Baccarat pushes up Nevada revenues in October

Nevada casinos won $961 million in October, posting an 8.1 percent year-on-year increase thanks to heavy action by the high rollers at baccarat tables, the Nevada Gaming Control Board reported Friday.

Winnings on the Las Vegas Strip were up 13.3 percent in October after bringing in nearly $561 million that month. The percentage gain comes against a tough comparison with the same month last year, when Strip resorts saw winnings increase 16.1 percent, the Associated Press news agency reported.

Mike Lawton, a senior control board analyst noted that the Strip casinos’ win “represents the first double-digit increase for the Strip versus a double digit comparison since July 2007.”

Nevada collected $65.4 million in taxes based on October statewide casino winnings, an 8.6 percent increase compared with last year, the Board’s numbers reveal.

Gamblers wagered $842.4 million on baccarat, up $337.2 million, or 66.7 percent, posting a record amount for the month, Lawton said. The $158.2 million won by casinos on the game was also a record for October and represents a 73.3 percent increase over the same month a year ago.

The “casino win” is what was left in casino coffers after gamblers wagered $12 billion on slot machines, card and table games and sports betting. The $9.3 billion pumped into slot machines and video poker games was down $2.9 million from October 2010, AP reported.

Gamblers spent $2.7 billion on table games, an increase of $299.2 million or 12.2 percent.

But it was baccarat that saved the day: excluding those numbers, table game volume was down 2 percent, or $38 million, Lawton said, and the total statewide win would have posted a fractional gain of 0.7 percent.

For the last fiscal year that ended June 30, baccarat accounted for 20 percent of total winnings on the Strip, he added, pointing out that the game was becoming increasingly dominant.

In related news, Atlantic City numbers in November continued to cause concern, with combined casino revenue falling 6.3 percent from a year ago.

The New Jersey state gambling city’s 11 gambling halls took in $245.1 million, according to figures released Friday by the state Division of Gaming Enforcement.

Slot machine revenue fell 4.9 percent, to $173.2 million, while table game revenue decreased by 9.6 percent, to $71.9 million. Only four of the 11 casinos reported a monthly revenue increase.

Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino was the biggest loser, down nearly 32 percent from a year ago. It took in $8.6 million last month

For the first 11 months of the year, the casinos won $3.1 billion. That’s down 7.7 percent from the same period in 2010.