Casino industry on a hot Bystreak

In case you didn't notice, they're back. Nevada's casinos, we mean. In March, they set an all-time high for gaming win at $930 million - up 11.5 percent from the same month a year earlier.

Every reporting area in the state showed an increase from the previous month, even Reno. Although it was only half a percent and only the third positive month since its main Indian casino competition opened near Auburn, Calif., the implication is that Washoe County's gaming industry shouldn't be given up for dead.

In Las Vegas, they were setting records all over the place. The Strip showed an increase of 17 percent from a year ago. Carson City and Douglas County recorded their 11th straight month of increasing gaming win.

The explanation from gaming experts was fairly vague. It's the economy, they said, nationally and statewide.

So let's look at this as an experienced gambler might. He's managed to cut his losses, and he's on a hot streak right now. He's going to enjoy it while it lasts, with the full knowledge it won't last forever.

The increasing competition for the gaming dollar - not to mention the public's choices for leisure entertainment in general - mean lots of people are out there trying to chip away at Nevada's mainstay industry.

Las Vegas is still the best player in the world, and it's not likely anybody will take that title away anytime soon. But Reno and Lake Tahoe must continue their efforts to become world-class vacation destinations (which just happen to have legalized gambling).

The rest of the state, of course, concentrates on diversified industries by holding down taxes, maintaining solid infrastructures and taking care of thorny business problems like health insurance and workers compensation.

A percolating economy, as well as last session's tax increases, have put the state 38 percent ahead of last year in tax revenues. Invested wisely, the future won't be so much of a gamble.