Statewide gaming numbers flat, Carson up

The casino gaming win was essentially flat in January, down just two-thirds of a percent to $877.4 million.

The culprit in what would otherwise have been a good month was baccarat, which was off 39.7 percent to $65.1 million compared with January 2010.

Other than baccarat, game and table win would have been up 3.3 percent for the month. Statewide slot win was up by 5.6 percent.

Gaming Control Board Analyst Mike Lawton said the key difference was that, this year, Chinese New Year fell in February rather than January.

"We're anticipating it coming back in February," he said of Baccarat.

The Carson Valley Area, however, did much better, posting a 10.57 percent increase to $8.08 million. That boost, however, was primarily attributed to the fact that, a year ago, the Carson Valley Inn was undergoing a major renovation that closed down a significant part of the games pit and slots area.

For the seven months of the fiscal year, Carson Valley area, which includes portions of Douglas County outside of the Lake Tahoe basin, as well as the capital, is up 2.3 percent. The state as a whole is up 1.2 percent for the year so far.

This is the third consecutive month of declines in total gaming win.

Lawton said the brightest spot was tax collections for February: a 15.26 percent increase over January 2010. The $68.7 million in revenue is $9.1 million more than the prior year's February. Thus far this fiscal year, revenue collections are 3.3 percent ahead of the same period last year, a total of $419.7 million.