Las Vegas Strip Gambling Revenue Fell Most on Record in '08 Amid Recession

[Purveyor]

Source: Bloomberg

By Beth Jinks

Feb. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Las Vegas Strip casino gambling revenue tumbled 23 percent in December, capping the worst annual decline on record, as the city enters the second year of the U.S. recession with thousands more hotel rooms and fewer visitors to fill them.

Gambling proceeds in the biggest U.S. gaming center slumped 10.6 percent to $6.12 billion last year, the steepest decline since data started being compiled in the mid-1980s. Last year was bleaker than 2001, when the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks frightened travelers and led to a 2.1 percent drop, said Frank Streshley, an analyst at Nevada’s Gaming Control Board.

December’s gambling proceeds of $474.2 million represent the Strip’s 12th straight monthly decline, according to data released today by the state gaming regulator in an e-mailed statement.

The number of Las Vegas visitors is expected to fall 3 percent to 4 percent this year, Rossi Ralenkotter, chief executive officer of the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority, said in a Feb. 4 interview in New York. Passenger flight capacity remains almost 15 percent less than a year ago, he said, as developers prepare to open more than 13,000 new hotel rooms in 2009.

“The marketplace is very, very volatile,” Ralenkotter said. “Over the last 30 years, we’ve seen one or two of these challenges happening, but we’ve never collectively had this many parts of our economy and our lifestyle being impacted all at the same time.”

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aJ.QlbFmQMZs&refer=us

[BayjanDem]

1. casino ad

I liked the casino that accompanied this story.

[MineralMan]

2. Well, my wife and I went to Vegas in January, for a reunion with

some old friends. We did our best to increase income on the strip, but to no avail. We just kept increasing our money. When we left, we were surprised to find that our winnings more than paid for the entire trip.

Sorry, Vegas.

[RaleighNCDUer]

7. Hey, it happens

to one in a thousand.

That's how they stay in business.

[MineralMan]

8. Hah! I have a secret system, you see...

Don't tell anyone: Wheel of Fortune quarter machines. Enough said. Keep it under your hat. Wink, wink.

[rollingrock]

12. Slot machines on the strip are pretty loose

at least the ones I play. I often win on the very first pull. Get a big handful of quarters on every payout.

I wonder why the slots are so loose, but I guess most people just take their slot winnings to the tables, so the casino ends up winning the money back.

[kestrel91316]

9. I drove to visit family in Ely several years ago and on the way back to LA

I stopped at the stateline place and played quarter slots for an hour or so. I won $125, more than paying for my gas and meals for the trip!

However, over the years I have lost far more than $125 in Vegas, lol.

[dbonds]

3. Glad I moved away from there.

I worked for a company that made slot machines and made the software that developed the accounting systems, customer management systems, and floor management systems for most of the casino's on the strip. When I was there money was flowing strong. I left right before the housing crisis started. It seemed like a city that was just a crisis away from disaster, everything depends on gambling revenue - it flows to everyone. The city is not self sustainable. Even the water was drying up.

[cobalt1999]

4. Vacations and gambling are not necessities of life

Therefore, when people are cutting back, those are one of the first to go.

[Taverner]

5. Awwww poor widdle Casinos

:nopity:

[MurrayDelph]

6. Too big for the low-rollers

I used to go to Vegas three or more times a year (Of course, I was single then).

I am a low-roller. I like to play the games, but I want to be able to get a bit of play for my money.

With all of the mega-casinos around, there is nowhere in Vegas that I am willing to play: try to find $5 Pai Gow Poker!
(I can find it in Reno, but Reno is like downtown Vegas without the charm).

Vegas would rather choke than go back to catering to the little guy.

[kestrel91316]

10. This is gonna hit Sen. Ensign right where it counts - in the pocketbook.

He's Vegas's inside man in DC.

[NikolaC]

11. They Are Over Building As Well IMO

Hubby and I went there in December for our anniversary and were suprised to see how many huge luxury hotels they were building out there. We kept wondering how they were going to fill the vacancies and make the kinds of profits that they are used to with the way that the economy was going.