October had more trick than treat for Wendover casinos according to this week’s report from the state gaming control board.
According to the report local clubs reported a gaming win of $13.7 million down almost 4.2 from October 2011 total.
“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.
Slot win in Wendover was down 3.7 percent to $10.7 million. Slot play was up at 0.9 percent to $191.6 million . Slot hold declined from 5.86 percent to 5.59 percent.
Win from table games and sports betting was off 5.7 percent to $3.0 million. Play was off 13.5 percent to $14 million. Hold increased from 19.72 to 21.5 percent.
For the fiscal year to date Wendover clubs are down 1.93 percent at just under $56 million.
Casinos in the rest of Elko County saw total gaming win up 1.12 percent. Slot win was up 1.8 percent to $8 million. Slot play was up 5.8 to $111.7 million. Slot hold was down from 7.5 percent to 7.2 percent. Table games were down 2.7 percent in the balance of Elko County posting total win of $899,000. Table play was off 7.1 percent at $4.1 million . Hold was up from 20.68 percent to 21.68 percent.
click link for report: mrrOct12
In the entire state, Nevada casinos took in $978.8 million from gamblers in October, eking out a modest 1.9 percent increase over the same month in 2011, the Gaming Control Board reported today. It was the third consecutive month of modest gaming wins for the state.
For the 2013 fiscal year that began July 1, the gaming win has increased 4.6 percent.
The October increase was primarily due to a 3.6 percent gain on the Las Vegas Strip, where casinos pulled in $580.7 million. Clark County overall was up 2.8 percent, while South Lake Tahoe posted a 0.8 percent gain with $15.9 million in revenues.
But many other markets in Nevada posted declines in October, including Laughlin, down 0.9 percent; Reno, down 6.9 percent; and the Carson Valley area including Carson City, down 5.5 percent.
Michael Lawton, senior research analyst for the state gaming agency, said he was pleasantly surprised by the modest increase because October faced a tough comparison against a strong October 2011, and there were two fewer weekend days in October 2012 than in October 2011.
Helping out the overall win were two Madonna concerts at the MGM Grand on Oct. 13 and 14.
There was also a technical benefit with September ending on a weekend, which meant that some slot revenue from that month was counted in October instead, he said.
Visitor volume in Las Vegas also increased in October, up 2.9 percent to 3.5 million visitors, according to information provided by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
Game and table win statewide totaled $364.9 million, down 5.5 percent over October 2011, which had seen a strong gain of 14.4 percent over October 2010.
Lawton said one note of interest was an all-time record win for roulette of $50.8 million for a 174.2 percent increase over October 2011. The previous high was set in December of 2007 when the roulette take was $38.3 million.
Slot win statewide totaled $614 million for an increase of 6.8 percent over October 2011.
“I would say honestly, going into this month, I am pleasantly surprised that with the difficult comp and the calendar, losing the two weekend days – I mean although we did basically get help with the revenue timing – it was a difficult comp and to come in positive is definitely a good sign,” Lawton said.