September 2011, Las Vegas Revenues Decline

Thursday,  November 10, 2011 : SEPTEMBER NOT A GOOD MONTH FOR LAS VEGAS
 
Visitors are up, but gambling revenues again decline
 
The latest numbers from the Nevada Gaming Control Board were released late Wednesday, showing that land casinos statewide won $864 million from gamblers, $53.8 million less than they won in September 2010. And casinos last month paid $51.4 million in taxes, down 8.9 percent, based on winnings collected the previous month.
 
Part of the problem is that the high rollers gambled far less money in September on baccarat, contributing to a statewide 5.9 slip in casino win compared to September last year.
 
Baccarat players wagered $647.4 million in September, down a substantial $344 million or 34.7 percent on the same period last year. Of that, casinos won $81.9 million, a decline of $46.4 million or 36.2 percent, a gaming board analyst revealed, adding that if one excluded baccarat results, the statewide decline was around a mere 1 percent, perhaps heralding an uptick in business following the exceptionally tough economic recession that has been hammering revenues.
 
The latest report indicates that gamblers wagered $11.5 billion on slot machines and table games, with the $9 billion pumped into slot machines up $172.7 million, or 2 percent, from September 2010. Bets on table games, including baccarat, was $2.5 billion, down $115 million or 4.4 percent.
 
Gambling revenue on the Las Vegas Strip fell 5.7 percent to $490.9 million. Strip resorts traditionally generate about half of total statewide casino revenues.