Nevada: Strip weak, locals strong; Busing it to Macao

Las Vegas Strip gambling revenues were down 4% last month to $552 million. Some of that is attributable to an impossible baccarat comparison. In March 2018, baccarat win was up 118%. Last month it was down 56% on 43% less wagering. Non-baccarat table games won 16% more on 3.5% higher wagering. Slot coin-in was 5% and the one-armed bandits kept 5.5% more than in 2018. The real strength was in the locals market, up 6.5%. Downtown ($59 million) was up 9%, North Las Vegas did $26 million (+8.5%) and the Boulder Strip raked in $70.5 million (+9%). Laughlin lost ground, down 4% to $49.5 million but uncategorized Clark County gained 5% to $112 million.

Reno had an off month, down 2% to $50 million, while Lake Tahoe was up 9%, banking $16 million. The most robust performance was that of outlying Elko, 10.5% higher with a gross of $30 million.

* Despite having screwed the pooch on CityCenter, general contractor Tutor Perini has landed a gig in Arkansas. Its Roy Anderson Corp. subsidiary has been hired to build a 240,000-square-foot casino and 300-room hotel at Southland Gaming & Racing Park. The steakhouse and buffet will also be expanded. Alas, the coming advent of casino gambling does not mean an end to Southland’s greyhound racing, much as we might wish otherwise. At full build-out the casino will have 2,400 slots and 60 table games. Track owner Delaware North, meanwhile, has many burners going at once, having just acquired SkyCity Darwin casino in Australia for $188 million.

* How much difference does a bridge make? Visitor traffic to Macao last month was up 24% last month, mostly driven (pardon the pun) by day trippers. This is not good news for high-speed ferries, which cost more to ride than do the passenger buses from Hong Kong and Zhuhai. Bus traffic is also considered more cost-effective. The impact on Macao’s casino business however is expected to be minor, as your average bus traveler is a low-roller at best. Tourism from South Korea spiked 8%, suggesting that some big spenders are coming out of hiding. Meanwhile, lottery sales in mainland China fell 13%, although they still raked in nearly $16 billion. Sports-lottery sales, however, went up 10%.

* New Mexico can’t stem the tide of sports betting. Following the lead of the Santa Ana and Pojoaque Pueblo casinos, Isleta Pueblo is preparing to offer sports wagering in the near future. While the Lege has not specifically legalized sports betting, neither has it outlawed and the state’s tribal casinos are taking advantage of the sovereignty to offer it. Good on them.

* Do you feel lonely when you travel by yourself? I don’t but, if you do, the hotel industry is trying to address the problem. Co-working spaces are one idea. Another is nightly wine get-togethers. (Works for me.) One of the exemplary instances of this is in Summerlin, where Element (a hotel built largely from recycled materials) is designed to encourage socializing as well as a communal atmosphere, right down to open-air barbecues by the pool. It’s a trend worth encouraging, although we wonder if the behemoth scale of Strip resorts militates against any trend toward greater intimacy.