YOUR AD HERE »

Nevada casinos have record August, winning $1.06 billion: But South Shore’s craps revenue takes a big hit

Brendan Riley

CARSON CITY (AP) – Nevada casinos won $1.06 billion in August, a record for the month, the state Gaming Control Board reported Tuesday.

Frank Streshley, senior research analyst for the board, said the August win was up 7.5 percent compared with the same month a year earlier.

Streshley said the Las Vegas Strip had a big month, with a gain of 14.3 percent, due in part to strong table game action that favored the resorts. He noted the casinos’ take from baccarat games was more than double what it was in August 2005.



Other factors included convention activity and the Hasim Rahman-Oleg Maskaev heavyweight fight in Las Vegas.

While the Strip was up, downtown Las Vegas was down 14.3 percent, the third straight monthly decline. Streshley said factors included the closure of the Lady Luck hotel-casino for remodeling.



Other markets that showed declines included Reno, down 2.3 percent, and clubs on Lake Tahoe’s south shore, down 12.8 percent. However, casinos in Sparks posted a gain of 7.6 percent.

Streshley said clubs on Tahoe’s South Shore were hard hit by lucky dice players. He said craps revenue in August was down more than 100 percent compared with the take in August 2005.

The statewide win was the amount left in casino coffers after gamblers wagered $14 billion during August. That included $11.3 billion bet in slot machine games, and the rest on table games.

The state collected $67 million in percentage fees on gambling winnings, based on the August win. That was up 8.3 percent compared with the fees collected for the same month in 2005, and the total is about $5.4 million higher than what the state Economic Forum had predicted earlier.

“Win” is a gross figure, with no operating costs or other expenses deducted. It represents casino revenue only – not hotel, restaurant or bar revenues.

A breakdown of the win showed that slots accounted for about $726.1 million of the total. That included $307 million won by multidenomination slots, up 19 percent. Penny slots were second with a win of $118 million, up 37 percent.

The board said live games, including poker, accounted for the $337 million balance of total. That included $105.5 million won on blackjack tables, up 7.7 percent; $33.7 million on craps tables, up 13.6 percent; $29 million on roulette, up 10.9 percent; and $3.5 million on sports pools, down 42 percent. Poker games won $13.8 million, up 17.7 percent.

August 2006 revenue

Major details from Tuesday’s state Gaming Control Board’s report on August 2006 winnings by Nevada’s casinos:

— STATEWIDE: $1.06 billion win, up 7.5 percent.

— LAS VEGAS STRIP: $556.3 million, up 14.3 percent.

— DOWNTOWN LAS VEGAS: $45.9 million, down 14.3 percent.

— NORTH LAS VEGAS: $29.1 million, down 3.7 percent.

— LAUGHLIN: $47.6 million, down 1.4 percent.

— BOULDER STRIP: $78.7 million, down 6.2 percent.

— RENO: $68.6 million, down 2.3 percent.

— SPARKS: $15.3 million, up 7.6 percent.

— NORTH TAHOE: $4.9 million, down 0.4 percent.

— STATELINE: $32.5 million, down 12.3 percent.

— ELKO COUNTY: $22.3 million, up 3.5 percent.

— CARSON-GARDNERVILLE-MINDEN: $11 million, up 6.9 percent.

— CHURCHILL: $1.9 million, down 0.7 percent.

— HUMBOLDT: $1.8 million, down 1.5 percent.

— WHITE PINE: $677,000, up 8.8 percent.

– The Associated Press


Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

Readers around the Lake Tahoe Basin and beyond make the Tahoe Tribune's work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

Your donation will help us continue to cover COVID-19 and our other vital local news.