Nevada casino revenue continued slide in July
By Brendan Riley
Associated Press
CARSON CITY, Nev. — Nevada casinos had a bad July, reporting a 13 percent slump in money won from gamblers for a record seventh straight month of declines in growth rates, a state report showed last week.
The resorts took in just under $1 billion during the month, and had declines compared with the same month a year earlier in every major market except for the clubs on Lake Tahoe's south shore, the state Gaming Control Board report showed.
State taxes based on the casino wins — a major revenue source — amounted to $58.3 million. That's 24 percent below the collections at the same point a year ago.
Ben Kieckhefer, spokesman for Gov. Jim Gibbons, said the tax take was about $10 million below what the state Economic Forum had projected in June. He added that the bleak win report should make advocates of more taxes on the casino industry think twice.
The $997.3 million win in July was the amount left in casino coffers after gamblers wagered $13.2 billion during the month, including $10.7 billion in slot machine bets and the balance on table games.
The GCB report shows declines during July for all major markets in the Las Vegas area. The Las Vegas Strip was down 14.7 percent and Laughlin was down 7.5 percent, while downtown Las Vegas was down 16.4 percent, North Las Vegas was down 21.8 percent, Mesquite was down 32.4 percent and the Boulder Strip was down 18.9 percent.
Resorts on Lake Tahoe's south shore were up 10.9 percent, thanks mainly to an annual celebrity golf tournament that drew large crowds and some high-spending participants.
A statewide breakdown showed that slots were down 11 percent while table games were down 17.3 percent compared with the same month last year.
Slots accounted for $678.1 million of the total win. That included $303.6 million won by multidenomination slots, down 3.9 percent. Penny slots were second with a win of $152.8 million, up 1 percent.
"Win" is a gross figure, with no operating costs or other expenses deducted.
It represents casino revenue only, not hotel, restaurant or bar revenues.
