Gaming win heads down

You know things are heading south when a 5.44 percent decline in Nevada's monthly gaming revenues during September isn't considered a bad performance.

Given that a few high-end baccarat players took it upon themselves to hit a losing streak during the month, September could have been much worse.

According to figures released by the Gaming Control Board Wednesday, casinos statewide won $1.001 billion from gamblers during the month, compared with $1.058 billion in September 2007.

On the Strip, the decline mirrored the state; gaming revenues were $525.2 million in September, a 5.17 percent drop from $553.8 million in September 2007.

"While these results are lagging and less significant as gaming operators already reported third-quarter results, we are surprised the decline was not greater based on recent commentary," Deutsche Bank gaming analyst Bill Lerner told investors.

The taxes collected by the state based on September gaming revenues were $63.5 million, a 14.5 percent decline from the $74.3 million collected a year ago.

Gaming Control Board senior research analyst Frank Streshley said two factors helped keep September from becoming a complete disaster. Roughly $70 million in slot revenues generated on the last weekend of August fell over into September because Labor Day was Sept. 1 and disrupted reporting.

Also, baccarat play benefited the casinos. Several free-spending players racked up huge losses. Baccarat win was $76.6 million for September, up 68.4 percent from a year ago. The amount wagered on the game was $571.4 million, an increase of 37 percent over September 2007.

"There weren't any special baccarat events, just some individual strong players," Streshley said.

He could not say which casinos benefited from the strong play.

Without baccarat, statewide gaming revenues would have been off 8.8 percent.

For the first nine months of the year, gaming revenues are down 6.6 percent statewide and 6.5 percent on the Strip. Each of 2008's nine months have shown declines, including 15.2 percent in May and nearly 13 percent in July. On a positive note, Streshley said, September was the first time in five months that gaming revenues surpassed $1 billion.

The carryover of slot revenues into September helped two reporting areas, North Las Vegas and the Boulder Strip, show double-digit increases in gaming win, the only areas of the state along with the Balance of Clark County (up 1 percent) to show positive changes from a year ago.

The Boulder Strip was also helped by the August opening of the Eastside Cannery.

"It was an unfavorable calendar with one less weekend," Streshley said. "Plus, you had the economy, the bailout plan and the stock market took a dive. All that was weighing on consumers."

The win from slot machines statewide was $684.1 million, down 3.6 percent. But the amount wagered on slot machines was $9.8 billion, a 14.2 percent decline from a year ago. The figure was reflective of the drop in consumer spending. He predicted October may have similar issues.

Gamblers lost $306.2 million on table games, down 9 percent from September 2007 while the amount wagered on table games was $2.3 billion, off 5.2 percent from last year.

The news was also bleak in Northern Nevada. Washoe County casinos had gaming revenues of $77 million in September, a 20.5 percent decline from a year ago. Streshley said the figure was the largest single month drop by the Northern Nevada county, which includes Reno, since the state began keeping records in 1984.

Contact reporter Howard Stutz at hstutz@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3871.