Nevada Casinos Faces Drops in Overall Casino Wins

On February 28th, 2009, Nevada casino facilities had their worst-ever result in winnings in 2008, sliding down by almost ten percent from 2007, based on state Gaming Control Board data going back more than fifty years ago. The Nevada Gaming Control Board reported that the resorts won a total of $11.6 billion from players last year, down by 9.7% from the $12.8 billon won in 2007. Gaming Control Board analyst Frank Streshley said that this far the big drop ever recorded for the state gambling win and only the 3rd since 1955.

The only previous drops in year-over-year winning, both posted on September 11th, 2001, were small by comparison: down by 1.3% and down by 0.3% in 2002. Streshley said that from the beginning of 2008 to the end, the drop in gambling has accelerated. He added that the 4th quarter was the worst, with gaming win down by 19% and the rest of 2009 looks to be very challenging. Drops in gaming win were reported in all twelve months of 2008. For the month of December, the $888 million win was down by 19%, imitating the final quarter and every live casino game and slot machine game category and all major gaming markets showed drops in casino wins.

The 2008 total win of $11.6 billion was the amount left in casino facility coffers from the nearly $155.4 billion wagered during the year. That means the clubs held onto 7.5% of all money wagered. A breakdown of the casino win shows that the Las Vegas Strip accounted for $6.13 billion of the overall total, down by 10.6%; while downtown casinos won $582.7 million, down by 8.1%. Resorts in the Reno-Sparks-North Tahoe areas in the northern part of Nevada took in a total of $930 million, down by 11.4%. That included $677.6 million for Reno, down by 10.2%.

It was the first time since 1997 that the combined total win for the market dropped below $1 billion. Clubs in Elko County, on Nevada's border with Utah, won a total of $287.3 million, down 5.3% and resorts on the south shore of Lake Tahoe won a total of $304.4 million, down by 6.8%. The Minden-Gardnerville-Carson City win of $111.6 million dollar was down by 6.4%.

The overall $11.6 billion statewide win included $7.74 billion from slot machines, down by 8.5% from 2007 and $3.7 billion from casino table games, down by 12.4%. A breakdown of casino games that produced the most profit in 2004 shows that clubs won a total of $1.25 billion on the game of blackjack, $772.6 million on baccarat and $448.1 million on craps. Multidenominational devices won a total of $3.5 billion. Penny slot machines won a total of $1.8 billion, while quarter slot machines won a total of $841 million and dollar slot machines won a total of $782 million.

05 April 2009
News Submitted by:
Jessica Kellerman

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