Thursday, May 7, 2009 | 10:24 a.m.
CARSON CITY – Casino winnings on the Las Vegas Strip fell 12.2 percent in March, continuing a string of 15 months of decline.
The state Gaming Control Board reported that winnings at the 41 Strip casinos, computed before expenses and taxes, totaled $456.1 million for the month, a decline of 12.2 percent from March 2008.
The win was down in every other market in Clark County except North Las Vegas which posted a 9.7 percent increase, the second straight positive month for those casinos. That was attributed to the opening of the Station Aliante Casino.
Statewide, casinos posted winnings of $918.2 million, down 11.6 percent. Even Elko County, with its strong mining activity saw a decline of 12.9 percent.
The state collected $74.7 million in taxes from casinos, down 8.6 percent. And for this fiscal year, the collections are off 15.3 percent compared to the prior fiscal year of $652.7 million.
Frank Streshley, senior analyst for the board, said this decline statewide compares with a 1.5 percent drop in March 2008. It’s the smallest decline in the past five month which averaged a drop of 18 percent.
“It’s not a recovery,” said Streshley. “But the market is getting close to or near bottom.” He said word from the casinos is that “We’re starting to see the booking window normalize” and the market is stabilizing.
On the Strip, only roulette posted a strong month, up 21 percent on a $28.6 million win.
Taking the biggest hit were the sports book that had a win of $1.2 million, off 80.9 percent from a year ago. Betting on basketball fell 44.4 percent and baseball wagering was down 990.8 percent.
The board reported slot machine win on the Strip declined 13.5 percent to $257.6 million. Winnings from 21 games dropped to $66.4 million or a 12.7 percent drop. Craps were off 10.1 percent with a win of $25.9 million.
The casinos on the Strip won $33.1 million in Baccarat, down 4.8 percent from the same month of 2008. Streshley said the “hold” percentage or what the casinos kept was 7.1 percent or about 3 percent lower than the 12-month average. “The players are getting luckier in baccarat,” he said.
Clubs in downtown Las Vegas won $55.2 million, off 2.7 percent. Slot machine win rose 1.2 percent but game and tables were off 15 percent.
Casinos in North Las Vegas won $32 million with slot win up 8.9 percent and game and table increasing by 6.4 percent. It was the only market statewide that showed a gain.
Laughlin reported an 8.2 percent decline to $51.5 million. Slot win was off 4.5 percent and game and table win declined 33.3 percent.
The Boulder Strip gaming win was off 4 percent to $79.4 million with slot win off 3.6 percent and game and tables down 9.8 percent.
Mesquite plummeted 29.2 percent to $12.3 million. Slot win declined 31.1 percent and game and tables were off 17.7 percent.
Casinos in the balance of Clark County reported gross revenue of $99.8 million, off 9 percent. Slot win fell 7 percent and game and table win dropped 19.4 percent.
Northern Nevada clubs didn’t do any better.
The board reported that winnings of casinos in Washoe County fell 23.2 percent, the second straight month of a double-digit decline. Washoe County hasn’t posted a gain since June 2007. The casinos reported $64.8 million, down $20 million from a year ago,
Casinos in South Lake Tahoe posted a 34 percent decline to a gross win of $19.6 million.
Carson Valley casinos reported winnings of $8.3 million, down 6.5 percent.
Elko County had casino winnings of $24.6 million, down 12.8 percent and the second consecutive month of a decline.
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