Lake Tahoe South Shore casinos see strong October amid statewide slump

That reporting area had an easy comparison since October 2016 was down 22.2 percent in part because of winter storms and a fire that kept visitors away. Slot win was up 25.6 percent, more than offsetting the 4.5 percent decrease in table games win.

As was previously reported, South Shore casinos saw a slight dip in gaming win in September. A 14-percent ($906,000) decrease in game and table win fueled an overall 2.96 percent ($643,000) decrease in that month.

Statewide in October, total win was $988.7 million, just three tenths of a percent up.

Gaming Control Board Analyst Mike Lawton said this October was going up against a very strong comparison since October 2016 was up more than 11 percent.

One key was a 6 percent decrease by resorts on the Las Vegas Strip, but Lawton said that is a better performance than some experts predicted in the wake of the Oct. 1 massacre that left 59 dead and hundreds wounded and injured. Despite that, McCarran International Airport reported its busiest October ever, indicating that tourist cancellations were less than anticipated.

Also contributing to the flat month was the fact this October had one less weekend day than October 2016.

Lake Tahoe's North Shore casinos at Crystal Bay reported a 3.5 percent, $69,000 decrease in win to $1.9 million for the month. That ends a streak of three consecutive monthly increases for North Shore.

The Carson Valley was up just a tenth of 1 percent, about $12,000. Nonetheless, it was the fifth consecutive monthly increase for Carson Valley, which includes valley portions of Douglas County in addition to the capital.

Lawton said that was a pleasant surprise since experts had expected a decrease in win because Slot World closed for remodeling in mid-October.

Slot win was up 2.2 percent or $165,000. That was offset by a 27.6 percent drop in table games win — $153,000.

Churchill County gaming licensees reported October winnings totaling $1,675,000. That is a 1.41 percent decrease compared with October 2016. Slot play, which makes up the vast majority of Churchill casino win, was actually up six tenths of a percent. But the scant $48,000 in table games win was down nearly 41 percent from a year earlier.

Lawton said one interesting note was that sports pool betting saw a record volume of $566.4 million bet. A major factor was the 52.8 percent increase in baseball betting, a World Series all time record of $101.5 million. The old record was just $66.4 million.

Even so, sports pool win was down nearly $11 million from last year to $35.5 million.