Last month was the busiest in McCarran International Airport history, seeing 4,590,539 arrivals and departures. Unfortunately for the casinos, this did not translate into record prosperity. Far from it. Gross gaming revenue toppled 
11% to $517.5 million. Slots were a bright spot, up 2% on 2.5% higher coin-in. But baccarat win fell a cataclysmic 55%, despite only 4% less wagering, which means that “bad” is something of an understatement when describing the house’s luck. (JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff thinks the wipeout was confined to six casinos. No prizes for guessing which, however.) Non-baccarat table games were but 2% lower.
Higher slot handle (5%) couldn’t save locals casinos from a disappointing May, with slot revenues down 2.5%. Downtown ($55 million) rose 3%, North Las Vegas ($25.5 million) fell 6%, the Boulder Strip ($70 million) tumbled 12.5%, Laughlin ($45.5 million) was 3% upward and uncategorized Clark County grossed $111 million for a 3.5% boost. The second-best month was Carson Valley‘s, up 9.5% to $26.5 million. Reno grossed $55 million, up 3%, and Lake Tahoe hopped 11.5%, for a haul of $20 million. Strong convention numbers in Las Vegas (+6.5%) didn’t help the city, which saw 91% occupancy although room rates were up 5% to $152 million.
Off-Strip, “No contract, no peace!” was the rallying cry of Culinary Union members as they picketed the Palms. The Culinary aimed to turn out 1,000 protesters but The Associated Press doesn’t say whether the union achieved that benchmark or not. That’s an awful lot of fannies to get in motion, although the Culinary is not to be underestimated.
* New Jersey is claiming the title of sports betting capital of America after May handle of $319 million surpassed Nevada‘s $317.5 million. That accolade comes with qualifiers. For one, New Jersey counts bets on, say, the Chicago Cubs to win the World Series. Nevada doesn’t tally those sorts of ‘futures’ bets until they’re paid. Also, mobile-betting technology in the Garden State is said to be superior to that in the Silver State. New Jersey better celebrate while it can: Customers from Pennsylvania and New York can now bet closer to home, so I suspect what we’re seeing is a short-lived phenomenon.
* The analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein have read their tea leaves and see little reason for U.S.-based casino owners to worrying about losing their concessions as collateral damage from the trade war with China. “While we 
acknowledge the souring U.S.-China relationship heightens this risk, we view the scenario where one or more of the U.S. casino operators loses their gaming concession to be remote, unless the relationship sours significantly further into a Cold War environment,” the boffins wrote. Worst-case scenario, penned the analysts, concessionaires could see increased costs of doing business in Macao (including higher taxes) and additional government oversight. We think the three affected concessionaires will take those odds and gladly. However, lest they get complacent, they’re being told that their junket partners need to get their act together on anti-money-laundering compliance.
* Count the Mescalero Apache Tribe among those taking advantage of a loophole in New Mexico law that allows Native American nations to offer sports betting without amending their compacts. Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort & Casino has announced a partnership with William Hill that will go live “later this summer.” The casino will knock together a seating area outfitted with 12 large TV screens. “Over the years, our customers have come to expect a high level of service and the best casino offerings possible. Our sports book will be no exception,” said casino COO Frizzell Frizzell Jr., setting a high bar for the Mescalero to hurdle. Frizzell is promising prop bets will be available, which should help business, while the addition of sports betting should easily push the casino past last year’s $69 million revenue mark and beyond $70 million.
