The opening of the 2007 Legislature did little or nothing to help Carson City casinos in February.
The Carson City-Carson Valley area's reported win fell 4.25 percent compared to 2006 when there was no legislative session. Casinos won just over $9 million in February. That puts the area 2 percent below last year so far.
Statewide, casinos reported a 2.86 percent gain for a total win of $1.056 billion, a smaller increase than expected in view of the fact Chinese New Year, the NBA All-Star game and the Super Bowl all occurred that month.
Gaming Control Board analyst Frank Streshley said the problem was the all- star basketball game, Chinese New Year and Presidents' Day all happened the same weekend.
"The state would have benefited more if they fell on separate weekends," he said.
That sentiment was echoed by Gov. Jim Gibbons: "February's gaming win showed an increase over last year, but not as strong as we had anticipated with the number of special events falling in the month."
February 2006 gaming numbers were up nearly 13 percent over the year before.
Statewide, the total win would have been down 1 percent for the month if not for Baccarat which recorded the second highest total win ever at $117 million. That number is more than 47 percent up from a year earlier. And it helped carry game and table win to an 11.5 percent gain - a total of $408.4 million in winnings.
Carson was joined in negative numbers by South Shore, where casinos reported a decrease of 3.7 percent to $24.5 million. The culprit was a decrease in slot play, which dropped win in that category 9.6 percent. Table games held their own, growing 6.6 percent over last year. Stateline casinos are down 3.4 percent thus far this fiscal year.
Washoe also suffered with a 4.6 percent decrease in win to $80.6 million. That is Washoe's 7th decrease in win in the past eight months with both slot play and table game winnings down compared to 2006.
But tiny North Lake Tahoe had an excellent month, growing its win total 14.5 percent to $3.3 million. Slot play, which makes up most of the revenue at North Shore casinos, was up 9.4 percent. But game and table win increased 26.4 percent.
Elko was another hot market in February, winning $25.2 million for a gain of 12.2 percent.
• Contact reporter Geoff Dornan at gdornan@nevadaappeal.com or 687-8750.
By the numbers
Area February Win Change
Statewide $1.056 billion 2.86%
Carson area $9.01 million -4.25%
South Shore $24.5 million -3.67%
North Shore $3.3 million 14.5%
Washoe County $80.6 million -4.57%
Reno $57.9 million -5.55%
Clark County $901.8 million 3.65%
Las Vegas Strip $574.7 million 4.29%