Wednesday, June 09, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
STATE GAMING: Record revenue for April
Casinos take in $826.9 million, continuing hot year
By CHRIS JONES
GAMING WIRE
Martin Dekenijff competes at the final table of the World Poker Tour championship at the Bellagio on April 23. The WPT final was one of few special events in April.
Photo by K.M. Cannon.
Click image for enlargement.
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Nevada's 349 casinos continued their collective 2004 hot streak in April with a reported statewide gaming win of $826.9 million, up 11 percent compared with the same month a year ago.
The month was also the industry's best April in history, according to information the state Gaming Control Board released Tuesday.
Frank Streshley, control board statistical analyst, said this year's April total was nearly $82.3 million better than the same period a year ago, when statewide gaming win was $744.6 million. However, he said 2003's monthly total was affected significantly by last year's March 19 beginning of warfare in Iraq, which hindered both convention and leisure travel to Nevada.
"It's still a record month, which obviously is very positive, but you do have to look at last year," Streshley said. "But right now we're continuing to follow a trend we've seen since January of posting really strong monthly numbers."
March 2004's reported $930.3 million gaming win was the best single month in state history, eclipsing a 3-year-old record of $899.8 million reported in January 2001. This year's February win total of $875.9 million was also a record for that month.
Clark County casinos again powered the state's casino engine in April, reporting $678.7 million in monthly winnings, up nearly 11.5 percent. The county's top subcategory was the Strip, where 44 reporting properties enjoyed a 14.8 percent improvement from April 2003 with $414.6 million in monthly winnings.
Streshley said the Strip gain was remarkable considering the month featured no casino openings, major concerts or sporting events.
"The only special event during the month was the World Poker Tour at the Reno Hilton and Bellagio," Streshley said. "That's getting bigger and bigger, but there were no big concerts like Madonna or the Eagles' (Las Vegas) shows" that took place in May.
Statewide, slot play was up 9.2 percent for the month, while table game play improved by more than 29 percent. Streshley said those figures show more people were playing in the state's casinos in April, rather than depicting good "house luck" on the casino floor.
"There's definitely a resurgence for people coming back to Las Vegas, and even now we're seeing it in the northern part of the state," Streshley said.
Such improvement boosts the state budget, which relies largely on percentage fees collected from Nevada casinos. In May, the state took in $55.3 million based on April's reported casino win. That total was up 39.1 percent from the same period a year ago, when casinos added $39.7 million to the state's coffers.
Year-to-date, statewide collections exceeded $622.3 million, up 22.1 percent from the first 11 months of the previous fiscal year ending June 30, 2003.
That $622.3 million figure is $40.2 million, or 6.9 percent, more than the May 2003 Economic Forum projections used to determine the state budget. In a statement, Gov. Kenny Guinn said April's numbers "demonstrate the strong resurgence of our gaming and tourism markets."
