“Ugly” month on the Strip

That’s the word that normally temperate J.P. Morgan analyst Joseph Greff employedd to describe a July in with Las Vegas Strip winnings fell 14% (as opposed to 8% statewide; others had a different perspective). And since the month began and ended on a weekday, there’s not going to be any late-month slot revenue hiding in August. If anything, some June play may have been sloshed into the numbers (July began on a Monday) and they still weren’t pretty. Poor baccarat hold — and terrible casino win, down 39% — is to blame for the sharp decline and, year to date, the Strip is flat with 2012. Lady Luck wasn’t with the casinos, whose table win fell 21% although money dropped on the felt was only 8% less. Non-baccarat win was up 2%, despite smaller play. A small reduction (1%) in slot coin-in yielded 5.5% less win.

If there was a silver lining, it was a 1.5% uptick in winnings at the locals casinos, despite a 4.5% slippage Downtown and a 12% falloff in North Las Vegas. Important outlying markets like Reno, Lake Tahoe and Laughlin did well, up 6%, 9% and 5% respectively. Indeed, play in Tahoe was huge ($32 million) by its own standards and the market, which looked dead and buried not so long ago, is enjoying a good year. By comparison, North LV has had only one revenue-positive month all 2012.