Despite a strong Utah economy Wendover casinos reported their third straight decline and fifth downturn of total gaming win in six months according to Friday’s report from the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
“Wendover really has us scratching our heads again,” said Chief Gaming analyst Michael Lawton. “There is really nothing to explain it. The Utah economy is good, the weather is fine and the comps are not hard to make yet gaming win continues to drop.”
According to the report total gamin win in from the Nevada/Utah border town fell 9.09 percent or over $1 million from June 2012 to June 2013.
click for complete report mrrJune13
While June decline was the largest this year it was by no means the only month that reported negative numbers.
In fact it was only March that showed an increase.
According to the May report total gaming in win from Wendover fell 6.28 percent to $13.31 million.
“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.
May like April was expected to show an increase something like March’s 7.66 gain. But instead the two months posted declines of 6.28 and 4.56 percent respectively.
From December to February Wendover and the rest of Elko County was in the grips of an unprecedented cold snap that saw just a handful of days above freezing and saw win numbers fall to Great Recession levels.
But while the sunshine stayed through spring gambling dollars did not increase according to the report. June slot win in Wendover was down 11.6 percent to $9.8 million. Slot play was down 3.1 percent to $193.9 million . Slot hold dropped from 5.61 percent to 5.07 percent.
Win from table games and sports betting was up very slightly by 0.8 percent to $2.8 million. Play was down 4.9 percent to $12.5 million. Hold increased from 21.19 to 22.46 percent.
For the fiscal year which ended in June Wendover clubs are down 3.62 percent at $162.7 million.
Casinos in the rest of Elko County saw total gaming win rise almost 5.3 percent to $7.8 million. Slot win was up 4.8 percent to $6.9 million. Slot play was down 5.2 percent to $105.8 million. Slot hold fell from 6.9 percent to 6.54 percent.
For the fiscal year Elko County was down 2.3 percent at $258.9 million.
For the rest of the state Nevada gambling revenues fell 4.8 percent in June compared with the same month a year earlier.
Casinos statewide won $792.5 million from gamblers in June, down from $832.5 million collected in June 2012 .
Once again, baccarat, a high-roller game favored by Asian gamblers, affected the monthly revenue outcome.
The $700 million wagered on baccarat was down $134.5 million or 16.1 percent, and baccarat players had a better month than the house, said Mike Lawton, senior analyst with the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
“It was kind of a double whammy,” Lawton said.
The $52.1 million casinos won from baccarat play was down $51 million, or nearly 50 percent, compared with June 2012. Excluding baccarat, the total statewide win would have posted a 1.5 percent gain.
Las Vegas Strip winnings of $435 million in June were down 10 percent year-over-year, or $49 million.
But the situation was the opposite a little further down the road: Downtown Las Vegas winnings of $37 million were up 9 percent.
Reno casino revenue totaled $49 million in June, down about 3 percent. South Lake Tahoe winnings of $13 million dropped 24 percent.
The state collected $43 million in taxes based on the June winnings, which was up 13 percent from the prior year. Collections and revenues do not always correlate because a lot of bets are made on credit. Casinos don’t pay taxes on those winnings until the debts are paid.
For the fiscal year that ended June 30, casinos won $10.9 billion, an increase of 1.8 percent.
“This is the state’s third consecutive fiscal year increase after three consecutive declines,” Lawton said.
Gamblers wagered a combined $138.3 billion, a 1 percent drop from the previous year and nearly 19 percent below the peak $170.4 billion wagered in 2007 before the recession.
Baccarat winnings for the year totaled $1.4 billion, up 13.6 percent and marking the fourth straight year the game surpassed blackjack as biggest single-game revenue generator after bettors wagered $11.3 billion. Both the volume of play and the amount won by casinos were records.
“It was definitely a baccarat-driven fiscal year,” Lawton said.