Nevada Post Third Highest Casino Revenues in October
December 1, 2016 2:20 pmThis week, the Nevada Gaming Control Board released its latest financial results revealing that the state enjoyed a bumper month in October, with revenues soaring by an impressive 11.1% to $986.2 million. From that total, slot machine accounted for $631.6 million of revenues, higher by 10.49% compared to the same month in 2015.
The state subsequently collected $59.5 million by way of gambling taxes, up by 13.7% versus October of last month.
In fact, so impressive was October’s results that it represented Nevada’s third highest tally ever since the Silver State’s first legalized gambling back in 1931. Commenting on the positive month, Gaming Control Board analyst Michael Lawton explained:
“The casinos ran luckier than they did last year, or the customers ran unluckier,” before adding that “what benefits these numbers is that last October ended on weekend, so some of that rolled into November last year and artificially inflated this year’s numbers.”
In October, the Strip generated revenues of $562.7 million, marking a 14% year-on-year gain, although dampening the good news slightly was the fact that visitations to Las Vegas actually fell by 0.6% last month. However, Las Vegas is expecting to see a surge in Asian gamblers next year as Chinese President Xi Jinping continues his anti-corruption campaign. In the meantime, Sin City has been seeking to attract those tourists who have been forced to gamble abroad, and in November the Chinese themed Lucky Dragon casino opened for business, complete with 37 table games and 300 slot machines. Still more Asian themed gambling venues are expected to follow suit in the future.
Meanwhile, the solid figures were replicated throughout the state bar just a few exceptions, with Downtown up 29.5% to $57.8m; North Las Vegas up 29.3% to $24.2m; the Boulder Strip up 23.7% to $67.2m; Mesquite up 6.1% to $10.6m, Laughlin up 3.8% to $41m; Washoe County up 3.6% to $69.6m; Carson Valley up 1.1% to $8.8m; Elko County down 1.3% to $23.9m; and South Lake Tahoe down 22.2% to $14.2m.