In our 6/21/09 post "MAY STRIP REVS SHOULD LOOK BETTER THAN THE AIRPORT #S" we predicted a 5% decline. As announced yesterday, Strip revenues actually fell 6%. We could've done better.
The takeway here is that May wasn't bad but did benefit from an easy comp. In May 2008 gaming revenues fell 16% driven in part by low hold % on both slots and tables.
Despite the excitement following the release of May numbers, Las Vegas is not getting better. The June comp is difficult, down 3% in 2008, and anecdotally we are hearing a theme of softness. Here is the trend: