Nevada gambling revenues up 1.5 percent in 2012
Nevada gambling revenues up 1.5 percent in 2012, 10.2 percent in December alone
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) -- Nevada casinos won $10.8 billion from gamblers last year, representing a 1.5 percent increase over 2011 and the third consecutive year of gains following stiff declines since the recession, state regulators reported Friday.
Gamblers to Nevada's casinos wagered $139.6 billion on slot machines, table games and sports betting, up 0.3 percent from 2011. A breakdown shows the $107 billion pumped into slot and video gambling machines was down half a percent, but $32.6 billion bet on games rose nearly 5 percent, representing the highest amount ever recorded for games volume, said Mike Lawton, senior analyst with the state Gaming Control Board.
The statewide game and table win was $4.1 billion, up 2.9 percent. Of that, baccarat, a high-roller game favored by Asian players, accounted for $1.4 billion. Baccarat winnings were up nearly 9 percent last year.
"For three straight years, baccarat has recorded the largest win amount for any game, representing 12.7 percent of the total statewide gaming win," Lawton said. "Ten years ago, it was 3.8 percent of total win."
Resorts on the Las Vegas Strip, Nevada's gambling mecca, won $6.2 billion to post a 2.3 percent gain over 2011. Strip winnings amounted to 57.2 percent of the total state win, marking the fourth consecutive year the Strip has a set a record of dominance in relation to the statewide take.
Downtown Las Vegas casinos also recorded a positive year, wining $509 million, up 2.5 percent from 2011.
Other regions weren't as lucrative.
The $727 million won by casinos in northern Nevada's Washoe County was off 2.5 percent from the year before. Clubs in Reno saw a 3 percent drop in winnings, to $523.8 million.
For the month of December, the casino win was up 10.2 percent, or $87.6 million, statewide over the same month a year ago.
Las Vegas Strip resorts reported gambling revenues of $588.3 million, up 13.5 percent from December 2011.
Casinos statewide won about $943 million during the month, and the state collected more than $39 million in taxes based on that amount.
The state's share represents a more than 23.5 percent increase from the previous year.
For the fiscal year that began July 1, tax collections are up $1.8 million, or 0.5 percent, over projections made in November by the Economic Forum, an independent panel that forecasts state tax revenues.
