.

Gamblers on the Strip wagered us$ 734.8 million on baccarat, an increase of 7.1 % from a year ago. However, the hold percentage on the game went from a normal of 13.35 % to 8.26 %. The result being that casinos collected just us$ 60.7 million, off by us$ 35.87 million or 37.1 % from a year ago.

The decline was the first loss Strip casinos suffered from baccarat in the past 13 months. The lower-than usual baccarat numbers propelled the Strip to its largest monthly loss since last August. May also marked the Strip's second straight monthly decline. "We estimate that had baccarat hold percentage been within the normal range, total Las Vegas Strip gaming revenues would have essentially been flat during May," Union Gaming Group principal Bill Lerner told his firm's clients in a research note.

High-end gamblers flocked to Strip casinos in May, lured by baccarat events surrounding Asian labor holidays. Meanwhile, the championship fight on May 1 at the MGM Grand between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Shane Mosley attracted the high-end crowd.

Lerner said a Strip resort moved a large baccarat tournament from May to April, which may have skewed some of the results. "In our view, results were modestly disappointing," JP Morgan gaming analyst Joe Greff told investors. "We note that results were impacted by tougher year-over-year comparisons particularly for baccarat."

During May, casinos statewide won us$ 565 million from slot machines, which was down less than 1 % from a year ago. Gamblers wagered us$ 9.3 billion on slot machines, which was down 7.5 %.

Nevada casinos won us$ 269.9 million on table games, which was down 13.9 %. Meanwhile, the money wagered on table game play was us$ 2.5 billion, up 1.3 % from a year ago.

For the first five months of the year, gaming revenues statewide are down less than 1 percent compared with the first five months of 2009. Strip casinos, which were helped by a nearly 32.9 % increase in gaming revenues during February, have seen a 4.4 % gaming win increase through May.

Casino revenues in Clark County fell 4.4 %, but two reporting areas showed increases. Gaming revenues collected by casinos on the Boulder Strip were up 5 % while North Las Vegas casino revenues rose 8.8 %.

The locations were the only two reporting areas in the state that showed monthly increases. Many analysts believed the results were helped by the accounting method sometimes used in Nevada for counting slot revenues when two months share the same weekend, as what happened at the end of April and the beginning of May.

Greff said the increases on the Boulder Strip, including Henderson, and North Las Vegas, helped grow the locals gaming market by just less than 1 % during the month.

Downtown casinos saw revenues decline to us$ 42.9 million from us$ 43.2 million, a 0.7 % drop and the lowest decline the market has seen since June 2008. Streshley said the expansion at the Golden Nugget and other enhancements helped stabilize the market.

Leave your comment
Subscribe to our newsletter
Enter your email to receive the latest news
By entering your email address, you agree to Yogonet's Condiciones de uso and Privacy Policies. You understand Yogonet may use your address to send updates and marketing emails. Use the Unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.
Unsubscribe
EVENTS CALENDAR