Nevada's Gaming Income Declines for a Second Consecutive Month; Optimism Remains High.
Gaming revenues in Nevada experienced a decline for the second month in a row in September, with fortunate players taking a chunk out of the anticipated income from high-class baccarat and blackjack games. In total, casinos in the Silver State earned $901.7 million in gaming revenue during the month, which is a decrease from the $958.9 million they made in September 2013.
This translates to a six percent reduction in income for the whole industry. The retreat was even more noticeable on the Las Vegas Strip, where gaming revenues decreased by more than 12 percent. Consequently, both Nevada and the Strip are about even for the year: the former is down by slightly more than one percent, while the Strip has seen a minor growth of almost the same amount compared to last year.
According to Control Board Senior Research Analyst Michael Lawton, the recent two months have undone all the progress the industry had been making. These two downturns followed five months in which revenues were higher than in the previous period.
Baccarat's Revenue Dip Leads to Decline for Casinos
The falloff on the Strip can be attributed, in large part, to the decrease in baccarat revenues. The game is popular among high-stakes gamblers, as well as VIP visitors from Asia. Strip casinos earned $81.3 million from this game in September, a 29.6 percent decrease from 2013.
This is partly due to the fact that gambling on the game dropped by 12.5 percent. However, the casinos also had a bit of bad luck, as the hold percentage (the profit made after paying out winners) was also down significantly this year.
Despite the decrease in baccarat revenue, blackjack revenues were also down, with Strip casinos earning 27.3 percent less revenue from the game compared to last year. Slot revenues were also struggling, although analysts considered the fact that wagering on the machines increased slightly to be a positive sign.
"We see volumetric [speeds of slot machines] as the most significant indicator of the Strip's overall health," noted gaming analyst Steven Wieczynsky.
Online Poker Finishes with Worst Month on Record
The report didn't have such good news for Nevada's online poker sites. For the month, the three internet poker rooms made a combined total of $693,000. This is a decrease of 8.9 percent from the previous year and represents the worst month for the sites since the third poker site, Real Gaming, opened and allowed state regulators to publish revenue statistics. It's also the third straight monthly drop for the poker sites, who hit a peak of over $1 million in revenue in June due to a surge of players attending the World Series of Poker.
WSOP.com accounts for around 60 percent of all online poker traffic in Nevada's regulated market, while the remaining share is controlled by Ultimate Poker.
Nevada's gaming market did have some positive notes, though. Sports betting revenues increased by 12.2 percent year over year, and the $44.6 million the state's casinos earned through their sports books was one of the highest numbers in the state's history. And while the overall revenue numbers for the industry have gone down recently, many experts are still optimistic about the long-term prospects for both Las Vegas and Nevada.
So far in 2014, Nevada has collected $65.8 million in tax revenue from the gaming industry, which is a 1.9 percent increase from the same period in 2013.
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