Carson gaming win reaches record high

Carson City casinos set a record in August, winning more than $10 million for the first time ever.

Total winnings for the month in the Carson Valley area, which includes portions of Douglas County, increased 5.54 percent over August 2003 to $10,384,241. The majority of the win came from slot machines, which accounted for more than $9.5 million of that total. The biggest growth reported was in the new multi-denomination slots and penny slots.

August was the Carson Valley area's 16th-straight month of increases.

Statewide, Nevada casinos reported an prosperous month with an overall 11.23 percent increase. That set an August record of $905.1 million total winnings - more than $60 million higher than the previous August record of $839.5 million.

While it was an excellent month for slots and other machines, it was a bad month for game-and table win. But the cause in both cases had a lot to do with the calendar.

July ended on a weekend, which, according to Gaming Control Board analyst Frank Streshley, means the slot machine win from July 30-31 wasn't actually tallied by casinos until Monday, Aug. 2. He said that causes an artificial jump in August slot profits.

He pointed to the weak numbers reported for July, when Nevada suffered its first decline in gaming in seven months.

At the same time, it meant there was actually one less weekend's worth of game-and-table profits in August. According to Streshley, game-and- table play is dramatically higher on weekends.

The result was a 21.9 percent increase in slot win for August, but a 9.4 percent decrease in game-and-table win.

The effect of weekend game-and-table losses was most acute at South Shore, which relies more heavily than most areas on weekend gamblers. There game-and-table win was down just about 25 percent while slot win rose 30 percent. Overall, South Shore casinos won a total of $40.9 million - an increase of 10.3 percent over August 2003.

North Shore also had a good month, recording a 16.2 percent increase in total win. But again slot win carried the totals, increasing 27.6 percent, while game and table win dropped 12.5 percent. Total win at North Lake Tahoe was $5.25 million.

The two largest increases reported for the month were both in Southern Nevada, where North Las Vegas and Boulder Strip casinos each reported increases of more than 50 percent over August 2003. The reason there is growth in new casinos and expansion of existing facilities.

August Highlights

Major details from Tuesday's state Gaming Control Board's report on August 2004 winnings by Nevada's casinos:

STATEWIDE: $905.1 million win,

up 11.2 percent.

CARSON-GARDNERVILLE-MINDEN: $10.4 million, up 5.5 percent.

LAS VEGAS STRIP: $429.6 million,

up 7.3 percent.

DOWNTOWN LAS VEGAS: $55 million,

up 2.2 percent.

NORTH LAS VEGAS: $25.2 million,

up 52.2 percent.

LAUGHLIN: $47.7 million, up 10.4 percent.

BOULDER STRIP: $74.7 million,

up 57.7 percent.

RENO: $68.1 million, down 5.7 percent.

SPARKS: $14 million, down 8.8 percent.

NORTH TAHOE: $5.3 million, up 16.2 percent.

STATELINE: $40.9 million, up 10.3 percent.

ELKO COUNTY: $20.1 million,

down 2.9 percent.

CHURCHILL: $1.6 million, up 5.1 percent.

HUMBOLDT: $1.7 million, up 7.5 percent.

WHITE PINE: $580,000, down 5.7 percent

Contact reporter Geoff Dornan at nevadaappeal@sbcglobal.net or 687-8750.