A jump in spending at the table games made all the difference as Treasure Cove Casino saw a slight increase in revenue over the past fiscal year.
The casino took in $54.95 million in 2014-15, according to the B.C. Lottery Corp.'s gambling service provider commissions report, an increase of $261,000 or 0.5 per cent, over the previous year.
All of that increase can be attributed to play at the table games, where $2.42 million was spent, a $295,000 or 14 per cent hike.
At $43.37 million, slot machines remained the biggest earner, although the total was down by $3,000.
Revenue from bingo declined by $31,000 to $9.16 million, but Treasure Cove continued to be the top earner in the province on that front. Second highest among the 26 bingo halls in B.C. was Planet Bingo in Vancouver at $7.75 million.
The top earner on the casino side was River Rock in Richmond, which took in $420 million, while the second highest was Grand Villa in Burnaby at $204 million.
Treasure Cove's overall total remains significantly down from the $77.3 million spent on gambling in the city in 2007-08.
By 2009-10, the figure had plummeted to $50.6 million, due to the recession and the ill-fated Chances Good Time Prince George, now the Commonwealth Health Centre.
For the first time, BCLC has also made public the commissions earned by the service providers.
Treasure Cove's owners took in $13.3 million, with $11.98 million coming from the slots and tables and $1.35 million from bingo.
According to the report, service providers receive 25 per cent of net win from slots, 40 per cent of net win from tables, 75 per cent of poker rake, 75 per cent of craps and 60 per cent of low limit blackjack (defined as tables with minimum bets of $5 and a maximum bet limit of $50 per hand).
As for bingo, they get 60 per cent of sales on the first $20,000 per week, 40 per cent sales on the next $60,000 per week, and 25 per cent on sales greater than $80,000 per week, all after the prizes have been paid out.
Treasure Cove also earned $2.49 million in commissions earmarked for capital improvements.
Meant to "encourage capital improvements, resulting in higher quality facilities that attract a broader player base," those commissions are based on revenue generated at the facility and are capped at the amount of the approved facility costs.
The commissions equal five per cent of revenue generated on bingo games, after the prizes are paid, three per cent on casino games and two per cent on all games.
Since its inception, capital works qualifying for BCLC support has added up to $23.75 million for Treasure Cove's casino said, beginning with the initial development of Casino Hollywood downtown, followed by current facility at the corner of Highways 16 and 97, then its reconfiguration followed by the incorporation of bingo into the facility. It's earned $24.76 million in commissions over that time, for a difference of $1.01 million.
On the bingo side, Treasure Cove received $5.26 million in support for the initial build out of the facility, but has taken in just $900,000 in commissions for a difference of $4.36 million.
The casino is home to 547 slot machines, including eight electronic roulette machines, seven table games and 628 bingo seats.
The report was released last week. To see the report first hand, click on the link below entitled gambling service provider commissions report.
