Nevada Sees Revenues Rise

Casino operators in Nevada are optimistic after revenues rose by 16.2% overall for the month of May.

Slot and baccarat performances were strong for the month, and the total number of visitors to Sin City rose 3.3% compared to last year, and continue the climb of 4.8% and 5% seen in April and March. Overall Vegas Strip revenue was up 28.9%, which was a very strong performance, as April saw a 2.2% drop.

Gaming Control Board Senior Analyst Mike Lawton said, "This is the largest total win since September 2008 and the largest percent increase since December 2006," said Mike Lawton, senior analyst with the Gaming Control Board."

Analysts are cautious however, and say that the results need to be sustained to be certain that Vegas is truly back to normal. David Bain, Sterne Agee Analyst stated, “We believe a more telling indicator of a true recovery or lack thereof will be from summer results, as it is a time period heavily driven by the leisure consumer (with few holidays and conventions). Without a decent rebound in leisure activity and spend during consumer periods, we continue to believe that domestic recovery predictions are somewhat ahead of themselves.”

Overall, gamblers wagered $12.2 billion, with $9.29 billion placed into slot machines and a whopping $1.2 billion being wagered by baccarat players. Taxes received from May's winnings was $68.3 million, which is an increase of 17.6%