Megabucks play up, but overall gaming flat

CARSON CITY -- Nevada's casinos enjoyed a banner month in basketball betting and on Megabucks during June, the state Gaming Control Board reported today.

The casinos statewide reported gross win of $623.6 million, up only .75 percent. Slot machine revenues jumped 9.2 percent but that was off-set by a decrease of 14.2 percent in table games volume.

Russell Guindon, senior research analyst for the board, wagering on basketball, with the NBA finals pitting Chicago against Utah, rose 610 percent over a year ago. There was $28.4 million bet on basketball, the highest of any month in the last 10 years.

Revenue from Megabucks jumped 130.5 percent from a year ago as players sought the growing jackpot, which has now risen to more than $19 million. Guindon said winnings on Megabucks reached $12 million, the seventh highest month in the last 10 years.

June also marked the end of the government's fiscal year showing casinos won $7.8 billion, up 3.9 percent. Guindon said that performance is "somewhat of a rebound" from fiscal 1997 when the growth was only seven-tenths of a percent. "But it's not as strong as the growth in the early 1990s," he said.

And the fiscal year growth is less than half of what state financial experts had predicted.

The board said the Strip and the downtown in Las Vegas went in opposite directions in June.

Casinos along the Strip reported gross win, computed before taxes and business expenses at $279 million, down 4.2 percent. There was a strong 12.3 percent increase in slot machine, volume but table gaming winnings fell by 19.4 percent.

Winnings in baccarat was off 39.3 percent; the 21 games were down 19.5 percent and craps revenue was off 5.1 percent. Guindon said in June 1997, the Tyson-Holyfield fight was staged in Las Vegas, which brought in high-end players. But there wasn't that type of an attraction this June.

Downtown casinos posted a win of $54 million, up 4.3 percent. Slot play rose by 3.2 percent, and table games increased by 8.3 percent. The casino win on the dice table jumped by 84 percent. "Some of the casinos beat the players badly compared to a year ago," he said, referring to the crap revenue.

"Compared to the Strip, it was a very good month," for the downtown clubs, Guindon said.

North Las Vegas posted a win of $16.1 million, up 28.3 percent. "This is the same story for several months," as the area continues to register double digit increases in gaming win. Slot play rose 29.7 percent and games were up 18.7 percent. "They bring the players to the market, and they keep them," Guindon said.

Laughlin posted its best performance in eight months. Gross gaming revenue totaled $37.4 million, an increase of 4.4 percent with the slot play up 6.6 percent but winnings from games down 5.9 percent.

The Boulder Strip rose 14 percent to $40.9 million. That's a slowing of growth, Guindon said because the Sunset Station, is now on a year to year comparison. It opened in June 1997. Slot win rose 15.3 percent, and game and table revenues were up 5.8 percent.

Casinos in Washoe County inched up 2.4 percent as the national bowling tournament ended in Reno. Gross win reached $88.9 million, with slot win rising 3.2 percent but table games increasing by only six-tenths of a percent.

South Lake Tahoe had another poor month reporting lower revenues on both slots and games. The casinos registered $23 million, down 10.7 percent. Slot machine revenues fell 5.5 percent and table games decreased by 22.6 percent. Win on the dice tables fell by 83.4 percent, and Guindon said, "Somebody beat the properties pretty bad," on craps.

Elko County clubs had $17.3 million in gross win, up 2.8 percent with slot revenues rising 7.2 percent but game and table volume down 11.2 percent.

Casinos in the Carson Valley, which includes Carson City, Minden and Gardnerville, posted their second consecutive double digit increase in win. The board said the gross revenue reached $7 million, up 11.6 percent. Slot win jumped 11.8 percent, and game and table volume was up 10.7 percent.

In the fiscal year comparisons, casinos on the Strip reported gross revenues of $6.2 billion, up 4.6 percent; downtown Las Vegas clubs posted $684.9 million, an increase of only .21 percent; North Las Vegas casinos rose 13.9 percent to $177 million; Laughlin was off .03 percent at $483.7 million and Boulder Strip clubs jumped 26.1 percent to $475.6 million.

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