The Wendover gaming industry up and down year was up in February according to this week’s report from the gaming control board.
Wendover casinos posted a 4.05 percent increase in total gaming win from February 2011 at $15.16 million. A nice shot in the arm but nowhere near the 2007 record of close to $17 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.
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For the fiscal year to date Wendover casinos are up 4.56 percent from the previous year at $111.5 million in total win.
February’s slot win was up 5.7 percent at $11.6 million. Slot play was up 8.3 percent to $210.3 million. On the tables win was down 1.0 percent to $2.4 million. Play however was up to $16.4 million. A drop in the hold percentage from 22.27 percent to 21.15 percent accounted for the discrepancy.
In the balance of the county total win dropped 2.2 percent to $8 million. Slot win was down 1.2 percent to $7.1 million. Slot play was up by the same percentage. The story was in table games and sports betting. While play was up dramatically by 15.1 percent to $4.7 million, win actually fell by almost 10 percent to $895,000 due to a slashing of the hold percentage from a whopping 24.37 percent to just 19.1 percent.
For the rest of the state Nevada casinos won $932.2 million in February for a 5.7 percent gain over the same month in 2011, even without the Chinese New Year event that annually brings high rollers to the Las Vegas Strip, the Gaming Control Board reported today.
Michael Lawton, senior research analyst for the control board, said the February win was solid and seen across the state. Only three small markets showed declines in the monthly report.
The Strip was up 3.3 percent with a win of $530.7 million.
The gains came even though the Chinese New Year fell in January this year. The January gaming win topped $1 billion, the first time that milestone has been reached since September 2008.
“This month, really what it shows, is that core customer really was strong,” Lawton said.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported today that visitor volume in February was up 6.4 percent over February 2011. Convention attendance was up by more than 23 percent. Air traffic was up 6.6 percent.
All these numbers helped the state overcome the lack of the Chinese New Year in February, he said.
Looking at the Strip without baccarat, all gaming volumes are up for the fiscal year and in February as well, Lawton said. Slot volume on the Strip has seen increases in 10 of the last 12 months.
“So those are the things we’ve been looking for all along, is that, OK, baccarat has been carrying the load,” he said. “We need the core customer to come back and have this nice blend of the two and that is kind of what we’re experiencing now. So it’s good.”
Lawton said there is a lot of good news in the February report.
“That’s now five consecutive monthly increases for the state; we haven’t seen that since 2006,” he said. “I mean the list goes on and on. There is just a lot of positives that we can draw from this month’s results.”
The gaming percentage fee tax collections, which help fund the state budget, are now up $10.8 million over what was forecast by the Economic Forum.
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