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twitterStrip gaming win lowest in five years
Published Friday, Jan. 9, 2009 | 8:54 a.m.
Updated Friday, Jan. 9, 2009 | 10:12 a.m.
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CARSON CITY – Winnings at Strip casinos dropped to a five-year low in November as the resorts recorded their second straight month of double-digit declines.
The state Gaming Control Board reported today the gross win at the 41 Strip casinos was $437.6 million, off 16.2 percent from a year ago.
Board Spokesman Frank Streshley said this November was compared to a “soft” November in 2007, when the gross win, before expenses and taxes, fell 19.2 percent.
This was the 11th straight month of lower gaming wins on the Strip and the lowest since November 2004.
Statewide, casinos won $836.7 million, down 14.8 percent from a year ago. Streshley said this is the first time in several years that every gaming market in the state experienced a decline in gross win.
For this fiscal year, the state has collected $330 million in gaming taxes, down 15.3 percent when compared to fiscal year 2007.
For Washoe County the casinos reported a 15.2 percent decline, the 17th straight month of lower revenues.
All the games and slot machines on the Strip , except sports betting, recorded lower winnings. Casinos won 98.2 percent more on sports betting due to the football season.
Streshley said there were higher expectations for the Strip because of the two sold-out Madonna concerts at MGM Grand and “premium guests” were brought in. But the gaming boost didn’t materialize.
He said win at the 21 games on the Strip fell 18.1 percent; craps was off 22 percent; roulette fell 16.4 percent; baccarat win dropped 29.2 percent and slots fell by 15.8 percent.
Downtown Las Vegas reported a win of $48 million, off 1.6 percent. Slot winnings fell 8.2 percent but table games rose 20.2 percent. That was due to an increase in football betting.
Casinos in North Las Vegas had gross win of $19.3 million, down 1.58 percent. Slot win dropped 6.7 percent but table games were up 34.7 percent. Streshley said the opening of the Aliante Stations hotel and casino in North Las Vegas increased the number of table games and that was the reason for the increase in that category.
Boulder Strip casinos won $54.9 million, a drop of 16.4 percent from a year ago. Slot winnings fell 18.9 percent and slots and table games were off 4.6 percent.
Casinos in the balance of Clark County had gross win of $89.4 million, down 18.6 percent, the second straight month of an 18 percent decline. Slot winnings dropped 19.9 percent and table win was down 22.2 percent.
Washoe County clubs reported $68.2 million in winnings, down 15.2 percent. Slot machine win fell 15.3 percent and table win was off 15.2 percent.
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Shocker, huh?
What's sad is that we always get this and visitor volume 3 months after it happens so imagine how it's going to be when we get the December and January numbers.
I love Vegas, but it just seems like this town is on a downward spiral and it's one more nail in the coffin every few days.
It's hard to feel bad for an industry that does almost $1 Billion in revenue a month as they try to price themselves out of existence. If (and when) they start to take their customers and employees into consideration again I'm sure that number will increase.
Like many other industries throughout the country a good number of scasinos and their employees will be shed.
BOO HOO - Their WINNINGS are down - BOO HOO
Now if they were actually LOSING money that would be a different story. I find it hard to feel any sympathy for someone who isn't making AS MUCH as they did last year when they are, in fact, still MAKING money. I feel for those who aren't making money, thru loss of jobs etc. I feel no sympathy for the casino operators at all.
"Now if they were actually LOSING money..."
They are. Winnings do not equate to profits.
I guess I need to move back immediately!
God forbid, that they "claim" they lost money!
But wait...they take enough..and took enough of mine, I am sure that I am going to lose sleep over this. How am I ever going survive? How will they ever survive.
I know...lets give them a Uncle Sam bailout! Yes thats the answer..gotta keep those profits up.
DC Dave
The video poker machines at Ballys were as tight as a ducks arse in November. I am going to give vegas a miss in 2009. I will come back in 2010 to see if the fun has returned.
I got a Idea ! Lets just tighten up those slots.
That will encourage folks to come here and play.
Do ya think maybe increasing the price of lodging or even a hamburg would bring em here? These casinos better realize that the majority of travelers are middle class that brought tourist dollars. And they surely are not going to come here at 150.00 a nite, and 100.00 a meal for 2, and still be able to afford to gamble away at the tightest machines. Ya think folks have caught on? I think so.Shame on all the ones who invested on building bigger and better so fast, they forgot about keeping the folks coming in.And now the employees are paying the price of their sensational greed, by laying them off and let them fend for themselves. So much for taking care of their own. Does anyone else see this? Or am i just a middle class angry citizen, whos tired of seeing the rich get richer and the poor getting kicked to the curb.
One of my previous mangers used to tell me it would be nice to sell a few cases at a million dollars each of product, but the reality is you need to sell 300,000 cases at $10.00. Las Vegas is trying to sell the million dollar cases. It should be obvious to the casino owners that they need volume and they won't get that with tight machines and high rates for rooms and meals. Unfortuntaly, those running the casinos are the typical corprate SOB's that want every stinking dollar they can get. I'm afraid that the days of casinos being run by people who understand gaming, giving people a fair shake, instead of a shake down are forever gone.
