Win from baccarat, a favourite casino game for Asian gamblers, fell by 23.2 percent year-on-year on the Las Vegas Strip in November, reported the Nevada Gaming Control Board on Thursday.
Such win for baccarat – the amount of money retained by casinos after payment of prizes – was US$84.2 million during the reporting period.
Table games win on the Las Vegas Strip in November was down 4.2 percent, at US$259 million.
Slot machine win on the Strip was down 2.7 percent, at nearly US$258 million.
Total gaming win on the Las Vegas Strip in November stood at nearly US$517 million, down 3.5 percent from a year earlier.
“Baccarat win declined… due partially to a 116 basis points negative swing in hold rate to 13.65 percent, while volume decreased -16.6 percent,” said a Thursday note from Christopher Jones of the Buckingham Research Group Inc.
John DeCree, an analyst at Union Gaming Securities LLC, said in a memo: “November 2016 also had one fewer weekend day (Sunday) compared with the prior year, and sportsbook win declined sharply as football fans defied odds in the month.”
Carlo Santarelli and Danny Valoy of Deutsche Bank Securities Inc stated in their Thursday note: “Excluding baccarat, domestic table game and slot revenue was up 1.6 percent year-on-year. Lower hold hampered results in both the slot and table segments.”
State wide, gaming win was US$930.4 million in November, a fall of 1.5 percent on the prior-year period.
Buckingham Research’s Mr Jones noted that – outside the revenue reporting period, on December 2 – Hainan Airlines Co Ltd had launched its first non-stop passenger airline service between Beijing and Las Vegas.
“Demand for the inaugural flight from Beijing was so high that Hainan switched the flight to a larger aircraft with an additional 76 seats to accommodate excess demand. Moving forward, each direct flight on Hainan will provide 36 business class seats and 177 economy seats. We view this as a positive for the Las Vegas market. Although only adding a few seats in total, the strong demand shows the Chinese gaming population is still interested in the Las Vegas market.”
Also outside the November reporting period, on December 3, the Asian-themed Lucky Dragon Hotel and Casino opened on the Las Vegas Strip, aiming to cater in particular for Asian gamblers.
