Las Vegas Strip gaming revenues were up 8% last month but Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli is calling that headline “misleading,” the increase “purely optical.” Volume of table play was 
down 11% and slot coin-in was 2% less. But increased hold, rule changes and luck conspired in the casinos’ favor. By contrast, a 4% increase in slot play in the Las Vegas locals market couldn’t stave off a 5% revenue slippage. The state of Nevada as a whole was up 3%. Strip slot revenue rose 7% and baccarat winnings shot up 20% despite 11% less volume of play. Other table revenues were flat on 11% less in wagers.
Both the Boulder Strip and Laughlin had a bad time of it, down 15% and 14% respectively. North Las Vegas was off 7% but Downtown eked out a 1% increase. Reno was flat but the snowbunnies lost money hand over fist at Lake Tahoe, where casino win was up 13%. January will be a tricky month to account for, too, as it will include the New Year’s Eve weekend but — ending as it did during a weekend — will be without its last three days’ worth of slot revenues, which will roll over into February.
* Borgata isn’t the only Atlantic City casino making a major capital reinvestment these days. The Tropicana has announced a raft of changes than range from increasing the repertory of light shows it displays during the summer to renovating 500 Havana Tower rooms. High-limit slots will get their own area and the south-tower casino floor will be redone. “These renovations are not only attractive upgrades for Tropicana’s guests, they are creating new employment opportunities at a crucial time in Atlantic City,” said President Anthony Rodio, one of the Atlantic City casino executives who definitely gets it. Perhaps that is why the Trop has risen to the #3 spot in the A.C. market.
* Las Vegas Sands executives were sending mixed messages about the future of Macao yesterday. COO Rob Goldstein said the junket 
industry — which has already shrunk 23% — will contract even further in 2016. “The ones that are still standing – and we met with some of the top people there last week … actually they’re in pretty good shape and there is sufficient liquidity,” he added. That same day, Union Gaming Securities analyst Grant Govertsen said the defunct junketeers “were on life support in 2015,” so it wouldn’t worsen his forecast for 2016.
However, given the rather bleak picture Wall Street analysts have been painting of the year to come, CEO Sheldon Adelson depicted a far rosier one, saying Sands was “bottoming out” in mass-market 
play. “Some of the numbers put out and experienced through December and January indicate to me that that’s the case.” The glass-half-full case was supported by the fact that December’s 21% decline was the smallest since a year ago. Praising Sands China‘s ability to beat Wall Street‘s consensus, Deutsche Bank analyst Karen Tang wrote, “We expect Macau stocks to see a six to eight week short-term bounce into the seasonally strong Chinese New Year, and our top pick is Sands China.” With $2.7 billion Parisian coming down the pike, Adelson needs his predictions to come true.
* Now that Pennsylvania lawmakers are flirting seriously with online gambling, Keystone State casinos (but not Sands Bethlehem) are experimenting with social gaming. It not only creates a platform that 
could be converted to Internet-casino play, it enables operators to test games that might have potential in for-money play. Characteristically, Caesars Entertainment was first into the fray at Harrah’s Philadelphia, monetizing its Playtika product line. Other casinos that are going the social-gaming route are Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, both Neil Bluhm-owned casinos — Rivers Casino and SugarHouse — Hollywood Casino at Penn National Racecourse (the newest entrant) and Parx Casino. As for the holdouts, well, if you don’t play you can’t win.
