Across the world, major stock indices have been ravaged over the past 30 days. In the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted on Friday, briefly dipping below 8,000 points in early trading. The global economic struggle has taken its toll on the gambling market across the United States. The Nevada Gaming Control Board released its August monthly “win” figures this week. Of note was that statewide gambling win declined by 8% in August, 2008 in comparison to the same period in 2007.
In Las Vegas Strip casinos, revenue in August was $494 million, down 7.43% in comparison to August, 2007. Downtown Las Vegas casinos reported a dip of 9.53% to $43 million. North Las Vegas casinos were hit hard, with “win” dropping by 17.82% year over year. Laughlin’s gambling “win” dropped 10.01% to $44 million and the Boulder Strip dove 22.43% to $52 million. The only salvation for gambling revenue was in Mesquite, where win increased 2.11% to $10.8 million. Mesquite casinos include the Eureka and Stateline.
For the fiscal year to date (which is July 1, 2008 through August 31, 2008), gaming win has dropped by 10.68% statewide. August marked the eighth consecutive month that gaming win has declined in Nevada. The last time the Gaming Control Board posted an increase in win was in December of 2007, when revenues increased by 3.06%.
Also released this week was revenue money from fee collections, which are derived from gambling revenues. Fees go to the State in the form of taxes. They declined by 6.16% in August to $46 million. Fees collected in August (from July’s business cycle) were down over 24%.
The news isn’t particularly rosy on the other side of the country either, where revenues from Atlantic City casinos are expected to drop by 15%, according to Larry Mullin, President of the Borgata, who shared his thoughts with the Associated Press. Mark Juliano, CEO of Trump Entertainment, commented, “These are difficult times. The Atlantic City casino industry is simply not in a position to absorb another negative factor.” The city is also in the midst of potentially imposing a smoking ban, which is Juliano’s “negative factor.”
MGM Mirage stock, which is traded on the NYSE under the symbol “MGM,” was down nearly 13% at the time of writing to $14.18, its lowest value over the past 12 months. It had ballooned as high as $100.37 over the last 52 weeks. Meanwhile, the stock price of Trump Entertainment, which can be found under the symbol “TRMP,” was down 9.5% at the time of writing to $0.76. The entire market was down between 3.5% and 7.1%. Overall, it has been a tough time on Wall Street and a difficult period for the casino industry as consumers have less disposable income.
Meanwhile, the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event logged the second largest field in the tournament series’ history. The tournament drew 6,844 people, which was the second most in Main Event history. The largest was the 8,773 player Main Event field during the 2006 WSOP, which was ultimately won by Jamie Gold. The 2008 WSOP marked the “Year of the Pro,” with professional poker players winning 38 out of the first 53 events. One other record may be broken at the WSOP Main Event final table. If Peter Eastgate or Craig Marquis were to win, they would shatter the mark held by Phil Hellmuth for youngest Main Event champion ever.