It really is a shame. I used to love going to Vegas
Kenoman, I'm with you! Me and the misses have been going to Vegas every year for the past 20 years, but no more!!....the casinos have outpriced our ability to come without spending a small fortune....and the comps suck!! The problem the casinos now face is that once the decision was made to move from modest casinos to mega resorts, there was no turning back....the overhead to run these mega resorts is far too high and the casinos have little wiggle room to significantly reduce room rates, meal rates, etc. Even before this crisis, I wondered where all the people were coming from that could afford $200 and up hotel rooms and $25 minimum and up black jack tables???? And comps are a thing of the past!!...I sat and played black jack for 5 hrs, consistently betting between $50 and $200 a hand. The next day I learned I earned $9 in comps.....what a joke!! When I queried this, a very frank marketing employee informed me that table players are not rewarded like slots players because the slots bring in much more profit....therefore comps for table players have been dramatically reduced. And what's with all these freakin night clubs!!....another part of the casinos failed transformation in my opinion. Good luck trying to squeeze any significant cash out of the twenty somethings. All in all, yet again a sad tale of horrendous corporate greed. Unfortunately the solutions requires a reversal of greed, but that's not human nature....so the ship will continue to list for many years in my opinion. Viva Las Vegas!!
Canuckster, well stated!
My wife and I stayed in Primm recently. The place was like a ghost town. The Herbst brothers have really got to be hurting with their bad investments there. What amazed me was the three card poker tables with no one playing and the dealers standing idle. Why was no one playing? Possibly because of the $15 minimum bet limit. I would have played at several dollars a hand, but certainly not $15. Why does not casino management recognize this and take the necessary corrective actions?
Let's hope that the selling of Treasure Island by mega-corp. MGM to a stand alone resort-casino is the start of something good... namely the return of people friendly casinos who respond to the customers wishes instead of the corporate "pencil pushers" business 101 models.
MGM Mirage will write down the value of Mandalay Resort Group by $1.2 billion because cash flows at the casino company acquired in 2005 have weakened and buyers are paying less for gaming assets.
butch...
That's another indication of just how out-of-touch casino management is with the floor. They have bean counters telling them that they need to keep the table minimums at $15 to generate positive revenues. Meanwhile, no one will play at that level, and all they've accomplished is gaining 100% of no profit versus a smaller percentage of a real profit. Pure stupidity, but there it is. This is exactly how the casinos have ended up where they are; totally out of touch with their customers and out of touch with what's really going on in their places. Anytime a large corporation has to keep shareholder value in mind first and foremost, all they try to do is maximize profits. It's going to take a while before the "part of something is better than all of nothing" mentality sinks in.
The answer to your question is this: because they're too focused on spreadsheets and financial reports to understand what's really going on.
Harske,
I agree along those same lines. Wouldn't it be more profitable to be having 10 rooms filled at 50.00 per night, or 2 rooms at 249.00.
Theres absolutley no common sense in these managers conceipt. Maybe they are putting in too much faith in speadsheets and reports.
My personal feeling is that these casinos have been in a greed bubble for a long time. Instead of seeing profits grow in a slow but steady pace,they went after draining peoples pockets.
The fact is, people come here to gamble,and they know that. But the word has spread from visitors, that the costs of such vacations are indeed over inflated.Let alone the fact that you can no longer hit on your favorite machines.
I have a friend back east that has visited Vegas twice a year, for the last 10 years.Her last visit she spent $4,000 alone on gambling on her favorite .25 cent machines.Don't get me wrong, she can afford it, and has no problem enjoying to spend that kind of money. But she too has come to realize Las Vegas has the tightest machines she's ever played at. She does so much better playing back east,30 miles from home, that she will never come back. Do ya think that will spread through her friends back east too? You bet. Its a dominoe affect that has caught up to Las Vegas.....Greed, and too much of it.
Las Vegas casinos need to respond to the problem by offering games with better odds. For example, the single deck blackjack games that only pay 6:5 ($6 for a $5 bet) for a blackjack should be changed to the standard 3:2 payment ($7.50 for a $5 bet) for a blackjack. Casino patrons will only allow themselves to be treated as chumps for so long; eventually they vote with their feet and walk away.
The fun in gaming for me in Las Vegas is gone.I used to visit there twice a year with a decent amount of hard earned cash to have extended fun with.On my last visit over the holidays I was shocked into reality by the unprofessional way I was treated at the Wynn.They had given me a free slot play amount,no problem.The lady looking after my account (Wynn employee)stressed to me that I play the FREE WHEEL SPIN when I gather enough points.Points gathered and then some I went for my FREE SPIN and won tickets for two to a show.
Called my wife in our room to tell her the great news.Just about to get my tickets (25mins later)and this dressed up Wynn employee comes to me and tells me in an non nice way that THEY had made a mistake and that I should not have been let SPIN the WHEEL because I earned the points on free play.I asked her to check my playing account and that she will see that I play $ machines and quiet a lot.
You are a good customer,but MANAGEMENT make the rules.
I was done with the new Vegas people.Went to our room (8pm)packed our bags up,left a tip for the non english speaking house cleaner and drove to Laughlin NV to get away from the Town that was.
Word does get around to stay away from the new greed in Vegas.