NEV. CASINO WINNINGS UP 7.4 PERCENT IN SEPTEMBER: CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Nevada casinos won $958.8 million from gamblers in September, representing a 7.4 percent increase over the same month last year due largely to big betting on baccarat and luck that favored the house, state regulators said Thursday.
September winnings marked the second-highest monthly total for the calendar year behind February, said Mike Lawton, senior analyst with the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
A big boxing bout between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Canelo Alvarez also lured big bettors to Las Vegas, helping to fuel casino coffers.
Winnings on the Las Vegas Strip of $563.1 million were up 13.4 percent from the same month last year, while downtown Las Vegas revenues of $45.3 million were up 2 percent.
Reno casinos saw their winnings drop 2.3 percent to $48.3 million, while winnings in Washoe County as a whole fell 3.8 percent. South Lake Tahoe saw revenue jump 23.2 percent to $22.1 million in September.
NEVADA COURT SAYS TIP SHARING ALLOWED: CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — A mandatory tip-sharing policy at Wynn casinos on the Las Vegas Strip is legal, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled Thursday in a unanimous decision, reversing a lower court that said employees can't be forced to pool their tips with supervisors.
While the decision is a big blow to dealers at the posh resorts, it focused on one state statute and is not a final resolution of the case. Justices remanded other issues to Clark County District Judge Kenneth C. Cory for further review.
Card dealers on the Las Vegas Strip generally make more than supervisors and pit bosses because of big tips left by gamblers.
Dealers argued that $5 million a year was being diverted to supervisors and the 2006 tip-sharing policy was enacted to give supervisors more money without harming corporate coffers. Leon Greenberg, a lawyer representing the dealers, said the policy allowed the company to keep management compensation the same while essentially giving them a raise by subsidizing their pay from the tip pool.
Former Nevada Labor Commissioner Michael Tancheck had determined the policy was legal because Wynn Resorts Ltd., which operates the Wynn and Encore casinos on the Strip, neither kept the tips for its own use nor gained a direct benefit.
