Nevada casinos win $7.8 billion in 1997, up 5 percent

Thursday, Feb. 12, 1998 | 10:40 a.m.

The statewide win, reported today by the state Gaming Control Board, compares with a weak 0.8 percent increase in 1996 over 1995.

While snow, floods and mud slides early in 1997 hurt Reno and Tahoe-area clubs, the opening of another megaresort on the Las Vegas Strip - the New York-New York - helped to push the Strip win up 6.4 percent.

GCB spokesman Russ Guindon said other factors accounting for the southern Nevada gain included a strong jump in money won from gamblers who play table games - especially high-stakes baccarat.

The Strip win pushed the statewide percentage up, since clubs there account for nearly half of the total win, he added.

The report also shows tax collections based on the win are up only 1.7 percent since last summer.

Guindon said the tax take will have to climb an average 13 percent for the rest of the fiscal year to hit the 1997 Legislature's estimate - and the odds of that occurring are slim. About 35 percent of Nevada's budget is funded by casino taxes.

The GCB report shows the 1997 win by Las Vegas Strip resorts totaled $3.8 billion, 49 percent of the statewide total. That's up 6.4 percent from the 1996 total. The Strip closed out the year with a big 11 percent gain in December.

Elsewhere in southern Nevada, North Las Vegas and the Boulder Strip posted healthy gains. North Las Vegas winnings of $162.8 million were up 11.8 percent and Boulder Strip revenues of $416 million were up 15.1 percent.

Downtown Las Vegas winnings of $678.5 million were flat - down 0.05 percent - while the 1997 win of $482.3 million in Laughlin, south of Las Vegas on the Colorado River, was down 1.7 percent.

The Reno-Sparks area in northern Nevada had yearly winnings of $995.4 million, up 2 percent from 1996. Hard hit by January flooding, the area bounced back with a year-ending December that was 6.8 percent above the same month a year earlier.

A breakdown shows the $150.7 million win by clubs in Sparks during 1997 was up 5.9 percent while Reno's $751.3 million win for the year was up only 1 percent.

Resorts on Lake Tahoe's south shore won $294.5 million, down 7.1 percent from 1996 totals. That's the worst year in a 3-year slump, and factors include snow followed by mud slides early in the year that closed down a major highway leading to Tahoe. The south shore clubs also ended the year with a big drop in December - down 26 percent.

Elsewhere in the north, Elko County winnings of $198.4 million were down 0.9 percent - the first decline in the '90s. Guindon said clubs in the eastern Nevada area would have posted gains had it not been for Wendover, on the Utah border. Casinos there were down 5.5 percent for the year while the rest of the county, including the town of Elko, was up 4.2 percent.

The Minden-Carson City casino win of $73.8 million was up 3.4 in 1997; casinos in Churchill County won $12.1 million, up 9.7 percent; clubs in Humboldt County won $16.7 million, up 13.4 percent; and casinos in White Pine County won $4.3 million, down 6.3 percent.

Statewide, casinos won $2.9 billion on table games in 1997, a 5.5 percent increase over 1996; and $4.9 billion on slot machines, for a 4.8 percent increase.

A breakdown of games that produced the most revenue in 1997 shows the clubs' $1 billion win from blackjack games was up 4.6 percent while their $388 million win from craps was flat. Baccarat winnings of $564.6 million were up 17.5 percent for the year.

Dollar slots won $1.44 billion, down 0.9 percent; quarter slots won $2.35 billion, up 4.6 percent; and nickel slots won $616 million, up 11.3 percent.