South Shore Casinos Shoot Up in October, North Shore Decreases

South Lake Tahoe casinos reported significant gains in October while gaming on the North Shore experienced a slump.

South Shore casinos Gaming Wins Exceed 2018 Figures

South Shore casinos increased by 14.3% to reach $19.5 million due to a 2.6 million growth in game and table win, which corresponds to 115.7%.

The $19,503,080 South Shore “gaming win” marks a 14.32% growth over the same month last year. As a state, the revenue of $1,021,909,865 has fallen by 3.85%. The gains in three of the last four months exceeded 2018 profits.

The “gaming win” consists of the computed income of casinos before business expenses and taxes.

The results were reported by Nevada Gaming Control Board‘s monthly recap of the state’s casino revenue. Nevada’s non-restricted gaming licensees boasted a “gaming win” of $952,404,403 for the month.

Baccarat is reported in Nevada’s smaller jurisdictions, under the “Other Games” category in the report. The category accounted for 27.4% of casino bets versus a negative -33% year on year.

North Shore Casinos Experience a Decrease

North Shore casinos at Crystal Bay were on the opposite trend in October. Total win decreased by 17.7% or $382,000 to fall down to $1.9 million. Win was up 18.7% last year, which corresponded to negative figures for North Shore currently. Throughout the calendar year, North Shore is now down by 6.3%.

Washoe County casinos won a 3.9% more or 2.7 million adding up to a total of $76.6 million. However, Washoe is still down for the year by just under 1%.

According to Gaming Control Board Analyst Mike Lawton, the $1.02 billion in win by non-restricted gaming licensees marks a 3.85% decrease and this was due mostly to Baccarat, which brought in solely $56.7 million. The amount corresponds to 25.7%, $19.6 million fall compared to a year ago.

How Big is Baccarat Worldwide?

Last year, baccarat brought in 88% of the $33.2 billion gains of Macau’s 40 casinos. The accounts for the biggest part of Singapore casinos revenues as well, and even on the Las Vegas Strip—where many visitors play the game without being fully aware of its rules —it accounts for 18 percent of total casino win. The only game that drives more gains for Strip casinos is slots, as the number of slot machines in Las Vegas is much higher than baccarat tables.

According to Bill Zender, a former Nevada Gaming Control Agent, “Before the influx of Asian players, to get people interested in the game, we really had to dress it up. So you had the big double tables, dealers in tuxedos, and attractive women in evening gowns standing around. It was very James Bond.”

Zender adds that, over the past twenty years, baccarat has turned into the preferred game of Asian high rollers as it is uniquely suited to their cultural preferences.