For the second straight month Wendover casinos took on the chin and reported an unexpected drop in total gaming win in May according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board’s report released Thursday.
“Wendover really has us scratching our heads,” said Chief Analyst Michael Lawton. “All the conditions seem to be favorable. Unemployment (in Utah) in down, the mining industry is fine, the weather is nice yet Wendover continues to report declines.”
According to Thursday’s 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. Slot win in Wendover was down 5.8 percent to $10.7 million. Slot play was up slightly 2.2 percent to $205.5 million . Slot hold dropped from 5.57 percent to 5.20 percent.
Win from table games and sports betting was down 8.2 percent to $2.6 million. Play was down 5.3 percent to $13.1 million. Hold declined from 20.70 to 20.07 percent.
For the fiscal year to date Wendover clubs are down 2.63 percent at $123.7 million.
Casinos in the rest of Elko County saw total gaming win rise almost 4.0 percent to $7.9 million. Slot win was up 3.2 percent to $7.0 million. Slot play was up 5.8 percent to $108.2 million. Slot hold fell from 6.6 percent to 6.48 percent. Table games were up 9.91 percent in the balance of Elko County posting total win of $843,000. Table play was down 6.1 percent at $3.4 million . Hold was up from 20.82 percent to 24.36 percent.
For the fiscal year Elko County is down 2.15 percent at $238.5 million. West Wendover is off 3.13 percent at $150 million and the balance of the county is down 0.43 percent at $88.42 million. With just one month remaining in the fiscal year to report it is highly unlikely that either Wendover or Elko County will finish the year in the black.
For the entire state Nevada casinos reported a total gaming win of 897,232,001 for the month of May 2013. This amounts to a 1.37 percent increase compared to May 2012, when licensees reported a gaming win of $885,086,491. For the fiscal year (July 1, 2012 through May 31, 2013), gaming win has increased 2.36 percent.
The State collected $57,453,708 in percentage fees during the month of June 2013, based upon the taxable revenues generated in May 2013. This represents a 10.85 percent (or $5,624,035) increase compared to the prior year’s June, when percentage fee collections were $51,829,673.
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