CARSON CITY, Nev. — While most reporting areas saw gaming win change by just a fraction in July, South Shore casinos at Lake Tahoe enjoyed a 25.5 percent increase to a hair under $30 million.
By comparison, the Carson Valley Area, as well as Washoe County casinos, were up by just a third of 1 percent while Elko and Clark counties were down by about a percent.
South Shore casinos at Stateline raked in $6.1 million more this July than last year for a total of $29.9 million, but Gaming Control Board Analyst Mike Lawton said it was a very easy comparison since south shore was down 14.8 percent a year ago.
Slot win was up 20 percent or $3.3 million despite the fact the volume of play was down. Game and Table win was up 37 percent or $2.8 million. The major driver there was “21” play which increased a whopping 82.7 percent.
Lawton said statewide, the total $996.44 million in win amounted to a 0.16 percent decrease from the same month last year — down just $1.6 million.
He said the difference was primarily Baccarat where total win was down 16.4 percent or $19.8 million compared to July 2017. The difference was primarily a reduction in the hold percentage from 15.35 to 13.35 percent. As a result, total win on the Strip was actually down 5.75 percent.
The Carson Valley reporting area, which includes valley portions of Douglas County, was up by three-tenths of a percent to $9.56 million — a $30,000 difference.
It was a tough comparison since total win was up 8 percent last year. The culprit was table games, which were down 38.6 percent to $418,000. Slot win was up but just by 3.3 percent.
But Lawton said this marks the 14th consecutive year-over-year increase and Carson is up 6.6 percent so far this calendar year.
In Washoe County, the story was similar with total win up three tenths of a percent to $78.1 million. That is Washoe’s 15th consecutive increase and the county is up 6.1 percent through seven months of the calendar year.
North Shore casinos at Crystal Bay increased win by 2 percent to $3.51 million. That is North Shore’s fifth consecutive increase. Slot win was up $20,000 and table games win up $49,000 in July.
Finally, Churchill County casinos won $1.68 million in July. That is a 5.4 percent decrease from a year ago. Games win dropped 65 percent to just $23,000 and slot play fell 3.1 percent to $1.66 million.
