March roared like a lion for Wendover casinos with a 6.4 percent increase in gaming win of close to a million dollars according to last week’s report from the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
According to the report Wendover clubs raked in $15.6 million this March in total gaming win from March 2011.
“Win” is a gross figure, with no operating costs or other expenses deducted. And it’s casino revenue only _ separate from hotel, restaurant or bar revenues generated by the resorts.
While win indicates a casino market’s profitability another statistic “play” is an indicator of how casino workers are fairing. With some casino workers dependent on tips for up to half of their total income, play, the amount of money wagered by gamblers is a good indicator of how much casino workers received in tips and how many gamblers are actually in the casino.
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Slot win was up 8.6 percent to $11.9 million. Slot play was up 14.4 percent to $227 million. Slot hold fell from 5,54 percent to 5.26 percent.
Win on the tables and sports books was down slightly 0.2 percent to $3.6 million. Table play was up 7.5 percent to $17.3 million. Hold on the tables was down to 20.83 percent from 22.44 percent.
In the balance of Elko County total win fell 6.85 percent to $8.6 million. Slot win was down 9.8 percent to $7.3 million. Slot play was up slightly 0.4 percent to $117.8 million. Slot hold dropped from 6.94 percent to 6.23 percent. Table win was up 16.66 percent to $1.2 million. Table play was up 8.7 percent to $5.1 million. Table hold increased from 21.28 percent to 22.8 percent.
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But while Wendover enjoyed a nice bump in march for the rest of the state gaming was more of a lamb.
Nevada’s casino winnings took a tumble in March after two strong months in 2012, dropping 10.9 percent compared to March 2011, the Nevada Gaming Control Board reported today.
The decline was led by Clark County markets, including the Las Vegas Strip, which was down 14.9 percent over March 2011.
Casinos statewide brought in $854.6 million from gamblers in March, just over $100 million less than in March a year ago.
The decline comes after the Nevada gaming industry reported gains of 18.4 percent in January and 5.7 percent in February.
Gov. Brian Sandoval said he was still awaiting full details on the March report, but noted the state is ahead for the fiscal year even with a slow month.
“Of course we want to see numbers going up, but in the big picture this is one month in time, and that for the year we’re still ahead,” he said. “We’re going to have some ups and downs with regard to this but over all Nevada is strong and we’re doing well.”
All the major Clark County markets were down in March. Downtown was off 11.9 percent and North Las Vegas was down 17.8 percent.
Washoe County fared better, posting a modest 0.45 percent gain, but South Lake Tahoe was also down in March, by 14 percent.
A big part of the story was that gamblers were luckier than usual in March, said Michael Lawton, senior research analyst for the control board. The percentage of money wagered by players but “held” by casinos was lower than average on games and tables such as 21 and roulette, he said.
If the March hold had matched the 12 month average hold, the statewide win would be down only 3.4 percent. The Strip would be down only 4.2 percent.
Another factor in the Strip numbers was baccarat, the card game played by high rollers. Casinos won $39.8 million from baccarat players in March, a nearly 52 percent decline from March 2011. The volume of play was down and the hold percentage was lower than average, Lawton said.
“The gamblers ran a little bit luckier,” he said.
Another factor was that March 2012 is being compared to March 2011, which saw a 5.1 percent statewide gaming win and a 12.9 percent gain on the Strip.
A third was the CONEXPO-CON/AGG event in Las Vegas in March of 2011 that is only held every three years and so did not occur this year, Lawton said.
“So there were some things that added to why this was going to be a struggle,” he said. “Even with this, fiscal year-to-date the state is still up 2.2 percent,” he said. “And it was a strong quarter for the state. The state was up 4 percent for the quarter.
“My take is it’s a bump in the road,” Lawton said. “We had a strong quarter. We had five consecutive months of growth. The fundamentals were still there. Our volumes were still up in slots. Our total volume was still up when you combine tables and slots together. We just had a soft month when we look at those table games hold percentages.”