Strip gaming win falls 2.4 percent in January

By Cy Ryan

Published Thursday, March 10, 2011 | 7:49 a.m.

Updated Thursday, March 10, 2011 | 12:20 p.m.

CARSON CITY – For the third straight month, gaming win at the 42 casinos on the Las Vegas Strip fell in January, registering a 2.4 percent decline compared to a year ago.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board reported today that baccarat win on the Strip dropped by 39.7 percent, but slot machines recorded a 9.2 percent gain.

“It was a poor baccarat month,” said Michael Lawton, senior research analyst for the board. It was the second poor month for baccarat.

One reason for the decrease in win was one less Friday in January, Lawton said. But early reports are that baccarat bounced back in February with Chinese New Year.

The board said the gross win on the Strip registered $482.7 million, which is more than half of the statewide win. Statewide, the win dropped 0.6 percent to $877.4 million, also the third straight month of a decline.

Casinos in downtown Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and the Boulder Strip enjoyed strong months in gaming win, which is calculated before business expenses and taxes.

In Clark County, downtown Las Vegas casinos won $41.3 million, up 8.3 percent; North Las Vegas casinos posted a 13.2 percent gain to $24.9 million, and casinos along the Boulder Strip reported a win of $77.5 million, up 10.9 percent.

But the win in Laughlin dropped by 2.5 percent to $38.5 million; Mesquite registered $9.8 million, off 0.2 percent, and the casinos in the rest of Clark County reported $86.2 million in win, down 3.8 percent.

Lawton said the air traffic at McCarran International Airport was up and there was strong convention business, but the play wasn’t there on the Strip.

There was a 21.8 increase in win from Blackjack games on the Strip, but craps was off 5.2 percent. Roulette win inched up 1.8 percent, but sports books were off 10.4 percent.

Strip casinos reported a 28.8 percent increase in win from penny slot machines; a 40 percent gain from Megabucks; a 20 percent increase in $25 machines and a 7.6 percent increase on multi-denomination machines. The play on $100 slots on the Strip fell 65.7 percent and the win on nickel slots was off 25.4 percent.

The board reported gaming win in Washoe County was down 4.9 percent; it was off 7.8 percent at South Lake Tahoe; rose 2.1 percent in Elko County and jumped 10.5 percent in the Carson Valley area.