With the Wendover Airport closed to gambling junkets for half the month, Wendover casinos in July reported a almost nine percent decline in gaming win.
According to Air Port Manager Jim Petersen the major commercial runway at the Wendover Airport underwent repairs and improvements for the last two weeks of July and the first week of August.
“There were no casino flights during that time,” Petersen said.
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The absence of the fly in traffic had a direct effect on the casinos’ bottom line. According to the report released last week, Wendover clubs reported an 8.94 percent drop in total gaming win to $12.56 million from the same month 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.
Slot win was down 11.3 percent to $10 million. Slot play was down 9.9 percent to $181.3 million. Slot hold declined from 5.61 percent in July 2013 to 5.52 percent this July.
On the tables win was up 1.8 percent to $2.6 million. Play was down 5.5 percent to $12.1 million while hold increased from 19.5 percent to 21.1 percent.
Until July Wendover casinos had been posting modest gains and even finished the fiscal year slightly ahead of the one before. July figures indicate not only how fragile the tourist economy is but also how vital the fly-in program remains to the Nevada/Utah border town.
But while July was bad in Wendover, it was even worse for casinos in the rest of Elko County.
Total gaming win for the balance of the county dropped by 12.76 percent to $7.4 million.
Slot win was down 13.1 percent to $6.6 million. Slot play was down 3.3 percent to $102 million. Slot hold declined from 7.2 percent in July 2013 to 6.47 percent this July.
Table win was down 9.4 percent to $763,000. Play was down 0.1 percent to $3.5 million while hold dropped from 24.2 percent to 21.96 percent.
For the rest of the state, Nevada casino revenue increased less than 1 percent in July from the same month last year, at least partly due to continued gains on the Las Vegas Strip.
Casinos won $931.8 million last month, a 0.65 percent increase from July 2013. Strip gaming revenue went up 4.83 percent to about $536 million, continuing the growth it has seen all summer.
“Baccarat had a very strong month on the Las Vegas Strip, which really accounted for a majority of the increase,” said Michael Lawton, senior research analyst for the gaming board.
Downtown revenue, meanwhile, dipped 2.8 percent to about $38.3 million. Other areas suffered worse declines: Boulder Strip gaming revenue decreased 9.78 percent, while South Lake Tahoe revenue decreased about 22.5 percent.
Casinos in Reno also saw their revenues drop by 2.28 percent to about $47.8 million.
Baccarat remained a significant source of growth for the state — it brought in 13.87 percent more revenue than last year. Slot revenue, on the other hand, dropped 2.86 percent.
Online poker revenue improved year-over-year by about 11 percent, climbing to $958,000. In June, it brought in more than $1 million for the first time.
Clark County largely mirrored the individual game numbers. There, baccarat revenue increased about 16 percent and slot win decreased about 1 percent.
The state reported that it collected $52.2 million in taxes based on July’s winnings, which marks a 14.73 percent decrease from last year.