"After two single-digit declines we expected to see more of a leveling off but that was not the case," he says. "Actual spending on games was up, which is good news, but the casinos did not retain as much as they normally would."

Thanks to a 60% jump in revenue from Baccarat, a high-end game, Streshley says spending was up despite "tremendous" weakness in slot machines, which are typically played by the mid-to-low range value-type gambler. "Without Baccarat things would have been substantially worse," he says.

Looking into 2010, the gaming experts at CB Richard Ellis predict that overall revenue from Las Vegas Strip resorts (revenue from gaming, hotels, restaurants and entertainment combined) will increase between 3.0% and 7.0% in 2010 thanks to CityCenter and new towers at the Hard Rock and Planet Hollywood resorts, but it will result in comparable declines for existing properties, they say.

"Las Vegas Strip operators have seen profits evaporate quickly as revenue has declined since 2008," states the CBRE report. "Conversely, profit potential on the upside should be equally strong when the Strip does recover, but moderate over time as some operators will have to make good on deferred capital costs and begin to push revenue enhancement--re-hiring in key areas, and re-focusing on development and other corporate strategies. Newer properties and those with less deferred capital expenses will fare better in a recovery, as they will not have to play catch-up on those costs."

Overall, however, CBRE's forecast is for there to be a lag effect for the Las Vegas Strip to any national economic recovery. "To combat the drastic revenue declines, Strip operators have engaged in practices such as cost cutting, discounting, increasing 'complimentaries' (comps) and tightening casino credit standards to maximize profitability," concludes the report. "GGG believes there will be some lag effect for the Las Vegas Strip to any national economic recovery, as some of these strategies become counterproductive to increasing profitability during an upturn. As such, operators will continue to face most of the challenges in 2010 they faced in 2008 and 2009."