Las Vegas Strip Oct gambling revenue down 26 pct

LOS ANGELES Dec 10 (Reuters) - Las Vegas Strip casinos won $475 million from gamblers in October, a drop of 26 percent from a year earlier, the state's Gaming Control Board said on Wednesday.

Statewide, Nevada casinos' take from gamblers fell 22 percent to $905 million for the month as the U.S. economic recession continued to cut into consumer spending.

The revenue decline suggests that the Las Vegas gambling market will weaken further in the fourth quarter as airline flight capacity is reduced, consumer spending worsens and housing prices/unemployment continue their negative trends, Morgan Stanley analyst Celeste Mellet Brown said in a research note.

Las Vegas Strip properties include casinos operated by MGM Mirage (MGM.N), Las Vegas Sands Corp (LVS.N), Wynn Resorts Ltd (WYNN.O) and Harrah's Entertainment [HAMLEH.UL]

Other major gambling companies with casinos in Nevada include Boyd Gaming Corp (BYD.N) and Station Casinos [STN.UL].