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Las Vegas News Bureau File
The 1,500-foot-long canopy over downtown’s Fremont Street Experience is shown in downtown Las Vegas in this file photo.
Published Thursday, Dec. 9, 2010 | 7:14 a.m.
Updated Thursday, Dec. 9, 2010 | 10:24 a.m.
CARSON CITY – After 28 consecutive months of declining gaming win compared to a year earlier, casinos in downtown Las Vegas posted a 10.3 percent gain in October.
The 19 casinos in downtown Las Vegas posted a win of $44.5 million, with slot machines increasing by 5.6 percent and table games registering a 27 percent gain. The win on craps jumped 45.1 percent and sports book win rose 149.6 percent.
Las Vegas Strip casinos registered a 16 percent gain, the second double-digit increase in the past three months when compared to a year earlier. That compares to a 10.3 percent drop in gaming win in October 2009 compared to a year earlier.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board reported today that casinos statewide won $888.5 million, which is before taxes and business expenses. That's an increase of 11 percent over October 2009.
It's the first time of three consecutive months of increased win since April-June 2007, said Michael Lawton, senior research analyst for the board.
On the Strip, casinos reported an increased win of 31 percent on card games. The win on blackjack jumped 43.9 percent and baccarat rose 41 percent. It was the second highest baccarat win ever for the month of October, Lawton said.
Casinos reported a “hold’ percentage of 18.5 percent in baccarat, compared to 9.2 percent in October 2009. The “hold” is the amount of money the casinos kept from players.
The sports pool win jumped by 73.5 percent with football win up 138.9 percent and sports parlay cards jumping 186 percent.
Strip casinos saw a 3.5 percent increase in slot machine take. The win on $100 slots jumped 40.3 percent and the Megabucks win was up 36.7 percent.
The overall win at Strip casinos was $494.8 million in October. That follows a 21 percent increase in August.
The Gaming Control Board reported North Las Vegas casinos won $19.8 million, up 3.3 percent; Laughlin casino win rose 4 percent to $38.4 million; Boulder Strip casinos reported a win of $60.5 million, up 2.7 percent; and casinos in the rest of Clark County rose 9.3 percent to $88.9 million.
Mesquite was the only area in Clark County that had a lower gaming win, with revenue falling to $10.2 million, down 0.5 percent.
The board reported Washoe County casinos had an increased win of 4.2 percent, but Carson Valley casinos fell by 5.5 percent and South Lake Tahoe was off by 4.5 percent. The win in Elko County casinos increased by 8.9 percent.
Small step but a step forward. Vegas is doing what it has always done, slowly coming back.
Going to take a few years yet but will be bigger and better then ever. That is what Vegas is about.
They are comparing it to one of the worst years on record. Until Housing and economy picks up Las Vegas is going to remain weak!
This is positive news as we are seeing the adjustment being made by casino management in attacting new busy and responding to patron spending and expectations in service and products.
Good news all week. What a welcome change.
I give credit to the Party Pit where the girls dance while people gamble!
Great news for all of Las Vegas. Congratulations. Keep those profits coming.
Just means the casinos are turning the screws tighter on their customers.
what do you expect them to compare it to, other than the previous year? they need a moron filter on this thing.
That Downtown is showing an increase now is good news indeed. The danger is (was?) that the casino industry will shrink, with monstrosities like City Center cannabalizing the smaller operations.
Survival of the smaller operations is key to overall gaming industry health.
(Oxymoron Alert! Use of "gaming industry" and "health" in the same sentence.)
Perhaps Downtown action is picking up because people are tiring of the big resorts where you have to park a mile away and the prices are overbearing. Downtown offers more ambiance on the way Vegas used to be with clubs within walking distance and reasonable prices.
Nothing is more promising for Las Vegas then when the national or inernational press and pundits say "it's over" for the city. When articles, newscasts and speeches told that story again recently (for at least the tenth time in my life), other long-time Vegas locals and I were filled with glee.
She is a saucey, fickle minx, this home town of mine. Recently, she may have been seen with smeared makeup, last night's cocktail dress inappropriate as she made her way to the valet across the vacant, late morning casino floor.
But put her in a box, and she will reinvent herself just to spite you. knock her down, or abuse her and you find yourself cornered by her powerful friends. Shun her, run away to the other side of the world, or just the other side of the Rockies, and she will haunt your memories, always luring you back.
Every year a new raft of authors, columnists and politicians dons a 'Las Vegas Expert' title as easily as a cereal-box PhD, and hopes their pulp will rise to the shelf next to John L. Smith. They like to re-write history and predict another doomsday, as scantily researched as the 'hot girls to you' are dressed.
I'm reminded of the line in the film Casino: "You still don't get it do you? You're all just visitors here."
Banks, scions of business, politicians, celebrities, journalists. Many of us were here when you got here. We were here when you left this time. We'll be here when you return.
I know I made a generous contribution to the bottom line at a few of the FSE casinos. Now maybe they'll consider loosening up some of the machines.
somebody's losing what somebody else is winning...and the rake on top of it...
Up not down that has to be good, Right!
Full disclosure: I work downtown.
That being said, I have family here in town working a booth at the cowboy gift show on the strip and they had no idea that the Sand's expo was NOT downtown. When I told them about the Fremont Street Experiance, we hopped into the car{after a long day at work)and showed them the party that IS Fremont Street. They had their socks knocked off...and I was proud to show them that this is where I worked and where, I hoped more folks would come to play and dine.
I hope this is a sign of REAL recovery. I just worry that in the last election we may have given back the car keys to the politicians who drove us into this miserable ditch to begin with.
Stuart & Robert Wyman-Cahall
Las Vegas, NV 89142
I hate to say it but, what are the casinos doing to have a win rate of 45.1% on craps. What wrong with the dice? The casino hold is always around 18%, although I might be wrong, I don't think the casinos ever had a win rate that high before, and it comes when there are no players in the casinos!
Or was this a typo?
I come to Vegas about every 6-8 months and I always stay and play downtown. You can find a fair blackjack game downtown without the high limits you find on the strip.
Guess Vegas will have to deal without my annual deposit for a few more years. Can't afford to gamble now in this economy.