Is this the end of a five month rising trend?
Figures from the Nevada Gaming Control Board for the month of July 2018 show that the US gambling hub saw a decline in revenues for the first time in five months.
The overall decline was small at 0.16 percent to $996.4 million, but it was more impactful on the Las Vegas Strip, where revenue fell 5.75 percent y-o-y to $533.1 million.
Since January 2018’s decline of 2 percent, Nevada had enjoyed five straight months of increases, including a 4.17 percent increase in June (see previous InfoPowa report).
Off-setting the decline on the Strip, revenue rose almost 15 percent North Las Vegas, was up over 18 percent for casinos in the Boulder Area, and over 25.5 percent in the South Shore Lake Tahoe Area. Downtown Las Vegas casinos were also up over 8.2 percent.
NGCB analyst Mike Lawton attributed the overall decline to a lower hold on table games, noting: “State-wide gaming table win was off about $37.2 million, or 10.2 percent. Pretty much all the table games did not hold very well.”
Baccarat revenue was in decline by 16.4 percent state-wide and just over 18 percent on the Strip.
State-wide, slots revenue rose 5.6 percent, but just 3 percent on The Strip.
The Fourth of July national holiday fell on a Wednesday this year rather than over a weekend, and this influenced revenue totals, according to some analysts.