/Las
Vegas Gaming Wire/ - NEVADA - Nevada casino gamblers lost
2.8 percent more money betting on slots and table games
during fiscal 2003 than they did in fiscal 2002, but some
games didn't contribute to the turnaround.
According
to the Gaming Control Board's fiscal year-end numbers
for the 12-month period ended June 30, casinos won less
from blackjack, minibaccarat and bingo players. The top
game in the state's casino pits, blackjack continued its
recent slide, as the game won $1.08 billion from bettors,
down 4.2 percent after decreasing 5.4 percent in fiscal
2002.
Blackjack's
share of table game win decreased to 33.6 percent of the
$3.22 billion total, down from the prior year's 36.4 percent
mark. The state's 140 minibaccarat tables won $163.2 million
from gamblers, down 12.42 percent, almost the mirror image
of upscale cousin baccarat, which won $437.5 million,
up
16.49 percent.
The state's 43 bingo parlors won $2.5
million from bettors, down 34.7 percent during a year
when a late-summer bingo scam at several Station Casinos
properties prompted state regulators to shut down the
use of some electronic bingo card minders, called GTIs,
that allowed players to watch television while simultaneously
playing dozens of bingo cards at a time.
Dollar,
quarter and nickel slot denominations all reported declines
in fiscal 2003, but control board statistical analyst
Frank Streshley said the comparisons with prior years
are skewed by the separate "multi-denomination"
category.
In
past years, operators with games that allowed players
to choose from more than one denomination were allowed
to categorize those devices as either multi-denomination
or as one of the denominations on the device. Operators
must now report those machines' results only as multi-denomination
slots. Multi-machines won $863.5 million from gamblers,
up 135.3 percent, a change Streshley attributed to the
new reporting requirement and to the spread of multi-denomination
games. The change also contributed to drops of 8.1, 6.8
and 5 percent for nickel-, quarter- and dollar-denominated
machines, he said.
Nickel
slots solidified their hold as the second biggest money-making
denomination, winning $1.51 billion, 23.9 percent of the
total slot win. Nickel devices provided only 12.1 percent
one decade earlier, in fiscal 1993. Quarter slots won
$1.97 billion from gamblers, 31.1 percent of the total
slot win, down from 47.2 percent in fiscal 1993. Dollar
slots won $1.25 billion, continuing a steady decade-long
decline to 19.8 percent of total slot win, compared to
33 percent in fiscal 2003.
Among the table games with improved results
were craps, baccarat, roulette and pai gow poker.
Craps, the state's second winningest table
game, won $445.4 million, up 5.9 percent. Baccarat tables
won $437.5 million, up 16.5 percent. Roulette tables won
$262.4 million, up 1.1 percent and pai gow poker tables
won $119.6 million, up less than one-tenth of 1 percent.
The state's 159 sports books reported
a 12.8 percent increase in the amount won from sports
bettors, to $124.4 million. Football bettors dropped $51.5
million, up 33.3 percent; basketball bettors lost $33.7
million, up 12.2 percent; and baseball wagerers lost $12.2
million, down 16 percent.
Casinos'
most lucrative sports betting segment, parlay cards, won
$23 million from gamblers, up 20.1 percent. Nevada's 125
race books won $85.5 million, down 1.4 percent.
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