Published Thursday, Feb. 10, 2011 | 7:45 a.m.
Updated Thursday, Feb. 10, 2011 | 10:04 a.m.
CARSON CITY – Despite a rocky year, casinos along the Las Vegas Strip posted a gross win of $5.7 billion last year, an increase of 4.1 percent over 2009.
The state Gaming Control Board reported today that all other areas of Clark County and every other major market in Nevada recorded a down year.
While slot machine win was off in Strip casinos, table games carried the load. Slot win dropped 0.7 percent but table win rose 8.9 percent. The win was led by baccarat, which registered a 21.8 percent increase over 2009.
Statewide, the board said total gaming win rose 0.1 percent to $10.4 billion. The increase was the first after two years of declines, said Michael Lawton, senior research analyst for the board.
Gaming win is the amount recorded before expenses and taxes.
Lawton said the Strip’s share of gaming win for the state reached 55.5 percent, the highest percentage ever and up from 53.4 percent in 2009.
There was a decline statewide in the first half of the year, but signs of recovery in the second part of the year, led by the strong showing of baccarat, Lawson said.
He said he was “cautiously optimistic” the state would see some growth outside the Strip this year.
Downtown Las Vegas casinos won $493.3 million, off 5.8 percent. Casinos in Laughlin dropped 2.1 percent in 2010 to $482.3 million. Boulder Strip casinos won $756.9 million, down 4.2 percent for the year.
The board said North Las Vegas casino gaming win was down 6.4 percent to $267.7 million. The city recorded the second-steepest decline, second only to Sparks at 9.7 percent for the year, Lawton said.
Mesquite was off 3.6 percent to $115.7 million and the balance of Clark County won $1 billion, off 5.5 percent.
The board said Strip casinos posted a “hold” of 7.2 percent on slot machine bets, up 0.13 percent. But the percentage kept from table games dipped to 11.71 percent, or a 0.39 percent decline from a year earlier.
The board reported downtown Las Vegas casinos had a slot win hold of 6.3 percent, off 0.13 percent, but table games held 13.2 percent, up 0.82 percent.
For the year, Laughlin casinos had a 7.1 percent hold on the amount bet on slot machines, a gain of 0.26 percent; Boulder Strip’s slot hold was 5.2 percent, up 0.14 percent; and North Las Vegas registered a 5.8 percent hold on slots, up 0.04 percent, with table games at 13.3 percent, down 0.33 percent.
Total win for Washoe County last year fell to $770.5 million, down 4.3 percent.
South Lake Tahoe casinos reported a 6.3 percent dip in total win to $211 million. It was the lowest win since records started being kept in 1984. “Indian gaming is destroying it,” Lawton said.
Carson Valley casinos were off 0.4 percent to $101.7 million and Elko County fell 2.3 percent to $258.9 million.
Statewide, the board said the 86,957 multi-denomination slot machines won $3.1 billion, down 4.3 percent; the 41,900 penny slots registered a win of $1.9 billion, up 8.2 percent and the 7,111 nickel machines won $180.9 million, down 24.1 percent.
The 15,174 quarter machines statewide pulled in a total win of $545.1 million, down 12.7 percent, and the 11,579 dollar machines' win of $537 million was down 6.7 percent.
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