Winter storms hurt south Tahoe but Carson gaming continues on a roll

Winter storms that dumped huge amounts of snow in the Sierra cut deep into January's gaming win at South Lake Tahoe and the Reno area.

But Carson City was unaffected, reporting its 21st straight month-over-month increase.

Statewide, total win was up just 3.94 percent in January to $917.1 million. While an increase, that is much lower than the average 8.5 percent gaming has grown over the past six months.

Hardest hit by winter storms was South Shore.

"At south shore, the New Year's weekend got wiped out," said Gaming Control Board Analyst Frank Streshley.

He said not only were there substantial drops in the volume but those gamblers who did come were luckier than average, taking more of the club's money home with them.

As a result, Stateline casinos reported a 40.8 percent drop in total win from $25.36 million in January 2004 to $15 million this past January.

The opposite occurred at North Shore casinos. There the volume of play was down only a small amount and clubs were much luckier than the gamblers. The result was an 11.5 percent increase to $3.94 million in winnings.

Reno and Sparks also suffered from the storms. Washoe County casinos reported an overall 8.1 percent drop in total win to $67.6 million.

In the Carson Valley reporting area, which includes valley portions of Douglas County as well as the capital, casinos won $9.66 million in January -- a 16.9 percent increase over the previous January. Much of the increase is attributed to expansions at the Fandango, which now operates more than 600 slot machines, and at establishments such as Slot World on Highway 50 East.

But the storms seemed to have less affect in Carson City because the area is primarily a locals market less dependent on tourists coming over the hill from California.

Clark County turned in a 6 percent increase for the month. But the Strip was nearly flat at less than a half percent increase. That performance was buoyed considerably by increases of 30.6 percent in North Las Vegas, 34.75 percent on the Boulder Strip and 24 percent in outlying portions of Clark.

Overall Clark County win was $793.1 million.

Contact reporter Geoff Dornan at gdornan@nevadaappeal.com or at 687-8750.