Home / Poker News July 2008 / Las Vegas feeling the pressure of the economic downturn
Las Vegas feeling the pressure of the economic downturn
Posted by: James Carter. - Sat, 2008-07-19 04:04
There’s a lot of debate around whether we are already in recession, or we’re merely seeing the economic growth come to a screeching halt. Ask anybody involved with the Las Vegas gambling industry on a financial level, and they’ll tell you recession is indeed upon us.
Las Vegas based gambling revenue figures are indeed rather alarming. May has been an abysmal month for all areas of the city as the strip was especially hard-hit. Besides the fact that May has yielded around 15-16% worse figures than the same month of 2007, it was also the 5th consecutive month which posted worse figures in comparison to those registered a year ago.
Gambling stocks are also headed for the basement. Take MGM which was had been traded for about $100 last year and is now around the $30 mark. The latest dire news sent it on another 10% slip. Like it or not, 2008 is slowly turning out to be one of the worst years for gambling in the last 10 year-period. Even though the UIGEA has been implemented primarily to protect the interests of domestic gambling operations in general and that of Vegas casinos in particular, it failed to make its effects felt on any of the issues it was meant to tackle. Not only did it not stamp out underage gambling, and not only did it fail to protect B&M gambling interests, it blew a large hole in the federal budget too. Its implementation will not only attempt to turn banks into law-enforcement agencies, it will also further escalate the costs involved. Considering all that, it’s safe to say the UIGEA has bitterly disappointed the Strip. Is that though the only reason for this year’s slump? Online gambling and even poker seem to have taken an equally big hit. Many online poker rooms struggle to cover their guarantees week after week, player traffic is seriously dropping and the poker affiliate sector is seeing huge drops in revenue as well. Whatever it is, it seems to be an all-encompassing phenomenon that’s hitting gambling and online gambling with equal ferocity. The most logical explanation would be that the ever deepening economic crisis has people pushing gambling way back on their list of priorities. The WSOP has been the exception so far. It managed to draw in the crowds as well as the money. The extent of its positive impact on the industry though, is yet to be assessed.
