Through a longer historical lens, though, slots have proven to be relatively stable for the state and the gaming industry. “I think where that narrative was coming from was when slot win was slowing, table gaming win was thriving,” UNLV gaming historian David Schwartz said. Table game win also bounced back faster, returning to pre-recession levels by 2013, while slot revenues continued to lag behind for years. Table games and sports betting fell by a smaller margin, from $4.2 billion to $3.6 billion in the same three-year stretch. Slot machines generated $8.5 billion in gaming win across the state in 2007, but by 2010, it had fallen by more than 20 percent to just $6.6 billion. “Slots are more popular now than they have ever been,” said Joe Kaminkow, a longtime slot game developer and member of the American Gaming Association’s Gaming Hall of Fame. But a resurgence of popularity fueled by higher-risk games and a focus on big entertainment has cemented a spot for slots on casino floors. Revenue from slots fell faster than table games and sportsbooks, leaving uncertainty around whether the machines would ever bounce back to their glory days. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal) play in Nevada’s casinos dropped like a rock when the Great Recession hit.
A cocktail waitress walks by slot machines at the D Las Vegas on Tuesday, Aug.
