Nevada Casinos See 15% Drop In January

LOS ANGELES— Nevada casino revenues fell 15% in January, in a widely anticipated drop driven by this years loss of two important tourist events in the month, said analysts. The drop in the Nevada gaming “win” — the amount of money casinos keep after all bets are paid— included a 24% drop in revenues from the Las Vegas Strip, according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board. The statewide gaming win for January totaled $766 million, compared with $900 million a year ago. Nearly half of that total came from Strip-based casinos, which took in $378 million in January 2002 gaming revenues, compared with $497 million last year. Analysts said the steep drop was widely expected because two of the months major events for 2001— the Super Bowl and Chinese New Year— fell in February this year. Those two events, however, reportedly helped boost the city’s occupancy and ADR for February. Gaming revenues meanwhile in the Southern Nevadas Laughlin market were down 5% to $49.5 million, while the figure was up 7% to $61 million at the Boulder Strip. In Northern Nevada revenues for Reno were down near 11% to $50.4 million and were down 19% to $19.6 million in South Lake Tahoe. — Reuters