Nevada Board Confirms Third Consecutive Month Of Gaming Wins For Casinos

The Nevada State Gaming Control Board released data which showed that Nevada casinos posted gains in gaming win for the third consecutive month. The gaming regulator has reported an increase of 3.5 percent in May 2017 over the same period last year to reach $991.6 million. This is the highest monthly total since February 2017.

Clark County which houses the Las Vegas Strip has outperformed others with $860.7 million of revenue. The Strip alone has accounted for $546.8 million, a jump of 3 percent, while downtown Las Vegas was at $55.2 million. The three month average covering March to May which is thought to be a better indicator of the industry’s performance has also seen an improvement with a growth of 4.1 percent.

After declining 4.5 percent in February, the state’s gaming establishments recorded gaming win increases in April to the extent of 1.2 percent and around 7.4 percent in March. Gaming win percentage for table games statewide in May was at 13.7 while for slot machines it was 7 percent. Penny slots remained the major contributing segment with a win of $282.7 million in May, an increase of 2.2 percent over May 2016.

For table games, baccarat was the top contributor with $100.9 million gained from 28 locations. The game of blackjack accounted for $110.8 million which came from 147 casinos.

The win percentage for Baccarat this May was 13.1 percent, which is slightly lower than the average recorded over the past 12 months.

In a statement Michael Lawton senior analyst with the control board said,

I think what we have been experiencing in baccarat can be compared to a very rough ride on a roller coaster. However, it appears that the ride might be smoothing out for us as we have now recorded increases in volumes three times this calendar year compared to last year when we recorded only one increase the entire year

The state has netted $689.1 million in revenue from fees for the year so far, which is a growth of 1.9 percent over last year. Las Vegas as a whole saw a marginal jump in visitations. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported that visitor volume was up by 0.3 percent in May to 3.6 million. Convention attendance was up by 20.2 percent to 514,615 as a result of show rotations.

Hotel occupancy was up by 1.1 percent to 89 percent while average daily room rate was up 3.6 percent to $127.14 and revenue per available room grew by 4.9 percent to hit $113.28.

Adrian Sterne

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