Wendover casinos got into the spirit of giving in December so much so that despite reporting huge gains in money wagered, local clubs reported a 5.6 percent drop in total gaming win according to last week’s report from the gaming control board.
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According to the report Wendover casino reported a total gaming win of $12.68 million for the last month of 2012 down 5.6 percent from December 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 10.3 percent to $9.3 million. Slot play was up at 9.9 percent to $188.5 million . Slot hold declined more than a full point from 6.04 percent to 4.93 percent.
Win from table games and sports betting was up 10.3 percent to $3.4 million. Play was up 2.4 percent to $15.6 million. Hold declined from 21.76 to 20.21 percent.
For the fiscal year to date Wendover clubs are down 1.39 percent at $82 million.
Casinos in the rest of Elko County saw total gaming win up 4.76 percent. Slot win was up 4.3 percent to $6.3 million. Slot play was up 3.6 percent to $103 million. Slot hold was down from 6.13 percent to 6.09 percent. Table games were up 9.5 percent in the balance of Elko County posting total win of $872,000. Table play was down 4.5 percent at $3.7 million . Hold plunged from 23.69 percent to 20.67 percent.
For the state, December 2012 saw a 10.24 percent increase statewide driven by a 13.5 percent increase on the Strip. Clark County casinos won more than $825 million in December – an increase of 11 percent. Casinos in downtown Las Vegas and along the Boulder Strip posted the largest gains.
Nevada collected $39 million in fees last month based on the revenues generated in December.
For the fiscal year that ran from July 2012 through December 2012, the gaming win rose 2.9 percent to $5.4 billion from $5.3 billion the year before.
