Nevada gaming win up 11.2% in August

Tuesday, Oct. 12, 1999 | 11:09 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Nevada casinos posted $762.8 million in gross winnings in August, up 11.2 percent, the highest percentage gain since February, the state Gaming Control Board reported today.

"It was an all around good month," said board member Dennis Neilander. "There were no special events, no extra weekends, no grand openings."

Frank Streshley, senior research specialist for the board, said this was the 18th straight month of increased win. Only downtown Las Vegas and South Lake Tahoe produced sluggish results. This month included revenues from the Bellagio, Mandalay Bay and Venetian hotel-casinos on the Las Vegas Strip -- none of which were open in August 1998.

Statewide, revenue from slot machines grew by 11.7 percent or $52.1 million and gaming and table win rose 10.3 percent, or $24.7 million compared to August 1998. Baccarat revenues jumped 34.1 percent. But excluding baccarat, the gaming revenues would have risen by more than 9 percent.

Streshley said it was a "very good" month for the Strip, which recorded its eighth consecutive month of percentage increases. Seven of those eight have been double digit increases.

Strip casinos produced $368 million in gross win, computed before taxes and business expenses. That's 15.6 percent higher than August 1998. Slot win rose 14.7 percent and game revenue was up 16.4 percent. Part of that was due to a 37.1 percent increase in baccarat winnings.

It was "a flat month" in downtown Las Vegas casinos, Streshley said. Total win reached $52.8 million, up .02 percent. Even though this was a small gain, it was the best performance since February when clubs in "Glitter Gulch" reported a 2.6 percent gain in revenue. Slot machine revenue rose 3.9 percent but table win slumped by 11.6 percent.

Casinos in North Las Vegas continued their strong performance in August, reporting revenues of $19.4 million, up 26.5 percent. Slot win rose 30 percent but game revenue was off 1.3 percent.

Clubs along the Boulder Strip reported $45.8 million in winnings, up 11.4 percent, the sixth consecutive month of increased revenues. Slot win rose 10.1 percent and table revenues was up 23.1 percent.