Thursday, July 12, 2012 | 11:33 a.m.
CARSON CITY — Casinos on the Las Vegas Strip won $474.3 million in May, a drop of 18.15 percent for the month compared to a year ago.
Baccarat declined 46.7 percent and the blackjack win fell 35 percent on the Strip.
Statewide, the total win in May was $885 million, down 10 percent compared to the same month in 2011. For the past 12 months, the win reached $9.8 billion, an increase of 1.26 percent.
Michael Lawton, senior research analyst for the state Gaming Control Board, said there was one less Sunday this May, and this May was compared to a 28.9 percent gain of a year ago in the same month.
“It was a bad month,” he said.
The casinos held less of the money wagered, Lawton said. “The casinos didn’t win as much as they usually do,” he said.
For instance, at Strip casinos, the win percentage for baccarat for March through May was 8.7 percent, compared to a yearly average “hold” of 12.1 percent.
For blackjack games on the Strip, the hold was 8.1 percent in May, compared to a 12.1 percent yearly average. It was the lowest hold since the 1980s.
Lawton said percentage fee collections from casinos statewide for the complete 12 months of fiscal year 2012 are $12 million lower than predicted by the Economic Forum. The state collected $653.6 million in percentage fees for the fiscal year.
The board reported that for this fiscal year, the statewide win reached $9.8 billion, up 1.23 percent. The gaming win, computed before taxes and business expenses, rose 1.1 percent on the Strip, 3.8 percent in downtown Las Vegas, 2.1 percent in North Las Vegas, 5 percent on the Boulder Strip, 1.9 percent in Mesquite and 2 percent in the balance of Clark County.
Join the Discussion:
Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.
Full comments policy