Stateline gaming down 42 percent over two years

The chief source of Douglas County's gaming revenue dropped 42 percent in two years, thanks to Indian Gaming, officials said.

The casinos at Stateline brought in $23.79 million in July, according to numbers released by the Gaming Control Board on Friday. That's down from $27.25 million in July 2009, and way down from the $40.7 million Stateline casinos raked in during July 2008.

July is typically the biggest month for Stateline casinos, and because it ended on a weekend this year, the total will be adjusted upward when figures are tallied with the next month.

The gaming take in Carson Valley, which includes casinos in Carson City and Topaz Lake, were down 4.12 percent to $8.9 million compared to July 2009.

Gaming Control Board Analyst Mark Lawton said even though the $829.67 million total is the sixth decline in seven months, the rate of decrease is much slower than last year when the declines were double-digit. As an example, he pointed out that July 2009 was down 12.5 percent from July 2008.

"There were 10 double-digit declines in 2009," he said. "They've all been single-digit declines this year."

Lawton said July's numbers were negatively affected by the month ending on a Saturday. That means the final weekend's win won't be reported until the August numbers are released. He said if the estimated $28 million in winnings from that weekend were added to July's total, the state would have been down just 1.7 percent instead of 4.9.