Nevada Gambling Revenues Fall 2.9% to $887.6m in October

The Nevada Gaming Control Board has released its latest figures for October 2015, revealing a 2.9% decline in revenues to $887.58 million compared to the $913.64 million generated in the same month last year. The state subsequently collected $52.3 million in taxes, down 22 percent year-over-year.
In October, the Las Vegas Strip saw its revenues decline by 5.1 percent to $493.6 million, marking four months of decline from the past five months. Affecting the Strip’s business was its baccarat offering, which has continued to be affected by a slowdown in the number of Chinese gamblers. Last month, baccarat revenue plummeted 19.2 percent to $78.3 million, and for the first 10 months of 2015 is now lower by 17.7 percent.
Meanwhile, table game revenues fell 4.7 percent, while slot machine revenue stayed mostly flat at $260.5 million. For the first 10 months of this year, Strip gaming revenue are currently down by 1.8 percent year-over-year.
Elsewhere around Clark County, downtown Las Vegas saw its gaming revenue fall by 6.5 percent to $44.6 million; North Las Vegas was down 4 percent; Boulder Strip lower by 6.6 percent; Laughlin was up 1 percent, and Mesquite’s was also higher by 2.9 percent.
While Clark County’s overall gaming revenues were down 4 percent to $756 million from October 2014, Washoe County, on the other hand, saw its overall revenues jump by 6.4 percent to $68 million, thanks to Reno’s 6.9 percent increase in revenues to $50.1 million. Reno has been enjoying an uptick in tourism lately, which together with an extra Saturday in October contributed to its solid performance. As Nevada Gaming Control Board senior research analyst Michael Lawton explains:
“If you look at the numbers, you’ll notice that visitation is strong with a 9.6 percent increase for the month of October. And for the calendar year, it’s up 2.1 percent so it’s a nice trend.”
Over the past three years, Reno has enjoyed “one of the sharpest economic recoveries in the U.S,” according to Macquarie Securities gaming analyst Chard Beynon, with unemployment levels steadily improving, and home prices rising.