Wendover casinos had one of the best months all year this June with a 7.7 percent increase in gaming win, reported the Nevada gaming Control board Wednesday.
Local casinos raked in a cool $13 million this June up 7.7 percent from the $12.12 million they did last year.
“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.
In June as in every other month slot win accounted for the lion’s share of the total. According to the report slot win was up 7.1 percent to $10.3 million. Slot play was also up albeit marginally 0.4 percent to $178.7 million. Slot hold increased from 5.42 percent last year to 5.78 percent.
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On the tables win was up 11.4 percent to $2.5 million while play was down slightly 0.3 percent to $11.7 million. Hold increased from 19.45 percent last June to 21.27 percent this June.
In Wendover’s most popular game, Blackjack, win was up 8.8 percent to $1.5 million while play was up 3.1 percent to $7.1 million. Blackjack hold was up 20.88 percent from 19.80 percent last year.
If there was a shadow in otherwise sunny June results it was in the rest of the table games which saw an across the board drop in the level of play and win.
“It certainly is an anomaly,” said GCB analyst Michael Lawton. “Usually the rest of the games follow Blackjack.”
Casinos in the rest of Elko County reported a total win of $8 million up 3.83 percent from last June.
Slot win was up 2.8 percent to $7.1 million. Slot play was up 4.4 percent to $102.1 million drop fell from 7.06 percent to 6.95 percent. On the tables, games win was up 13.4 percent to $846,000. Games drop was up 5.6 percent to $3.5 million. Hold was up from 22.6 percent last June to 23.8 percent.
For the fiscal year Wendover clubs are down 1.39 percent at $162.8 million with one more month left to report while Elko clubs in the rest of the county are up 3.6 percent at $98.3 million.
In the rest of the state Nevada casinos won $885.7 million from gamblers in June, a nearly 16 percent increase over the same month a year ago and the second straight month of double-digit gains.
The $52.8 million collected in taxes was an increase of nearly 23 percent, the Nevada Gaming Control Board report said. Casino taxes account for about a third of state general fund revenues.
On the Las Vegas Strip, the hub of Nevada’s tourism and casino industry, the $506.7 million in winnings represented a 32.3 percent gain.
Even better news is that the statewide win would still be up 4.5 percent without baccarat. The high-roller game favored by Asian players has helped cushion casino win reports during the Great Recession, when tourism tanked and many gamblers kept a tighter grasp on their wallets.
“That’s the fifth month this calendar year in which that’s occurred,” said Mike Lawton, senior Gaming Control Board analyst.
For the Strip, where most baccarat is played, winnings were still up nearly 10 percent or $34.7 million without baccarat.
The craze surrounding the World Series of Poker, an event that drew thousands of players from around the world, also helped the casinos’ bottom lines. Statewide, winnings attributed to poker totaled $15.7 million, a 3 percent increase and the first gain since June 2009.
The $8.6 billion pumped into slot machines was up $160.3 million, or nearly 2 percent.
“It’s the largest percentage increase since June 2007,” Lawton said.
On the Strip, the “coin in” amount totaled $3.1 billion, an increase of $167 million or 5.6 percent.
“That’s four consecutive monthly increases for volume on the Strip,” Lawton said. “That hasn’t happened since February-May 2006.”
Elsewhere around the state, the $45.6 million won by casinos in Reno was down 2.8 percent, while Washoe County as a whole saw a drop of 1.7 percent.
Clubs at South Lake Tahoe saw a drop of 28.5 percent, while Elko County casinos posted a gain of 6.2 percent.
For the fiscal year that ended June 30, the total statewide casino win was $10.6 billion, up 3 percent from the 2010. Las Vegas Strip winnings of $9.1 billion ended the year up 4 percent.
