Impressive gaming win reported in February

Thursday, April 8, 2004 | 10:45 a.m.

Nevada's 347 casinos won $876 million from gamblers in February, the third best monthly haul in history and up 15.9 percent compared with the $756.1 million won in February 2003, the state Gaming Control Board reported this morning.

The year-ago numbers were hampered by the tourism slowdown that accompanied the build up to the war in Iraq, while this year's numbers benefited from the calendar, Control Board statistical analyst Frank Streshley said.

February this year had a 29th day, Super Bowl was on Feb. 1 instead of in January, and Strip casinos reported spillover February business from Chinese New Year on Jan. 22, Streshley said.

But the industry's strength in February was indisputable, he said.

The 15.9 percent year-over-year increase is the largest since the 21.6 percent increase reported in November 1999, a month that benefited from a Holyfield-Lewis heavyweight title fight as well as from first-year results for The Venetian and Paris Las Vegas.

"Operators are reporting the power of the 3,000 new hotel rooms and the 1.5 million square feet of convention space that Las Vegas has added," Streshley said. "Hotel revenue, convention revenue and now gaming revenue are all benefiting from the new business the new capacity allows."

The world's most powerful gambling market, the Las Vegas Strip, contributed to the monthly windfall in a big way.

Strip casinos won $444.7 million, up 19.5 percent from the $372.2 million won last year, while every other significant market in the state also reported monthly percentage increases.

Those jumps included downtown Las Vegas, which reported a 4 percent increase to $57.5 million from $55.3 million despite the January closures of Binion's Horseshoe and the Castaways, and Reno, which reported an 8.5 percent jump to $58.7 million from $54 million.

The Strip's 2,632 table games generated $215.9 million in winnings from gamblers, up 21.4 percent, fueled by a 41.8 percent jump in blackjack win and a 67.5 percent roulette increase.

Strip slot machines won $225.2 million, up 17.2 percent, while the market's 148 poker tables won $3.6 million, up 61.8 percent.

Statewide, the continuing evolution of the state's slot floors was demonstrated by the incredible amount of play on penny-denominated slot machines, games made practical by the widespread use of ticket-in, ticket-out cashless slots.

Penny slots won $29.2 million, up a whopping 200 percent, an increase Srtreshley compared to the dramatic rise in the win posted by nickel-denominated machines that began about three years ago.

The new technology allows bettors to play dozens of betting units at a time, a factor that drove nickel performance then and penny performance now, Streshley said.

In other markets, North Las Vegas and the Boulder Strip markets reported 20.3 percent and 17.2 percent increases, while Laughlin reported a 19.5 percent jump.

Percentage fee collections in March, based on taxable gaming winnings collected in February, were up 56.5 percent to $75.1 million, a $27.1 million increase that includes the effect of the top gaming tax rate's jump to 6.75 percent.

Percentage fee collections are 3.7 percent above the Economic Forum's forecast for fiscal 2004.

"The win for this month leaves us 3.43 percent ahead of this time last year and provides us with a modest cushion for the remaining three months of the fiscal year," Gov. Kenny Guinn said in a statement, referring to the three months of collections that remain until the fiscal year ends June 30. "However, we need to continue seeing healthy growth in gaming the rest of the year to meet the budgeted forecast for gaming revenue."