Nevada Registers 4th straight month of gaming revenue decline. LVRJ.com
For Clark County, the three-month trend was down 0.7 percent and the Strip fell 3.07 percent. But downtown Las Vegas climbed 6.42 percent for the period.
The Strip, is suffering.
But is it really?
Occupancy rates remained at 91% (which is very high) and average daily room rate increased to $130.49.
So the Strip casinos are taking in less on gaming, despite tightening the odds, but are seemingly making more everywhere else. And if they're not, they cutting into their muscle to trim costs.
It's always viewed as "an bad thing" when gambling hold for the casinos drop. It's certainly a bad thing for the State of Nevada, whose budget relies mightily on this income, but is it a bad thing for the casinos?
Under some certain circumstances I would say no. And those circumstances appear to be happening.
1. Gambling as a percentage of earnings is dropping on the Strip, and this trend shows almost no sign of abating.
In fact, it appears to be gaining steam as casinos such as the LINQ announcing a bevvy of new, non-gaming entertainment options opening in the coming months. Most CET casinos are shrinking their gaming areas, and are installing areas for non-gaming activity.
2. People buy in to these entertainment options.
This is far from a sure thing (See: Level Up! at MGM Grand) but IF some of them are successful they provide the casinos with a more predictable income stream. If you spend $500 on Baccarat it's possible that you could leave out of there with almost $1000. If you spend $500 on Dinner, or a show it's 100% certain that you're leaving out of there -$500.
While it's true that Wall Street, and the Stock Market, have been described as a gamble, the main difference is the house is operating things in order for the players to (ideally) win.
Does this mean that gambling in Strip casinos is going the way of the Dodo? No, I don't think so. I think there will always be gambling in some form, because people still want to gamble, but it will be shoe-horned into smaller spaces and offer worse odds. It will also be geared for more 'immersive' social activities.
And the odds will suck.
I've written before that the Strip is no longer the place for the serious gambler, with a few exceptions the most notable of those being super-high roller types, of which you are probably not (nor am I) I think this becomes even more pronounced over the coming years as most of the good gambling migrates either Downtown, or (increasingly) way, way off Strip. I've already decided to swear off CET and MGM properties and, if you take your gambling seriously, you might want to consider that as well.
It's not like the Strip casinos are going to care much, they're too busy living in their own virtual reality.
