Nevada Gambling Revenue Down 1% in August

Mesquite was the only other area in Clark County that reported a gaming revenue decline in August, with totals falling 1.9 percent.

Meanwhile, downtown casinos grew revenue 15 percent – the market’s 11th increase in the last 13 months – North Las Vegas was up 21 percent and the Boulder Strip market grew nearly 30 percent. Strip casino revenue declined 4.7 percent to $527.4 million.

Reno casino revenue was down 4 percent to $51 million, and South Lake Tahoe revenue tumbled 34 percent to $19 million in August.

The latest Vegas gaming revenue numbers show that the strip is continuing to slide.

The Strip declines were due to baccarat, where revenue declined 24.1 percent. It’s also suffering as Chinese economic growth has slowed and the country devalued its currency. Washoe closed fiscal 2015 in June with a 4.8 percent rise over fiscal 2014, the third straight year of rising revenues after years of declines at the hand of recession and tribal gaming in California.

At a roundtable discussion held during this week’s G2E in Las Vegas, the American Gaming Association released the new research, which it said exposes how illegal gambling is used to fund large criminal enterprises involved in racketeering, money laundering, extortion and fraud.

Laughlin casinos also posted a revenue increase.

“The economy is improving, people are going back to work, and gas prices being where they are doesn’t hurt”, Lawton said about the improving slot machine outlook.