Many casinos in the state of Nevada aren’t worried about the drop in gaming win for the month of February.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board reported that non-restricted casinos in the state suffered a 4.48 percent drop in gaming win in February 2017 compared to the February revenue reports in 2016. Non-restricted casinos are ones with gaming tables and at least 15 slot machines. Gaming win refers to each casino’s amount of bets taken minus the winning payouts.
In all, the board reported casinos raked in $945.6 million in gaming win, a drop from $989 million in February 2016. Clark County suffered a 4.35 percent drop while the Las Vegas Strip reported a 4.98 percent drop.
However, a drop was expected from many industry observers and casino managers themselves. For one, 2016 was a leap year – leading to last February having 29 days, one more than usual. So February 2017’s results would account for one fewer day. In addition, a big part of February’s totals can be traced to the Chinese New Year. Unlike 2016 when the entire Chinese New Year was in February, the holiday was divided over January and February in 2017. That was attributed to a particularly large nearly 20 percent drop in baccarat win. Baccarat is a very popular game among the Chinese.
Las Vegas and the state of Nevada has generally been slowly moving away from the gambling industry and becoming more of an entertainment and tourist draw. So the drop in the table and slot wins shouldn’t have a major downturn on the casinos’ fortunes.
However, the biggest reason as to why many aren’t concerned is because gains in the current fiscal year are still in the black. The state is still seeing a 2.71 percent rise in gaming win for the fiscal year. Clark County is still up 2.82 percent and the Las Vegas Strip remains up 3.18 percent compared to gaming win from a year ago.
February 2017 is still the first month report a drop since last October and the decrease was the largest since June 2009 when the state and the nation was still caught up in a recession.
The city of Las Vegas had a hotel occupancy rate drop of 1.7 percent with the Strip falling 2.8 percent the downtown area 7.9 percent. However, convention attendance was still up 2 percent as the city continues to thrive as a destination for business gatherings.
In all, the consensus believe February 2017 as a blimp on the radar as recent months has shown a steady increase in gaming wins. As a result, industry watchers still believe that the Nevada state gaming industry is still enjoying an upward swing.
