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Casino stocks up on Nevada revenue growth

1:05 pm ET 10/08/2010- MarketWatch Databased News

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Shares of casino operators traded sharply higher Friday, gaining after Nevada regulators released one of the most robust reports on monthly gambling revenue in years.

Silver State casinos took in $945 million from bettors in August, according to data from the Nevada Gaming Control Board, good enough for an increase of nearly 12%. But on the Las Vegas Strip -- which accounts for more than half the total -- gambling revenue spiked a whopping 21% to $544 million on brisk table volumes and stabilizing slot-machine play.

That helped push shares of MGM Resorts -- the dominant entity in Sin City -- more than 8% to $12.67.

The stock was also helped by Penn National Gaming agreeing to buy up all the M Resort bank debt, plus $160 million of paper held by MGM, for a total of $230.5 million.